Black Point Inn Blog

Translation: It’s just you and the locals in a vibrant, eclectic neighborhood. A onetime tent city and longtime blue-collar enclave, Portland’s Munjoy Hill neighborhood has become a hot spot in Maine’s biggest city.
“Foodies love Portland for its top-notch restaurants…”
To read the rest of the article visit the Washington Post Travel Section.

Munjoy Hill in Portland is just one of the many great areas to explore while staying at the Inn

It’s no surprise to those of us who live here that thanks to high marks in five key quality of life metrics, Portland tops this year’s list of America’s Most Livable Cities on Forbes.com. We have 513,000 residents living the good life in the Portland metro area. Forbes says, “The region earned high marks for income growth and culture; it also has low levels of crime and unemployment. Residents can afford the relatively high cost of living because of a 6.3% income growth rate over the past five years.”

The Inn is just 15 minutes from the jetport and Portland’s Old Port so you too can partake in the good life while enjoying the Inn’s breathtaking views, fabulous food, luxury Oceanside accommodations, and unsurpassed recreational amenities here on Prouts Neck.

Sailing into Portland Harbor

I was excited to receive the latest copy of Portland Magazine (Maine’s Award Winning Magazine!), and find that Black Point Inn was included in in the “Local Flavor” section of the April 2009 Issue.  In an article called “Waiter, Can You Bring Me a View?”, Allison Richards profiles over a dozen local “hotels offering five-star cuisine and drop-dead beautiful views”.  The article begins: “The wonderful thing about Maine’s ocean and lakeside hotel restaurants with wrap around views is, beyond the steaming hot-boiled lobster, the sweet ears of butter-sugar corn, the strawberry shortcake – or say, at [petite] dejuener, blueberry muffins true as a morning in July, we are able to feast our eyes.  That is, the view is the floor show.”

Great sunset views from the porch of the Chart Room

Here’s what they say about The Point and The Chart Room at Black Point Inn: “In the Chart Room, look west to see the sunset over the far beach of Pine Point and Mt. Washington.  Here, the Scarborough and Nonesuch rivers meet and drain out to sea past Prouts Neck.  Our second ocean-view dining is in The Point.  Facing east, we see the open ocean, with Ram and Richmond Islands.  We recommend classic butter-poached lobster with lemon saffron risotto and spring peas while you feast your eyes.”

Delicious Food, Spectacular Views from The Point, our fine-dining restaurant

Spring brings many new things to our tables. Around the world the fava bean is one of them. A staple in Mediterranean kitchens for thousands of years it has become a unique product for the US. Not quite tasting of a bean-to me more of a nutty buttery potato – it is similar to a lima bean. There are a few growers in Maine and I cannot wait to get my hands on them. A friend just returned from vacation in New Zealand with a short stop in San Francisco where he had young favas, still in the pod, lightly battered and fried whole with an aioli. Look for these on our tapas menu in the Chart Room and in our New England succotash.

Trap Landry, Executive Chef

With another foot of snow out at the Inn it is hard to imagine that the kitchen will be getting started in just five weeks. New recipes to work out, new staff to train for the season ahead. We are also working out the details for a plan we have for great outdoor lobster bakes by the pool.

Nothing like a fresh oyster

With warmer weather on the way the local farmers and seafood suppliers are going to have some of their best products for us just as we open.

I just finished reading “The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell” by Mark Kurlansky and highly recommend it. It is an incredible history of the New York oyster industry before it was destroyed by pollution at the beginning of the 20th century. It really is a much more pleasant read than it sounds. It has taken me back to my love of Maine oysters and I can’t wait to crack open the first Damariscottas!

Trap Landry, Executive Chef

After watching the clamming going on in front of the Inn down at the Sand Dollar Beach… We asked our Chef Trap if he had a recipe that could use these “Steamer” clams for a chowder…. of course he did… and here it is! Enjoy!!!!

Clam Chowder at Black Point Inn

Black Point Inn Steamer Clam Chowder
This recipe uses steamer clams freshly dug on Sand Dollar beach. It is best to leave the clams overnight in seawater with 1/8 cup of cornmeal scattered over the water. This will help them to filter out any sand in their bellies.

5# fresh steamer clams (1# or approximately 1qt shucked clams)
1c water
1/3 # smoked bacon, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 stick butter
1/4c flour
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium Turkish bay leaf
2 tsp fresh thyme
1/4c dry sherry
2 1/2c milk
1 1/2c heavy cream

Begin by steaming the clams in a deep stock pot until they open. Add 1c water so that they do not dry out. Strain the cooking broth to add to chowder later. Pull the clams out of their shells and pull off the siphons to get to the arrowhead shaped meat. Discard all but this meat and the soft belly. This should yield the quart of usable clam meat.

In a 2 quart heavy bottomed nonreactive stock pot gently brown the diced bacon, reserving the cooked bacon but leaving the fat in the pot.
Add the butter, celery, onion, thyme, and bay leaf. Gently cook until onion and celery are soft, approximately ten minutes.
Add flour and mix in well to make the roux. Allow to cook for another three to five minutes on low heat.
Add the potatoes, clam meat, clam broth, and sherry.
Now add the heavy cream and simmer until potatoes are cooked through.
Finally add the milk , being careful to not let the chowder boil.
Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
To serve divide the chowder between four soup bowls and garnish with chopped bacon

Great light at dusk the other day at the Inn!!!

Not a cloud in the sky at Black Point Inn!

Blue sky and a super-low tide (the full moon had not come up yet so no photos of the moon), and what was this man doing? Digging clams of course! What type of clams do you suppose??

Clamming!

I asked our Chef Trap about this:

“The clams are just called “soft shell” or “steamers”. The others refer to size in a hard shell clam, which I believe is a quohog. Commercially the largest quohogs are processed for frozen chowder pieces. HOWEVER, steamers make an awesome chowder!!”

Super low tide because of a full moon at Black Point Inn, also called a 'dreen' tide around here.

So there you go! As someone once said. “Clam Chowder for lunch!!!” Anybody read, “One morning in Maine”?