What is The Lost Kitchen?

The Lost Kitchen is one of those must do dining experiences in Maine! The catch - you can’t just make a reservation, not even a year in advance. You have to mail a postcard to Freedom, Maine and hope yours is selected from the > 20,000 postcards that the restaurant receives each year.

As luck may have it, my mom’s postcard was selected this past summer. We made the ~2 hour drive north to Freedom to experience a once in a lifetime dining experience. The magic Erin French and her team creates for their guests in Freedom is truly incredible! This experience also provided us much welcomed warmth and positivity during such an uncertain time of COVID-19.

It all started with a phone call from Freedom, Maine the week before we dined. They offered 3 dates and the opportunity to bring up to 4 guests total. It is a prix fixe surprise menu, meaning you have no idea what dishes you’ll enjoy until you arrive the night of.

The Dining Experience:

We arrived to the old girst mill in Freedom filled with feelings of anticipation. What would the evening really be like? The smell of wood burning campfire filled the air as the sun began to sit low in the sky on the late summer evening. We were greeted in the parking lot with a copy of the evening’s printed menu and instructed to make our way across the bridge. We slowly made our way across the bridge, socially distanced between dining parties, taking in the setting sun and the glimpses of the outdoor dining space we would eventually meet. While making our way across the bridge, we experienced our first surprise of the evening - a plum shaved ice to cleanse the palate. Once we crossed the bridge, we were able to visit the “wine shop” and select and purchase whatever bottles we were looking to enjoy for the evening.

The restaurant is typically set inside the lower level of the grist mill that is also part private school. Due to COVID-19, The Lost Kitchen was transitioned outdoors, and we dined under the twinkle lights and amongst campfires on the grist mill lawn. Once seated, we were able to begin enjoying our purchased wines that we were allowed to open ourselves. The “wine shop” for the evening was the transformed school cubbie room - so cute!

After settling in, the dishes began to flow! The first course of “appetizers” are not even featured on the evening’s printed menu. So much food and so many surprises! We dined on a cheese board, oysters, Maine crab cake biscuits and ended with a sorbet to cleanse the palate. All of the ingredients are locally sourced and seasonal. Erin and her team were working the lawn, delivering each table their dishes!

The airstream trailer was also situated on the side of the lawn. As the sun set, the stars began to shine and the warmth of the campfires around us continued growing. Erin presented the evening’s toast from the front of the airstream. She welcomed us to Freedom and The Lost Kitchen and highlighted the dishes that were still to come. She wanted to make sure we all woke up the next day realizing this all wasn’t just a dream and promised we would end the evening with a special surprise!

Following the toast, we enjoyed a soup and salad course, followed by Halibut for the main dish and then a chocolate tort with late season raspberries for dessert. We ended the night with a special surprise as promised with a tour of the interior dining space. Here, we each received a warm cookie as we browsed and viewed the evening’s selected postcards! It was so much fun to see my Mom’s postcard so many months later after originally mailing. Upon our departure, we were given a fresh plum and handmade granola to enjoy the next morning. We woke up realizing it all wasn’t just a dream and were immensely grateful for the experience. Oh what magic we experienced that night in little Freedom, Maine!