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dining  breakfast shrimp  blueberry pancakes  vegetable garden

The Food

It's different - or so we're being told: breakfast at Le Vatout is not your usual fare. We're not big fans of sugary stuff and I, Dominika, tend to serve what we would eat: Savory food in generous portions, full of flavor, and fresh, fresh, fresh. As the "chef" I'll be the first to tell you that I've had no formal training and that I don't like to follow specific recipes. To me cooking, like art or writing, is a creative experience. In other words, I like to make it up - inspired by ingredients like herbs and veggies from the garden; by you, our guests, your wants and needs; or by my childhood memories. What follows here is not a menu, but an example of what happens when inspiration strikes.

eggs and prosciutto> Broken Eggs

"Gemalte Eier". That's what my mother used to call them, eggs that have their yolks disturbed just enough so that they look as if they're painted. I like to serve them with a generous sprinkling of fresh rosemary and bits of Prosciutto di Parma gently sauteed in butter and in olive oil. Delicious with Aroostook whole wheat toast and perfect with slices of fresh tomato from the garden.

oatmeal> Oatmeal

Yes, oatmeal. Good and solid, nothing fancy, just like life in Maine. During the fall, I prepare it with apples from our garden, but it's perfect served with any fruit on any coolish day. Plain rolled oats meet nuts or seeds, sometimes goji berries, sometimes raisins, sometimes a little cinnamon, but always maple syrup for a taste experience that is sweet and creamy, enhanced by nutty and balanced out by tart.

breakfast sausages> Sausages!!!

When I discovered Morse's "Nürnberger Rostbrat-würstchen" I knew fate had struck. They are the real thing, savory and smoky, with a flavor I never found this side of the Atlantic. Usually, I team them up with fresh fried Maine potatoes and then fold scrambled eggs around it all. Great with chopped fresh sage or thyme, always a little parsley, these sausages are out of this world!

vegetarian eggs> Cheesy Eggs

They're an omelette; no, actually they're more like a frittata; or maybe they're just eggs allowed to slowly come into their own. A favorite of our vegetarian guests, cheesy eggs tend to involve fresh veggies from the garden - patty pan, zucchini, or asparagus - cubed pepper jack and herbs: parsley and chives, maybe some dill, maybe some tarragon. Served with toasted multi-grain bread, they're our favorite, too!

blueberry pancakes> Buckwheat and Blues

... and twice-smoked bacon - what a breakfast treat! Pancakes at Le Vatout tend to be huge - the way I had them in my childhood in Westfalia. They're usually made with buckwheat and I can make them gluten-free. Topped with a generous helping of Maine blueberries and chopped walnuts, each one is a meal. Add a couple of thick slices carved from a slab of German bacon and prepare to swoon.

breakfast shrimp > Sunshine Shrimp

It took a stroke of luck to create the perfect marriage of breakfast eggs and Pandalus borealis, those delicious, storied shrimp from Maine. Of course I use fresh herbs - sometimes scallions, sometimes cilantro, sometimes dill - but the secret is a squirt or two of Tennessee Sunshine, a hot sauce introduced to us by one of our guests. Zesty and full of flavor, it adds a little punch to this symphony of sweet.


"Growing up in postwar Germany, I was surrounded by the joy of food.
My grandmother’s delight in a slice of fresh, crusty bread slathered with butter and honey, my father’s excitement over the fragrance of our foraged chanterelles,
my mother’s face as she tasted her perfect duck gravy, my grandfather’s
pride in his gooseberries, my aunt’s smoked eel… Food was an experience.
Food had a story. It was beautiful, immediate, and it had heft..."

Dominika Spetsmann
(From the introduction to
Cecily’s Apples, a collection of stories inspired by food)

... and our Sources

Coffee - fresh roasted and delivered to our doorstep once a week by Joe from Rock City Coffee Roasters; fresh ground and brewed each morning here at Le Vatout. One sip and you will know the difference.

Tea - if you want Lipton's, you can have it. But if you're willing to be a little more adventurous, let us serve you tea imported by our friend, Ming Wu. Once you've tasted one of his high mountain teas, you may never go back to the bag.

Eggs and Dairy - usually we fetch them from Spears Farm Stand down the road from Le Vatout. All of their offerings are locally produced and super fresh. Those golden yolks might be a revelation for you, too.

Breakfast Meats - what a delightful surprise to find Morse's, home of the famous Morse's sauerkraut and purveyor of all things German, right here in Waldoboro! Their sausages are out of this world and their twice-smoked bacon has inspired one of my food stories.

Bread - it's real: moist, chewy and crusty, the way bread used to be. It's baked by Borealis, right around the corner, and made with unbleached, organic wheat and their grandmother's starter. Each loaf is a work of art.

Shellfish - crab meat, lobster and those delicious shrimp from the cold mid-coast Atlantic waters, they're delivered to our doorstep by a fisherman from Dutchneck, right up the road from Le Vatout. If you have never tasted shellfish caught the day you eat it, get ready for a Taste of Maine.

Grains, seeds and nuts, maple syrup and granola, come from our natural food store, Rising Tide. An old-fashioned coop, their offerings tend to be organic and locally grown in Maine.

Herbs and veggies, apples, rhubarb, berries are produced with great joy right here, in Le Vatout's garden. We're a member of MOFGA and everything we grow is organic and free of pesticides.

arts

Special diets - gluten free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan, you name it - I'll try my darndest to accommodate. Let me know what it is you need and what you cannot eat. I usually try to go a step further by creating a meal that's suitable for you and tasty for everyone else as well.


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Le Vatout | 218 Kaler's Corner | Waldoboro, ME 04572 | (207) 832-5150 | info@levatout.com


Member of the Waldoboro Business Association, the Penobscot Bay Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Tourism Association,
the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and proud recipient of Maine's Environmental Leader Certificate

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