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Taste & Tell
by Outspoken on Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:25 pm
Taste & Tell
New name, same delectable food at MaryEllenz
By N.L. ENGLISH
Portland Press Herald
BATH — A name change won't alter the central focus of Maryellenz Vine Street Grill, dedicated to menus and dishes liked by its customers. Deservedly popular crab cakes and thoughtful vegetarian dishes are two worthwhile reasons to come here for dinner.
Pasta dishes and other seafood are more.
The owners met in 1989 as chefs at Kristina's, a restaurant up the street now called Mae's. Mary Ellen Pecci and Mary Ellen Hunt ran a popular small cafe from 2000 to 2005 under the name MaryEllenz Caffe. After a year catering in another spot, they opened their present location at 15 Vine St. in 2006, again as MaryEllenz Caffe.
Then, in February, they changed the restaurant's name to MaryEllenz Vine Street Grille. "We wanted to appeal to a larger audience," Hunt said.
The change is meant to help customers realize the days of the 28-seat cafe are over. Fifty can settle in at the new place. An adjoining art gallery, which can be rented, also seats 50.
The Vine Street building, once an office building for Bath Iron Works, has a view of the Route 1 bypass and, looming beyond it, a BIW crane. In the summer, meals are served on the wide, covered front terrace, and in winter, the tables along the windows are the best in the house. Walls in shades of warm yellow give the interior a glow, and at night, the cobalt glass shades of the hanging lights sparkle.
Chewy focaccia and a little dish of excellent olives make an admirable start to a meal. The menu holds certain "favorites" that have pleased customers over the years, such as crab cakes (appetizer $9, entree $19).
They were indeed excellent -- full of crab, crisp on the exterior, and tender and luscious inside. Wilted escarole, sauted red onion and lemon beurre blanc accompany the crab cakes, setting off the sweet crab perfectly with their bitter and sour flavors.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=172727&ac=Audience
Doug Jones/Staff Photographer
New name, same delectable food at MaryEllenz
By N.L. ENGLISH
Portland Press Herald
BATH — A name change won't alter the central focus of Maryellenz Vine Street Grill, dedicated to menus and dishes liked by its customers. Deservedly popular crab cakes and thoughtful vegetarian dishes are two worthwhile reasons to come here for dinner.
Pasta dishes and other seafood are more.
The owners met in 1989 as chefs at Kristina's, a restaurant up the street now called Mae's. Mary Ellen Pecci and Mary Ellen Hunt ran a popular small cafe from 2000 to 2005 under the name MaryEllenz Caffe. After a year catering in another spot, they opened their present location at 15 Vine St. in 2006, again as MaryEllenz Caffe.
Then, in February, they changed the restaurant's name to MaryEllenz Vine Street Grille. "We wanted to appeal to a larger audience," Hunt said.
The change is meant to help customers realize the days of the 28-seat cafe are over. Fifty can settle in at the new place. An adjoining art gallery, which can be rented, also seats 50.
The Vine Street building, once an office building for Bath Iron Works, has a view of the Route 1 bypass and, looming beyond it, a BIW crane. In the summer, meals are served on the wide, covered front terrace, and in winter, the tables along the windows are the best in the house. Walls in shades of warm yellow give the interior a glow, and at night, the cobalt glass shades of the hanging lights sparkle.
Chewy focaccia and a little dish of excellent olives make an admirable start to a meal. The menu holds certain "favorites" that have pleased customers over the years, such as crab cakes (appetizer $9, entree $19).
They were indeed excellent -- full of crab, crisp on the exterior, and tender and luscious inside. Wilted escarole, sauted red onion and lemon beurre blanc accompany the crab cakes, setting off the sweet crab perfectly with their bitter and sour flavors.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=172727&ac=Audience
Doug Jones/Staff Photographer
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
