Sometimes when one travels there is insufficient time to plan your entire meal tour. Coming to Pop!Tech is one time that I wish I had. The great news is that everyone points you to the gold standard. Or should I say platinum standard?
Here is where I start kicking myself. How many times does one get to dine in the establishment of a James Beard Best Chef award winner? Not many. This part of Maine is home to to one, Melissa Kelly of Primo in Rockland.
I could flower the page with superlatives and minute descriptions of sauces (mushroom-Madeira jus!!) but it would be lacking. Here’s the best I can do: local ingredients — as in from the 2 acres surrounding the establishment — prepared with extreme finesse are the norm.
Just a few suggestions. The wine selection was pleasantly varied and while the Muga 2000 we ordered was actually a 2003, no harm done. Order the saltimbocca which, as rumor has it, is the only item that never rotates off the menu as it was Melissa’s grandfather’s favorite. True or not, it deserves a permanent home on the menu. Not to be overlooked the homemade cannoli might be some of the best I have ever had. That includes the couple of hundred consumed in Italy! What was surprising was the shell itself. Instead of a thick wafer the delicate latticework was perfect. Hats off to Melissa’s partner Price Kushner, the pastry chef, who coincidentally runs the house.
A special mention needs to be made for Sarah who truly accompanied us for the evening at each step explaining in minute detail where the ingredients came from, the preparation, and providing some solid choices when suggestions where requested. If you see her, ask about her photography.
There are few restaurants which I can say I would make a 630 mile journey for. Primo is one of them.
Camden Maine hosts one of the best small restaurants I have eaten in for quite some time. 
