Hurricane chefs cook up a storm
Catharine Sengel
Journal Tribune Weekend

Brooks MacDonald, chef and food lover to the core, has taken Ogunquit by storm.

As owner and original executive chef of the Hurricane Restaurant, the burly host has brought the Perkins Cove eatery into the public eye with his tempting menu and owner-in-the-store style of management.

A spectacular setting combined with the new creative force of chef Steven Steeves' cooking offer Hurricane patrons sumptuous gusts of feast for the senses.

Wrap around windows bring a panorama of the pounding Atlantic and rocky shores into the dining room.

Fresh fare with an international flare trade equally for the attention of Hurricane's guests.

The mix proves dynamic.

MacDonald says sales have literally doubled in the three years since he and wife Luanne bought the Perkins Cove business from the Horsefeathers crowd.

"The view helps. We're kind of spoiled with the view here. But when people get in and sit down, their eyes are as much on their plates," MacDonald says. "This is not a baked stuffed haddock-and-fried clams kind of place."

Presentation counts as much as flavor.

With lunch and dinner menus that include dishes like fresh Maine lobster gazpacho, fried oyster po' boy, black tie shrimp and Napoleon of smoke salmon, Hurricane lives up to its mission to bring the freshest seafood available to customers. (Grilled fish outsells lobster 10-to-1.)

Still meat eaters arent slighted. MacDonald's burgers are famed, as are Steeves' grilled filet mignon with grilled vegetable relish and béarnaise sauce, Creole mousse pate and veal medallions with wild mushrooms and wine demi glasse.

Interesting butters, fresh salsas and an extensive win lists provide fine accompaniments.

The entire productions speaks of the heartfelt effort MacDonald and Steeves bring to their art.

Both admit their love affair with cooking started from the same unglamorous beginnings-scrubbing pots in restaurant kitchens in their early teens.

MacDonald jokes that "when you get really good at that you get to handle and break the dishes."

And both were inspired in their professions by "great cooks." MacDonald's mother was part of a very kitchen-talented line. The family sold baked good during the Depression to make ends meet.

MacDonald was chef at Horsefeathers for 14 tears, and also cooked at the Cliff House and the Eastern Slope Inn in New Hampshire.

Steeves honed his skills in the apprentice program of the American Culinary Federations. his love for his career was sparked by Gerry Simon, chef at the Kennebunkport Inn.

"Working with a talented chef really kept me interested," Steeves says, and thats the way he would like it to stay.

"Once you lose creativity, that's when it really starts to get boring," Steeves says.

It's as much the local mentality, he says, as the setting that keeps business interesting.

Steeves, new to the Hurricane Restaurant, says he has worked at high-profile restaurants elsewhere in the state, where dialogue between chef and staff and other area chefs was very limited.

"In Portland the chef was more closed-mouthed. You couldn't just pluck his mind," he says. "Down here we talk for hours about food and share ideas."

The result is a shift in cooking away from the more classical fare and toward more nutrition-oriented dishes with an emphasis on fresh, heart-healthy food that taste great.

That doesn't mean "nouvelle cuisine" (what MacDonald calls "French for not enough food", but a blend of Californian, Jamaican, Asian and any other exotic influence that crosses the chefs' paths.

MacDonald has worked equally hard at cultivating the same type of rapport with local farmers, produce suppliers and fisherman to get the best and freshest food southern Maine has to offer.

Herbs are grown right outside the restaurant's front door. Baby lettuce and organic vegetables nearby farms. Fish is right off the day boats that dock in the harbor. Tuna, for example is caught by local fishermen, packed in ice in the morning and delivered the same day, unlike some that come in on boats out for 30 days at a stretch.

"What's that fish going to be like after it's sat in a hull for 30days?" MacDonald asks, already aware of the answer.

Though his livelihood depends on supply, he worries about the demise of the industry and hopes government inspection and regulation will slow the waning tide.

"Haddock is just about history," he says. "Boats used to bring in 120-to 140-pound halibut. Forty-pounders are the biggest brought into Portland these days."

MacDonald's environmental conscience extends to a social awareness of where the credit for running a successful operations actually rests.

"You're only as good as the people you surround yourself with," MacDonald believes. "I can't just take the profits and run." He's pleased to be able to say he and Luanne have been able to present his staff with a large profit-sharing check this year.

In a business known for rapid employee turnover, Hurricane has held onto the same staff for years. "We're like a little family here," MacDonald says.

Steeves appreciates the close-knit atmosphere and his bosses' trust in allowing him to let his imagination roam in his kitchen.

With a swell of pride, both admit Hurricane captures a torrent of their affection. "You have to love it," MacDonald says. "I've never cashed a check in any other profession and I probably never will."

"Me either," Steeves seconds.

Hurricane restaurant in Perkins Cove. Ogunquit is open seven days a week for dining from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free happy hour buffet at 4:30p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It?s wise to make reservations, especially on weekends. For reservations and information call 800-649-6348 in Maine or 207-646-6348 out of state.

Chefs du jour Brooks MacDonald and Steve Steeves of Hurricane Restaurant.

Key ingredients:

MacDonald, 44, lives in Kennebunk and is co-owner of Hurricane with wife Luanne. He says the restaurant is his only child.

Steeves, 28, lives in Sanford with wife Diana and has three daughters, Ashley, 7, Autumn, 6 and Amber, 4.

Weaknesses:

"Food. I love to eat," MacDonald says.

Steeves says, "I have an incredible sweet tooth. I even like working with chocolate."

Favorite restaurants:

"The White Barn Inn in Kennebunk is one of my favorites," MacDonald says. "Its five diamonds are well deserved."

Steeves chooses La Tese in New York and the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport.

Guests they'd most like to dine with:

Steeves: "Beer, pretzels an hot dogs with Babe Ruth and James Beard."

MacDonald: "Wolfgang Puck looks like he'd be fun to eat with, anybody who loves food."

Last meal before dying:

MacDonald: A Porterhouse steak with pomme frit. "I'd do the whole gambit." Dessert? "I'm diabetic so I can't eat sweets, but then if I'm going to die anyway, my mother's apple pie."

Steeves: "A big bowl of pasta with James Beard."

Where each would like to be in 10 years:

Steeves: "What I'm doing now is what I'd like to be doing in 10 years."

MacDonald: "This is a lifelong dream."