The New York Times Travel section stopped off at The Salt Exchange and Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster as part of a multi-day lobster eating tour of Massachusetts and Maine.
That night, after strolling about Portland, our new lobster base camp, we visited the Salt Exchange and fell hard for the intense lobster risotto, highlighted by flavorful claw and body bits.
According to an article in today’s Press Herald, the Maine Lobster Chefs of the Year were chosen last night at Harvest on the Harbor. Mackenzie Arrington, a native Mainer who now works in New York City, was selected as the people’s choice Lobster chef of the Year, and Kerry Altiero from Cafe Miranda in Rockland was selected as the judge’s choice Lobster Chef of the Year.
In the past, a panel of judges chose the recipes for the contest, but tasting and judging were left solely to the audience.
This year, the judges tried the food as well, scoring it on a 100-point scale for originality, creativity, flavor and use of lobster. The judges were Steve Corry, chef/owner of Five Fifty Five and Petite Jacqueline in Portland; Kathleen Fleury, managing editor of Downeast magazine; and Sharon Rose of WCSH-TV.