Which Way the Wind Blows
by Brooks MacDonald

Winter is finally over... winter is finally over... winter is finally over!

If we keep repeating these words, maybe winter will finally end and we can begin - even in New England terms - our long-awaited and much-needed break from the brutally cold and snowy weather on the Maine coast. This has been the worst winter I've seen in the seven decades I've lived in Maine. (Admit it now, I've got you guessing, don't I?) It was also the quietest winter we've experienced since we opened back in 1991. The good news is this lull has given our minds a chance to explore and ponder ideas - and wonderful things are the result. So, while we haven't been serving as many people as usual, we've been extremely busy planning many new and exciting projects for the years ahead. Idle? We have many vices, but being idle isn't one of them.

In this spring issue of the Eye we're going to fill you in on our plans for a new Provisions shop in Perkins Cove. When the new store is finished, we'll have twice the retail space we now occupy in the current shop. You're going to read about our new Port Bakery & Café, an adventure we're about to launch just across the bay from our restaurant in Kennebunkport. We'll be introducing you to the many talented professionals who have joined us over the last few months, as well as reintroducing you to the people who are going to help us run all these new endeavors.

As we do in every issue, we'll share another recipe from the Hurricane kitchen. And we have some important summer dates we know you're going to want to circle on your calendar (including the dates for the rebirth of Kennebunkport's Dump Parade and Miss Dumpy Pageant).

I'll leave you with this thought: Twenty-five - or more - years ago, I was attending a conference on food in San Francisco when I met a fellow chef from New England. He had just gone to work for Dick and Ella Brennan at Commanders Palace in New Orleans and was serving one of their house specialties on a cruise around the bay. Here are Emeril's words of wisdom, which we still try to live by all these years later: "It's all about getting up every day and trying to be the best restaurateurs we can be."

How right you are my friend, how right you are!

It's All About the Four R's of the Restaurant Business

What a momentous time we're enjoying in our Hurricane family this spring. Over the past few months, we've recruited nationally, relocated people from other parts of the country, retooled our kitchens and bake shops and readied ourselves for what we think will be our most exciting season since we first threw open the doors back in 1991.

Please allow me to introduce - or in some cases reintroduce - a staff with whom Lu and I are extremely proud to be associated. It is without question the most talented group of people we've ever had the good fortune to work with.

Let's start at the top with Paul Brick. Paul has been with us since day one as our general manager and continues in that capacity today. Thanks to his wine smarts and dedication, our award-winning wine list is one of the best you'll find. Unfortunately for Paul, wine isn't his only job responsibility, as you can well imagine with over 100 employees now on staff.

Virginia Hastings-Hodge has been our administrative assistant since 1999. It's not an easy job paying all the bills, doing all the payrolls and answering the phones in Perkins Cove, let alone trying to keep track of where the rest of us are!

Adam White came to Hurricane a little over a year ago and has recently been promoted to executive chef. Adam is a very talented chef who worked as the executive sous-chef at Ambrosia on Huntington in Boston prior to moving to Maine. He is responsible for overseeing all food quality and supervising our kitchens and bakeshops.

Jodi Geiser is our new chef in Perkins Cove. She joins us after a three-year stint as sous-chef at the nationally known Inn at Little Washington. She's done a wonderful job since coming on board with us this past winter, and I'm sure you'll find her food as tantalizing as we do. Jodi's sous-chef is Tarver King, who also made the trek up north from Virginia.

Seasoned restaurant professionals Mark Wozny and Tom Spaulding continue to manage the front-of-the-house operations at our Ogunquit location. They make sure your overall dining experience is as flawless as our food.

Jason Leighton has worked his way up to chef in our Dock Square restaurant, proving hard work pays off. He joined us three years ago after graduating from the New England Culinary Institute, and we're very proud of all he's achieved. His sous-chef, Chris Roth, has worked with us for the past two years in both restaurants.

Dena Boston, who was hired a little over a year ago after a stellar career in bank management, has been promoted to manager of our Kennebunkport restaurant. We're thrilled she made her career change, since she's done an outstanding job in the short time she's been with us. Dena's assistant manager is Amy Clark Twachtman, who managed the Whately Inn in western Massachusetts for many years.

Katie Kuprewicz-Rivard remains our pastry chef extraordinaire. Most of you are familiar with Katie's creations. She's been with us since she was an intern from the York County Technical College culinary program a few years back. She'll be occupying new digs in our Port Bakery & Café, where she and her staff will provide pastries for both our restaurants, the café and its retail counter.

Joining Katie at the new bakery will be her longtime assistants Shauna McGrath and Amber Saucier. And filling out our pastry dream team will be Sheree McDowell, who also relocated from the Inn at Little Washington. Sweet dreams and sweet creams! It doesn't get any better than this.

Another new member of our Hurricane family is Sal Parra, who will manage the food-service operations of our bakery, café and catering company. Sal studied culinary arts in Italy before moving to California, where he worked in San Francisco at Splendido, Trattoria Contadina and the Woodside Bakery & Café.

Add in the best-damned crew in the business, and there you have it: a truly outstanding staff we're very excited to have working with us here on the Coast O' Maine. And you thought it was all done with smoke and mirrors.

Ah yes, the four R's of the restaurant business: Recruit, Relocate, Retool... and Ready. And to think all my schoolteachers thought I wasn't paying attention while they were preaching and teaching their R's.

Provisions... Squared
By Lu MacDonald

Well, you didn't think for a second I was going to let all this expansion in our company happen without a little growth for our shop, Provisions, did you? Outlets. It's all about outlets, baby. And now there are lots of places for you to purchase our rapidly growing selection of fine wine, fancy food and Hurricane-logo wearables.

You can shop at our original Provisions (next to the Hurricane in Perkins Cove), at the Hurricane in Dock Square and online at hurricanerestaurant.com. And now, many of the same products will be available at our new Port Bakery & Café in Kennebunk and our brand-new Provisions shop, just a chip shot from our current shop in Perkins Cove.

The new shop - made available to us by our friends Heidi and Kurt Knight of the Coastal Candle Company - will enable us to expand our inventory of fun and tasty food and wine-related stuff as it becomes available, plus a few surprises. (Ladies, I'm talking golf attire! We'll be styling on the links this year, I promise you that.)

Seriously, we just outgrew the original shop. By taking on this additional storefront across the street, we'll be able to expand our lines without having to drop popular goodies from our shelves. This second Provisions shop should be opening sometime around the beginning of June. Until then, I hope to see you at one of our other shops... or on the links.

Fore!

Port Bakery & Café by Hurricane Opens in Kennebunk

We are extremely proud to announce the birth of our newest venture: Port Bakery & Café by Hurricane.

Located at 181 Port Road in Kennebunk's Lower Village, the café features indoor and outdoor seating for 30 on a lovely landscaped deck. Our plan is to offer the same pastries and breads we feature in our restaurants. In the morning, we'll serve a café menu, featuring assorted coffees, teas, cappuccinos, fresh juices and smoothies, as well as breakfast pastries and sandwiches. Throughout the day, you'll be able to select from our daily soup creations, a variety of crisp salads and made-to-order sandwiches, prepared on our freshly baked artisan breads.

For your take-home pleasure, our deli cases will be filled with many of the same menu items found in our restaurants. We also plan to scoop up the best (in our opinion) hand-packed ice cream known to humankind.

Home entertaining has never be easier, now that we're in the neighborhood. If you're looking for us, just follow your nose to the aroma of fresh-ground coffee, freshly baked bread and sweet-smelling pastries. For those with hay fever, the Port Bakery & Café is located at 181 Port Road, in Kennebunk's Lower Village. Hours are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.

Spring Ahead! And Summer, Finally Summer

We're here at these times and hope you will be, too.

Hurricane Restaurant hours in Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, and Dock Square, Kennebunkport:

Lunch, seven days a week, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dinner, seven days a week, from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Bar menu is served anytime the doors are open. Complimentary Happy Hour Buffet, Monday through Friday, 4 p.m.

Port Bakery and Café by Hurricane, Lower Village, Kennebunk:
Open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week

Great New Wines From Some Very Old Regions
By Paul Brick

Scouring the wine shows this spring has been a very enlightening experience. Some producers - particularly the Californians - have found themselves in a bit of a pickle. Seems they've had a couple of great production years, and because of the economic slump we're all feeling, there's a lot of juice left in their warehouses. Consequently, they find themselves in the position of needing to move some cases quickly before the new vintage starts to get bottled.

So, we have seen a few price decreases lately, which we are certainly going to pass on to you. One notable example: the DeLoach OFS Chardonnay has taken a dramatic fall. We've been able to reduce the bottle price by $15, from $52 down to $37.

We will be adding another great value in the Lockwood Sauvignon Blanc ($19 by the bottle). If you're tired of the grapefruit-y characteristic of most sauvignon blancs, the Lockwood is a very refreshing alternative.

Because we're always on the lookout for new and exciting wines, I was intrigued by the number coming out of places we normally don't associate with fine wine. A couple of notables have made it onto our list, one from Portugal and one from Sicily.

As you probably know, Portugal is home to the finest ports of the world. What you may not know - and can find out by coming in and sampling them - is the new generation winemakers in Portugal have discovered that modern growing and viniculture techniques can produce some great wines. Wines that don't necessarily have to be blended into porto.

We have added Joao Pires Dry Muscat to our list. It's a tremendous aperitif and great raw-bar wine. The Casa de Santar Red from the Dao region of Portugal. will make a super summer red -if we ever see summer. And, because of the competitive pricing from our distributor, these high-quality wines are also extremely affordable.

We've come across a red wine from Sicily that was a huge surprise to me. I was always under the impression the only wine from Sicily was made in the basement by someone's grandfather. Give the Rapitala Nu Har a try the next time you're in. This is not your grandfather's vino! With great body and mellow tannins, it'll go very nicely with beef or lamb, or all by itself.

With some prices coming down and new wines coming in from non-traditional sources, it's a very exciting time for us. All the aforementioned (and many more) wines are waiting for you on our award-winning list. Life is short. I invite you to try them all as soon as possible! Salute!

Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes (makes approximately 18 two-ounce cakes)

• 1/4 lb. butter
• 1/4 cup celery, small dice
• 3/4 cup onion, small dice
• 1/2 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat, picked
• 1/2 lb. lump crabmeat, picked
• 2 eggs, whole
• 1 tbsp. tarragon
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/2 tbsp. mustard, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 cup Japanese bread crumbs or day old bread toasted and crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste

Ravigote Sauce (makes four cups)

• 1 egg, whole
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup cornichons or chopped dill pickle
• 2 tbsp. onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp. tarragon, chopped
• 2 cup vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Place the sauce on the middle of a plate and arrange the crab cakes around the outside of the plate.

(We recommend the DeLoach OFS Chardonnay with this dish.)

Special Events Coming Up in Ogunquit

June 12th to 14th - 9th-Annual Chamber Music Festival
June 21st to 22nd - Crafts at the Playhouse
June 23rd - Opening of the Ogunquit Playhouse's 71st Season
July 4th - Independence Day Fireworks
July 24th to 29th - Annual Ogunquit Rotary Club Two-Cent Sale
August 2nd - Ogunquit Art Association Auction
August 21st to 30th - Annual Sidewalk Art Show and Sale
August 30th to September 6th - Capriccio 2003
September 13th to 14th - 30th-Annual Antiques Show and Sale
December 12th to 14th - 17th-Annual Christmas by the Sea Celebration

Special Events Coming Up in Kennebunk & Kennebunkport

June 7th - 350th Birthday Party
June 17th to Labor Day Weekend - Arundel Barn Theatre Season
June 21st - Summer Solstice
July 4th - Annual Fireworks Display
July 10th to 11th - Miss Dumpy Parade and Pageant
August 9th - 11th-Annual Teddy Bear Show and Sale
August 9th - Riverfest & Great K'port Duck Race
September 7th - Fiddlers Contest & Old Time Country Music Festival
September 3rd - Town Historical Parade
December 5th to 7th - 22nd-Annual Christmas Prelude

Please contact the local chambers of commerce for times and other information.

Ogunquit C of C: 207-646-2939, www.ogunquit.org
Kennebunk C of C: 207-967-0857, www.visitthekennebunks.com
These links, and many more, can be found at our website, www.hurricanerestaurant.com