Which Way the Wind Blows
by Brooks MacDonald

Winter newsletter is what the heading should be, never mind this spring edition stuff! As if over 40 inches of snow in the month of March wasn't a cruel trick, here we are now in day-light savings time and Mother Nature still hasn't turned up the thermostat. I think I'll have to dig it out - if I can find out where it's buried - and turn it up myself.

Speaking of finding something, we probably won't find the golf course open for weeks at the earliest and when we do we probably won't find the time to play with all the other activities we have planned this spring and summer. It is certainly a very busy and exciting time in our lives for sure.

As we enter our 11th year here in Perkins Cove, we also enter our first season in our new restaurant in Dock Square, Kennebunkport. We are extremely excited about what lies ahead. Our plan is to work as hard in that restaurant as we do here and then pray like the dickens we'll be as fortunate there. You can read all the details about our new venture elsewhere in this issue.

Also in this little rag is an article about the highly successful artist lunch series Rido Doves orchestrated this past spring. It was truly an enlightening experience and one we'll be sure to build on next year.

Chef's Eric Howton and Dan Moffat have collaborated on another fun to make dish for this issue's featured recipe. No seasoned chef should be without this vegetarian delight. Paul has listed a few wines for your summer dining or bar-b-q plans. Lu now has them available in her shop, too. There's a little piece on our newsletter's new layout and design and its creator. There is also an apology for a computer error that has cost us a portion of our mailing list. Ugh!

Until next time, I'd like to leave you with this thought from golf legend, Peter Jacobsen: "One of the most fascinating things about golf is how it reflects the cycle of life. No matter what you shoot, the next day you have to go back to the first tee and begin all over again and make yourself into something." Funny, that's how we look at ourselves in the restaurant business.

"There is no incorrect way to dunk a doughnut. But you should generally never go above the elbow."

-Bill Rosenberg, founder of Dunkin'Donuts

Provisions Prepped!
by Luanne MacDonald

Multi-colors, multi-styles, multi-sizes, and now: multi-locations? Brookie sure has me thinking in multiples now. As long as I can get rid of this "multiple thinking" by my golf season everything should be okay. We all hate those dreaded double-bogeys.

As far as our new spring line is concerned, we are very excited about the new colors and styles available in our Izod shirts. I'm also working with our supplier to bring in another nationally known manufacturer I know you'll just love. In addition to stocking the shop in Perkins Cove and the restaurant in Dock Square with the new shirts, sweatshirts, windbreakers and golf vests, we have added to our already large selection of hats. I wonder which of the 12+ colors will be this summer's hottest seller?

Anyway, many items TMTM (to multiple to mention). I'm off to stock and ready our supplies before the season is upon us. That season of course is my golf season. Until next time, I'll be seeing you on the links or at one of the restaurants, which ever comes first.

FORE!

The Oldest Now Becomes the Newest

As mentioned previously in this edition of the Eye, things are changing and changing rapidly in our Hurricane family. For all the right reasons we will be opening a second Hurricane later this month in Dock Square, Kennebunkport. We are very excited about our expansion plans and want to take this space to share all the details.

The site for our new endeavor has housed a restaurant since the late 1800's. Over the past 50 years, Pat Lyna has owned, operated and lovingly cared for the Riverview Restaurant. I myself have been a Riverview patron since the mid-sixties. It is the restaurant that may have steered me into this business all those years ago. (Oh, those big, big kitchens of days gone by!) It is a restaurant that has been meticulously cared for over the last 100+ years. It is a location considered to be one of the most beautiful settings on the coast of Maine.

With water views from all of its tables, a large parking lot out the rear door and a high volume of foot traffic out the front door, our new eatery will very much mirror our signature location in Perkins Cove.

After we complete minor alterations, we will begin serving lunch and dinner in the same style you have become accustomed to in our Perkins Cove location. Later this summer we will begin offering a continental breakfast with pastries created by our in-house pastry chef, Stacie Blouin. Stacie will also be supplying our antique display counters with some of our daily dessert selections and hand-made chocolates for your take-home enjoyment.

Chef Eric Howton heads our staff line-up. Eric joined the Hurricane family almost five years ago as an apprentice from the New England Culinary Academy. Since that time he has worked his way to the position of sous-chef where he has done a truly outstanding job. He has been a creative force in the development of many of the items currently adorning our menu. Eric has had great success in recruiting nationally for his new kitchen staff. Our food in Dock Square is guaranteed to be every bit as good as in the Cove with Eric heading up an extraordinarily talented kitchen staff.

In front-of-the-house news, Dave Allen will be managing the pour at the beautiful hand-hewn mahogany bar. Many of you will remember Dave when he worked with us in the Cove not too long ago. Dave enjoys preparing special drinks and will be featuring a different one each day.

Laine Leavitt rounds out our management team in Kennebunkport. Laine has managed a nationally known, top-25, high-volume restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Additionally, she managed another restaurant there with a 3000+ bottle wine list. While we don't expect Laine to manage a wine list nearly that size, her wine and restaurant expertise will be welcome and evident as we set forth in our new venture.

Finally, here is what you can expect when you visit our newest location this summer. The restaurant will seat approximately the same number of people as in Ogunquit: about 90. The menu will feature many of Hurricane's signature dishes and a few unique items found only in Dock Square. We will have hand-made pastries and chocolates. There will be a Bob Meserve handcrafted mahogany bar and back bar stocked with the finest wines and liquors available. There will be display cases filled with many of the same quality products Lu sells at Provisions. You will find an in-restaurant art gallery featuring the work of one of our own, Raina Piligian. Raina is also the artist who adorned the walls of our new place with a huge mural - or should I say murals. Truly, incredible works I'm sure everyone will enjoy!

Our white table linens are starched, our menu has been tastily tested, wines have been laid in and our staff eagerly awaits your arrival. Please make a reservation and join us soon. We are excited to introduce you to the newest Hurricane Restaurant.

Reservations at Hurricane, Dock Square, Kennebunkport: 207-967-9111

The Vines of Summer
by Paul Brick

How appropriate a big Porterhouse is mentioned at the end of this edition's recipe; read on!

This past winter -- and what a winter it was ? we were fortunate to host some amazing Wine Dinners with tremendous wines and equally great foods. This spring we have poured over the list of these great wines to find some to enjoy whilst lazing around the pool, kicking back on the deck or enjoying with us here in Perkins Cove -- or in the heart of Dock Square.

Some of the fine wines that will make it to our list -- and to Provisions -- include a wonderful Semillon from Ahlgren Vineyards in Santa Cruz; plus, Cambria Chardonnay from Katherine's Vineyard, one of the finest Chardonnay producing vineyards in California. What a treat on a hot summer day the Marqués de Cáceres Rose of Rioja will be. How about something for the deck: ice-cold Hugel Gentil from the Alsace will fit the bill just right for a refreshing sip under the umbrella.

Now on to that Porterhouse, I can't think of anything better than the Robert Mondavi Carneros Merlot as a tremendous compliment. Tim Clark introduced it to us a couple of weeks ago. Another strong possibility would the Stonehaven Limestone Coast Shiraz that Peter Emery treated us to in March.

These are just a few of the fabulous crushes our friends-in-wine have treated us to. We hope if you are entertaining guests in Perkins Cove or Dock Square you will try one of these exciting additions. If you must stay at home, remember our entire wine list is available at Provisions.

You can order on-line or by phone and we can ship them directly to your door.

Cheers!

An Art Gallery Revisited

As you may know, Ogunquit and Perkins Cove have long been identified as an artist colony. The Ogunquit School of Art has a worldwide reputation. The Ogunquit Museum of Art is visited by thousands of people every year. In fact, even the location of Hurricane in Perkins Cove once served as an art gallery.

Earlier this spring we set out to recognize some of our local artists and to have some fun along the way. Our Spring Artist Lunch Series began in March and ran through the middle of May. Each Friday different local artists set up some of their pieces and their easels and went to work in the front windows of our dining room. As guests dined, they were able to watch these very talented artists create their magic. In addition to applying their works on canvas, the artists were able to share their insights with the dining public. It was a tremendous amount of fun.

On behalf of restaurant manager Rido Doves and the entire staff here at the Hurricane, we would like to thank the artists:

• Michael Walek (water colors & etchings)
• Cappy Whelon (oils, etchings & charcoal)
• Norman West (acrylic)
• Dewitt Hardy (water colors & drawings)

Thank you for your wonderful company and beautiful art. You were sublime!

We look forward to next spring and the opportunity to expand this new and hugely popular event.

Whoops!
(or When Re-Booting Goes Wrong)

It was with no small amount of skepticism that we entered the e-world a few years back. However, being proved wrong was one of the great pleasures in life, at least until now.

As we prepared to put this little news rag to print, the unthinkable has happened. That's right folks: lost files, hard-drive failure, wonk, wonk, melt down, mailing list lost, error code, error code, the whole damn bit.

So, while we try to retrieve our mailing list through the wonderful people at Mail America, we know some very special people on our mailing list will not be receiving this spring's issue of the Eye. If you know anyone who has not received their copy, please explain what has happened and ask them to get in touch with us as soon as possible. We apologize for our technical difficulties. We are making every effort to restore our files as promptly as possible.

Our Design is Quite Fine, Thank You!

As you may have noticed -- and many of you have commented on -- we have changed the layout and design of the Eye in our last printed issue (Fall, 2000.) In a search that took us from Ogunquit to Tucson to Portland, we now have Jess Whited as our new graphic designer. Jess is a wonderfully talented artist and we are very fortunate to have him working with us. It was time for a fresh new look as we venture into the future and our expansion. Change is good, very good. Thanks, Jess, for seeing to that!

Remember: our newsletter is printed and mailed spring and fall; the summer and winter issues are e-mailed only; all four season issues are available on our web site, hurricane@perkinscove.com.

Dinner Menu Prices Slashed

Beginning with the opening of our second restaurant in Kennebunkport, we will no longer be including our house salad with the price of our entrees. We will be lowering the price of entrees to reflect this change.

Over the years we have noticed many diners wanted to substitute our house salad for one of the many other salads on the small plates section of our menu. As a convenience, we've decided to no longer include our house salad and instead give our guests the opportunity to order a salad of their choice. Our house salad is -- and always will be -- a signature item here at Hurricane and will always be available.

Thank you for understanding as we phase in this small change in policy.

We hope you enjoy our new, lower prices.

CHILI MARINATED GRILLED VEGETABLE STACK (Serves 6)

• 3 tbls blended oil
• 6 sweet potatoes (medium dice)
• 1 Spanish onion (small dice)
• 2 chipolte peppers
• 1 tbls granulated garlic
• 1 tbls cumin
• 1 tbls coriander
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tbls molasses
• 1 tbls salt
• 1 tbls pepper
• 1 Mix seasonings with oil.

2. Sweat sweet potato, onion and chipolte peppers in oil until onions are tender (approximately five minutes).

3. Add vegetable stock and simmer until potatoes are just cooked.

4. Puree potato, onion, and peppers until smooth. Check and adjust seasonings accordingly.

BLACK BEAN MASH:

• 6 cups cooked black beans
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

1. Mash beans using the water to achieve a consistency of mashed potatoes

2. Add seasonings and mix well.

CHAR-GRILLED CHILE MARINATED EGGPLANT AND PORTABELLA MUSHROOM WITH CELERIAC:

• 1 cup blended oil
• 1 tbls chili powder
• 1 tbls granulated garlic
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tbls cumin
• 1 tbls salt
• 1 tbls pepper
• 1 medium eggplant, sliced
• 3 Portabella mushrooms, stem and gill
• 1 red onion, sliced
• celeriac, peeled and sliced

1. Combine oil and herbs and mix well.

2. Toss oil and herbs with vegetables. Marinate for one hour.

3. Grill vegetables on both sides and return to marinade while still warm.

To Assemble:

In a large pasta bowl, ladle enough sweet potato broth to cover bottom.

Spoon black bean mash in center of bowl. Layer grilled vegetables on top of mashed beans.

Note: Some of us enjoy this dish as a garnish to a large Porterhouse steak.