{"id":44026,"date":"2017-08-30T16:53:30","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T20:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mainemag.wpengine.com\/?p=44026"},"modified":"2021-06-22T08:51:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T12:51:29","slug":"the-burning-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/the-burning-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"The Burning Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

The modest building that houses The Burning Tree<\/a> is a just a few miles from Bar Harbor, leaving the crowded streets of late summer in the rearview mirror. The restaurant is easy to recognize; it\u2019s the place with the brightly blooming garden out front, full of zinnia, dahlia, and morning glories, nearly obscuring its sign. This cutting garden is just one of several on and off the property, bursting at the seams right now. Co-owner Allison Martin and I take a seat at a table in the main garden shaded by a large crab apple tree. \u201cWe\u2019ll use those crab apples in cocktails,\u201d she says. In the adjacent raised beds are summer squash, beans, collards, kale, and more providing nearly half of the produce used at the restaurant. Tomatoes and basil are growing inside a small greenhouse. \u201cIt\u2019s significant,\u201d says Martin, \u201cnot just some herbs. In a good year, we\u2019ll grow all own greens.\u201d Another garden outside her home, just behind the restaurant, has angelica (\u201cgood for stuffing grape leaves\u201d), pale yellow Marvel of Venice \u201cemergency beans,\u201d and more flowers.<\/p>\n

The idea for the Burning Tree was born 30 years ago from a senior project when Martin was a student at the College of the Atlantic. After graduating, she and Elmer Beal partnered, personally and professionally, to open the restaurant. The place has the funky charm of an old home, with two small dining areas and an enclosed front porch. The grounds are like a compound, with a couple of homes that house some of the staff, all built by Martin and Beal. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun, building it over the years, \u201c Beal tells me. His family is well known as owners of a lobster wholesale and retail operation in Southwest Harbor for over 75 years. \u201cHe comes from seafood,\u201d Martin says. \u201cIt was our pipe dream to have a seafood restaurant, serving fish from the coast of Maine. I had no idea what we were doing when I opened Burning Tree with Elmer.\u201d She tells me how Beal would go to the Bar Harbor docks to meet the ground fishermen, many of whom he had known his childhood. \u201cHe\u2019d buy the top of the catch before the rest would be rushed off to Portland,\u201d says Martin. Species like flounder, grey sole, hake, and monkfish are more common now, but \u201c30 years ago no one was serving the kind of fish we were serving,\u201d she says. \u201cOn a normal night now, we serve at least six species of fish and many kinds of seafood.\u201d Beal no longer cooks at Burning Tree, but he lives on the property and still works with the seafood, maintaining decades-long relationships with fishermen. \u201cFor decades we cooked side by side,\u201d says Martin, \u201calways working the line together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin now spends all day prepping and runs the line, helped out by her \u201cwonderful crew\u201d that includes her 18-year-old daughter. Every morning, Martin makes a harvest list for gardener Sarah Hewitt, who will pick what\u2019s needed for prep. \u201cBut there\u2019s always a Iot of running in and out to pick more,\u201d Martin says. \u201cIt\u2019s a big, complicated fun menu. That\u2019s the only way I know how to do it.\u201d The variety of dishes offered each night is astonishing and incredibly appealing. \u201cI\u2019m a more confident cook now,\u201d Martin says. \u201cWhat I cook may not be original, but the way I put it together is unique. I\u2019ve come to understand the subtleties of the different fish we serve.\u201d The broiled halibut with golden-browned Pernod and green peppercorn sauce is a menu staple, but many dishes rotate through. And there are always specials\u2014like the cod over Basque ratatouille with mint yogurt sauce\u2014based on what\u2019s available in the garden. At the height of the tomato season, Martin offers a quick-pickled melon and heirloom tomato salad with burrata. It\u2019s a simple, beautiful dish, with each ingredient the very best of the moment.\u00a0Mussels from nearby Trenton get a traditional makhani Punjabi sauce, butter-based with tomato, ginger, and garlic and thickened with cashew cream. Accompanied by a tender round of flatbread and subtly flavored with fenugreek and honey, it\u2019s a novel and delicious approach to the popular seafood. Grey sole, rolled into pinwheel and stuffed with leeks and black trumpet mushrooms, is a showcase for Martin\u2019s finesse. The dish is light and luscious, served with an au poivre sauce, nameko mushrooms, and bits of crispy prosciutto. There are no meat entrees on the menu, but ingredients like prosciutto, chorizo, and pancetta are used as accents.<\/p>\n

Mitch Martin, Allison\u2019s nephew, has worked at the Burning Tree for several years and has done most of the positions. Now he has taken over the restaurant\u2019s constantly changing wine list, bringing in \u201cstuff that\u2019s different and unique, like us,\u201d he says. \u201cAll of the wine on the list is a good match for our food.\u201d Cocktails make good use of seasonal ingredients, such as the Crabapple Cosmo or Purple Basil Mojito.<\/p>\n

The Burning Tree has earned its reputation over three decades for sophisticated food that\u2019s worth seeking out, slightly off the beaten path. \u201cI\u2019ve grown up here,\u201d says Allison Martin. \u201cFor years, I didn\u2019t feel like a real chef, and now I do. What brings me joy every summer is the crew of younger people who come here to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Burning Tree |\u00a069 Otter Creek Dr. | Mount Desert |\u00a0207.288.9331<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The modest building that houses The Burning Tree is a just a few miles from Bar Harbor, leaving the crowded streets of late summer in the rearview mirror. The restaurant is easy to recognize; it\u2019s the place with the brightly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":44041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,21,4,32,3],"tags":[],"locations":[],"people":[],"class_list":["post-44026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-culture","category-eat-feature","category-eat-maine-blog","category-eat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n