Arborvine is a large restaurant in Blue Hill, Maine that has been serving locally sourced American cuisine for 21 years.  They have turned an 1823 farmhouse into a fine dining establishment with fireplaces, area rugs, memoriabilia and cozy window filled rooms.   Music is softly played in the background and there’s lots of flowers.  A large outdoor patio is covered but open air for those that want to eat outside, but I thought it was too bright compared to the soft lighting inside.

Building

Food

 

We started with a well made Negroni cocktail.

 

The Tower of South Blue Hill lobster, avocado, and mango was served on a bed of Carding Brook Farm mesclun topped with a citrus vinaigrette.  The mango was perfectly ripe as was the avocado and the lobster was in nice chunks.  Not much texture in the dish but the greens made a good color contrast.  It blended marvelously and was a tasty plate.

 

The salad of saffron poached Bartlett pear and Four Season Farm baby beets was mixed with Carding Brook Farm mesclun, crumbled Danish Blue cheese and topped with a Meyer lemon vinaigrette.  The beets were a small element but very good but the pears were the star as they were perfectly ripe and filled with flavor.  The cheese added a good flavor contrast in a dish filled with flavor.  It was really good.

 

Tournedos Bordelaise on a dollop of herbed Vermont chèvre was medallions of beef tenderloin topped with a Demi Glacé/ Bordeaux reduction alongside potatoes au gratin.  The meat was cooked rare as requested and tender.  The rich sauce and cheese gave it amazing flavor.  It was lovely.  The potatoes were divine – rich, buttery and creamy.  An old school plate done really well.

 

Dessert

 

Espresso toffee chip ice cream by the Ice Cream Lady was served with a snickerdoodle like cookie.  It was really strongly flavored with espresso but I didn’t detect much toffee chip.  Either way it was delicious with a great texture.

 

Seasonal Fruit cobbler ala mode was with nectarine and blueberry.  The nectarine took a back seat to the blueberries but you could detect its added sweetness.  An excellent crumble was in large chunks on the top.  It was perfect with the fruit and the ice cream just added another level of richness to those intense wild blueberries.  Yummy.