We’re excited to add to new additions to our team — Maitre d’ Jean-Baptiste Darcourt and Sous Chef Juan Gil.

Juan Gil is a native of Chile and received his training at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, completing the Grand Diplome de Cuisine et Patisserie in 2001. After the completion of his studies, he was awarded an internship at Les Ambassadeurs, holder of two Michelin Stars at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris. Gil holds extensive experience as a pastry chef, working at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago, Chile and The Brasserie on Grand Cayman Island. He previously worked as the Head Chef at Solana Restaurant at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, one of the finest Grand Cayman restaurants. Most recently, Gil was the Sous Chef and Head Pastry Chef of Koalkeel in Anguilla, where he was in charge of the bakery and French pastry shop. He also served as the Private Chef for Villa Modena in Anguilla. Gil brings with him extensive knowledge of classic French technique, fitting with the culinary emphasis on technique at Natalie’s.

Jean-Baptiste Darcourt comes to Natalie’s from his previous post as Restaurant Manager at Restaurant Du Glace in Deep River, CT. With over twenty-five years experience in the food and beverage industry, he has worked in such varied locales as New England, California, and Hawaii. While serving as Director of Restaurant at The Third Floor at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel in Hawaii, the restaurant won the Travel Holiday magazine award two years in a row and was honored with the AAA Four Diamond Award. While at Alexander’s at the Los Angeles Hilton, the restaurant received three stars from the California Restaurant Writers Association two years in a row. Another restaurant under his tutelage to receive the AAA Four Diamond Award is the Saybrook Point Inn and Spa of Connecticut, accepting the honor in both 2006 and 2008. The Inn also received the Zagat Award in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Earlier this summer we were named as one of the 50 best experiences in the world by one of the most important travel magazines, Sherman’s Travel, and our guests come with high expectations. We are thrilled to be able to bring two such tremendously talented and experienced individuals to Camden and to Natalie’s. It will help us to continue our journey of excellence and further secure our position among the very best properties in the world. Juan has trained at some of the most prestigious restaurants in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and will be a tremendous asset to our kitchen and Jean-Baptiste brings great knowledge and understanding in management of properties similar to our own.

We’re very happy to have them both on board and look forward to introducing them to everyone, please stop by to say hello and welcome them to Maine.

We’ve been busy in the kitchen here at Natalie’s working on our new dinner menu. While for many summer is a time to simply relax and enjoy the beautiful ocean in the Midcoast, perhaps while sailing or sunbathing, we are in full swing here during the busiest time of year for us (but don’t worry, we also find time to enjoy the outdoors and take full advantage of the season).

Summer, and its bounty, supplies us with such an incredible variety of great items to work with and we enjoy introducing local delicacies to our guests. This summer, in addition to our always-popular Lobster Tasting Menu (available only in the summer and fall), we are offering several new items focused on flavors of the sea. For an appetizer we have oysters of course, currently we are serving the creamy Bagaduce Oysters
with Nori Dressing, cucumber and chanterelle mushrooms. This combination really highlights the natural sweetness of the oyster, while adding some earthiness to it with the chanterelle. Our oysters always provide that incredible briny taste of ocean and salt that is considered to be unequaled by many and is so special to Maine.

We have also added a truly summery dish of Lobster with a Silver Queen Corn Waffle, Local Lobster Mushrooms and Basil Cream. The Silver Queen Corn is one of the best corns we’ve had, and it comes from a nearby farm in Damariscotta. Another new lobster dish for us is a Lobster Soup with Thai Green Curry, Lime Leaf and Ravioli.

Seafood lovers will enjoy our appetizer of Charred Squid with Marinated Penne, Herbs and Chorizo Oil. The dish has the zip of lemon and a touch of heat from the chorizo oil making it a refreshing salad.

Grilled Black Angus Beef with Artichoke and Horseradish Puree and local foraged mushrooms has already proven to be a popular dish, as has our Lamb Three Ways, we’re serving loin, belly and tenderloin in a delightful trio with eggplant provençal and garlic flan.

Desserts this time of year should be relatively simple. We’re currently serving a Meyer Lemon Tart with Crème Fraiche and for fruit lovers, a Blistered Tree Ripened Peach with Peach Sorbet and a Crepe filled with peach and Crème Fraiche. Both desserts balance the simple flavors of summer fruit with the tartness of Crème Fraiche, creating a light, yet fulfilling conclusion to any meal.

Please let us know what you think of the new menu, and Bon Appetit!

It’s a good thing we had rolled out the red carpet earlier this summer for our Natalie’s World Party* because we would have needed it last night for our first Hollywood Party celebrating the launch of Tess Gerritsen’s TV show Rizzoli & Isles, now airing on TNT.

Fans around the globe know her medical thrillers; her books have been translated into 37 languages, and more than 20 million copies have been sold around the world. Last night’s party, hosted by Tess and held at our beautiful Camden Harbour Inn, was incredibly fun and exciting. For one night Camden Maine felt like Hollywood. Sparkling dresses, red carpet, delicious hors d’oeuvres and signature cocktails combined with breathtaking views over Camden harbor. Voices were loud and the room was filled with laughter as everyone gathered to wish Tess well. VIP’s, friends, neighbors and relatives from all over Maine and well beyond including the UK and Asia gathered at Natalie’s restaurant to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Following the party Tess and approximately 500 of her closest friends went to the Camden Opera House to watch the first episode of what we are sure will become a huge hit.

We were thrilled to have Tess here and were part of making history, because with 7.6 million viewers the show was the best-viewed cable, commercial supported pilot ever. So we are looking forward to hosting an Emmy’s party when the show is nominated! The show is aired Monday at 10pm Easter Time for more information visit TNT

Chef Vongerichten is to foodies what Eddie Vedder is to rock fans and Tom Brady is to sports fans. The energy in his restaurants resembles crowded stadiums before the band takes the stage. It’s the stuff of dreams. So for me it was a dream coming true to be able to cook alongside Chef Vongerichten.

Together with Melissa Kelly (Primo restaurant in Rockland), Michael Leviton (Persephone Boston and Lumiere in Newton) and Jean Geroges Vongerichten (among many restaurants: Jean Georges New York) we were asked to prepare a five course dinner to raise funds for ICEC (Island Culinary and Ecological Center). ICEC is a non-profit that teaches people the benefits of healthy eating and cooking, using regional and sustainable products.

I was asked to create the appetizers and used Frenchman’s Bay diver urchins, Bagduce, Long Cove and Damariscotta oysters to prepare a raw bar of oysters; a Nori and Matsutake “cocktail” and Kombu butter, poached quail egg, sea urchin with a cauliflower and urchin emulsion.

Jean Georges prepared a Stonington Lobster and Frenchman’s Bay sea urchin potato butter, five star nursery green apples and chili. Melissa’s highlight was the coffee rubbed and slow braised pork with wild apples and local ginger. Michael created a sweet corn soup with Stonington Peekytoe Crab and a corn and basil fondue.

It was a culinary highlight I will always remember.

At Natalie’s at Camden Harbour Inn we just launched our new a la carte menu and a new bar menu will be launched next week. First feedback I got is amazing; I hope y’all come in to join us on our culinary journey.

Savoir Gourmand! Lawrence Klang, Executive Chef

A very busy Labor Day weekend is over and summer is slowly coming to an end. With beautiful sunny days ahead of us you would almost forget that the season is changing, but the cooler nights are suggesting the autumn is imminent. Although most of the summer visitors are heading home where work and school are awaiting, Camden Harbour Inn stays busy with people visiting the beautiful Mid Coast. This is my personal favorite time of the year - the light is amazing, the sunsets breathtaking and the temperature so unbelievable pleasant. This si the best time to enjoy a crisp white wine and some oysters or a salad at lunch and on a crisp night a wonderful Boeuf Bourguignon with a glass of a full bodies red wine from our cellars. Fresh local products, simple preparations and enjoying it with great company is what makes life beautiful. As said at Camden Harbour Inn we stay busy! Not only with guests visiting us from all around the world, but also with several spectacular events we have lined up for the fall and winter, starting with Maine Fare next weekend. I am joining Sam Hayward at the Camden Yacht Club culinary event on Friday september 11 and on Saturday we host a “Scent Dinner” at Natalie’s restaurant. Together with New York Time perfume critic and best selling author Chandler Burr, we will create an eight course sensory meal, exploring how scent and flavor work together in food and in perfume. This second annual scent dinner was created for Maine Fare and enhances the falvors and scents found throughout Maine, prepared with local ingredients. Make sure you visit our chefs at the Maine Fare market Saturday at 2pm, where they will demonstrate some “tricks and trades” of our renowned kitchen. More culinary excitement is coming soon; in the mean while please visit our  websites frequently for updates and packages. For instance we have a great package available for the Maine Fare weekend including the scent dinner.

Culinary greetings from all of us at Natalie’s and the Camden Harbour Inn

Camden Harbour Inn & Natalie's restaurant Red Carpet Event 2009

Time flies when you are having fun. It is almost two weeks ago when we had the Natalie’s World Red Carpet Premiere. Close to 400 guests and members of the press attended this wonderful soiree, which was also used to launch our amazing affordable culinary trips to Thailand for January 2010. We would like to thank Easterly Wine, Central Distributors, Pine State Trading Co, Cellardoor Vineyards, Sysco, Native Maine, Jesse’s Fish Market and GBritt PR for helping us making this an unforgettable event. While the restaurant and inn have been sold out almost every evening and summer is finally here, we already are thinking what fun events we will have coming winter. Check our website if you would like to join us to Thailand or for other great ‘culinary’ events we have planned. Or click here if you would like to see the pictures of our Red Carpet Premiere. Enjoy the nice weather and make sure to visit us and spend some time on our heated and partly covered porches with the best view over Camden harbor and mount Battie.  Greetings, Raymond Brunyanszki owner

Camden is starting to buzz with people returning to Mid-Coast Maine for hopefully another memorable summer.

Natalie’s Restaurant has been busy enjoying the return of old friends and the fun of making new ones. The first guests have dined on our heated porches overlooking Mount Battie and Camden Harbor.

I often wish I could step out of the kitchen and dine under the Camden Harbor sunset shining with the most beautiful shades of blue, orange and pink on the sail boats gently floating with their mountain backdrop. Sure enough I’ll dine on Natalie’s deck on one of my days off. It’s surely one of the most beautiful places to dine and in my humble opinion the best place to eat.

Besides executing Natalie’s kitchen, I have been cooking for special events, delivering cooking demos and culinary presentations.

It’s a challenge mixing the events into my hectic schedule but for a good cause or special occasion, I’m on board.

For instance, I prepared a special soigné’ Maine picnic on a Fifth Avenue Manhattan garden rooftop. The event was organized by Natalie’s PR firm Gbritt to promote Camden as the great destination it is. Also promoting Mid-Coast Maine were Cellardoor Winery, Swan Island Blankets, Leucadia’s Brewster Point and members of  the Lincolnville-Camden- Rockport- Chamber of Commerce.   

The picnic lunch was served in a stylish Bento Box with beautiful plates for each course. Each box included a green salad accented with seared lardon, a Maine lobster salad flavored  with an elegant truffle aioli and sugar snap peas on fresh baked brioche and a delicate French crepe filled with rhubarb purée and crème fraiche.  The picnic was paired with a Cellardoor Vineyards’ Dry Riesling.

The evening before the picnic, we enjoyed a dinner at Artisanal Bistro, a chique Manhattan French restaurant. Their cheese selection was delicious. It inspires me to offer a broader range of cheeses for Natalie’s guests than we already do. Combined with Natalie’s delicious list of dessert wines, ports, the expanded cheese menu is sure to be a tasty hit.

For Camden Harbour Inn’s owners’ Raymond Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest, the evening was especially memorable.  They were the first to see the July issue of Travel and Leisure Magazine which includes a special feature titled,” 23 Coast-to-Coast Seaside Inns We Love.”  The best surprise was a multi-paged photo spread filled with pictures of Camden Harbour Inn, Natalie’s Restaurant and the awesome views of Camden.

It’s bitter-sweet that word of the Inn’s fabulous views are getting out, because I’ll have to plan ahead and reserve that  table on the porch soon to dine under  the glowing Camden summer sunset. However, at the end of cooking for the evening, I step out of the kitchen; greet our guests and enjoy the glow of their smiling faces and I know I’m on the right path. Savoir Gourmand!

A little over a year ago, I arrived in Camden to begin an exciting new chapter in my life and career… and what a year it has been! I still remember how impressed I was with the décor when I stepped into Natalie’s restaurant for the first time. The oversized bold red lampshades and the combination of antiques and modern furniture are styles saved for metropolitans, most certainly not in mid-coast Maine.

It soon became clear that no corners were cut at Natalie’s (or the Camden Harbour Inn for that matter). The kitchen was brand new and ultra modern with all the equipment one can think of to execute a flawless dinner. The owners, Oscar Verest and Raymond Brunyanszki, desire only the best and are insistent upon using the best quality of proteins and ingredients to create your dinner. A superb culinary experience, with a personalized service that is both friendly and professional is what we strive to achieve each night for our guests. The guest experience here is magical and I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

I came to Camden and Natalie’s because of the unique opportunity to work with an enthusiastic team of people who are making a change in the Maine culinary and lodging scene. I love working in an environment where you are able to think out of the box and where you have a podium for new ideas and fresh approaches.

My menus reflect that enthusiasm, always based on the classic French cuisine but with a modern and fresh approach. I love the change in seasons in New England which brings about change in the local products, including the freshest fish you have ever seen. I enjoy living in Maine and I understand why so many artists decide to live along this stunning coast. The colors and sounds, along with the smell of the fresh sea air that fills your lungs, and the genuine people of Maine who welcomed me to the community are all inspirations for my menu.

Spring has arrived and it is still a few months before another busy summer starts. Last year was extremely busy at Natalie’s so we’re already getting prepared. We have made a couple of changes and improvements the past winter to ensure smooth service and quality cuisine this summer. We have expanded our kitchen so we can have more chefs working to give our guests an unforgettable experience. The bar menu has been upgraded and contains a larger selection of international bites inspired by the Dutch East India Company theme of the inn. We will continue to change our a la carte menu frequently, always using the freshest products and as many local ingredients as possible. Everything we do is made from scratch and prepared a la minute, sometimes that means that a preparation might take a bit longer but believe me the difference in taste and quality is worth the extra minutes waiting.

We also have been developing a new breakfast a la carte menu for our inn guests—I am very excited about this new menu that offers excellent choices including a Thai green curry omelet and Eggs Benedict with lobster. The inn guests are welcomed with a yogurt smoothie and fresh fruit and may choose from the a la carte selections as well as a culinary buffet. A sparkling mimosa or glass of Prosecco is served and what better way to start your day with freshly brewed espresso.

I hope to bring everyone along for some exciting cooking this season, especially this spring and summer, as the produce available is incredible and it is my personal favorite time of the year . I’ll be posting my recipes, general thoughts and adventures here in Maine and abroad during the following year. I welcome suggestions and hope for your interaction and questions.

We look forward to having you at Natalie’s and the Camden Harbour Inn.

Savior Gourmand!