Dinner at 50 Local

On my recent Maine vacation, we had celebratory at 50 Local in downtown Kennebunk.

At first look, 50 Local is a chic, clean restaurant with colors of white and silver, and plenty of yellow accents. It's a small, comfortable restaurant, with large windows overlooking Main Street. There is a small lounge area, presumably for waiting, and a bar area off towards the back of the one-room dining room.

For my cocktail I started with the Jam Jar - Nana Paul's homemade strawberry jam, vodka and lemon. This refreshing drink had chunks of jam and was served in an old mason jar, I absolutely loved the creativity and the balance of sweet and tart flavors.

Jam Jar

Jam Jar

We were presented with a few baskets of warm, chewy bread which was served with a white bean dip - a great alternative to butter. We sipped our cocktails and took a look at the appetizer menu. Not wanting to over-order, but wanting to sample a few different items, we took a vote.

Bread Basket

For the appetizers we chose some favorites - Mussles Frites, Mac n Cheese and Calamari. The mussels were served with steak fries and a white wine sauce - which we all took turns sopping up with our bread. The calamari was crispy and served with home made pickles. Hands down, my favorite was the mac n cheese. Made with oricchiette, roasted tomatoes and a dash of truffle oil, this appetizer was wonderfully balanced between creamy and cheesy.

Mussel Frites

Mac n Cheese

Calamari

With dinner we enjoyed a few bottles of Grüner Veltliner, a crisp white wine that easily pairs with most food.

For dinner we had the lobster gnocchi (3 orders for the party of 6, this was the clear favorite of the evening), artic char, penne (unpictured) and chicken (unpictured). All dishes were beautifully presented, and both the gnocchi and char were presented on large, square plates, that really made the colors in the dishes pop.

The entrees were fantastic and everyone loved their dish, which was obvious from the empty plate in front of each guest.

Lobster Gnocchi

Artic Char

50 Local is a wonderful addition to the Southern Maine dining scene.

Local owners, local ingredients, locally sourced. Emphasis on the local, they even have some local links on their website.

50 Local restaurant is located at:
50 Main Street
Kennebunk, Maine 04043
tel: 207-985-0850