One of the seeds for me starting this blog has been watching the old Country View drive in on Route 15 between Blue Hill and Deer Isle fade away. I don't know how long ago the Country View got started in the first place, but seems to me that it has been around for at least as long as I have been coming to the area in the early 1970's. It closed about six years ago, and every time I have passed since I have had a sinking feeling. An old fashioned drive in with soft serve ice cream and fried everything, plus pies, even rhubarb, it was a favorite of many more people than just me. I remember how when it opened every spring (Mother's Day??), they'd give away free ice cream. One year on opening day it was snowing, and people were lined up to the road for their free cone.
When we got here in May, for the first time in ages, there was action. Pickup trucks were in the parking lot and guys with hammers scurrying around. The building got a fresh coat of white paint with snappy red trim. Gossip had it that it was going to be some kind of combination sit-down restaurant and bakery. The Country View? How could that be?
Last week new signs went up and "Open" flags. We stopped in mid afternoon -- and it was closed! The sign said "7am to 2pm." A drive in that closed at 2pm? What was the story?
Well, a trip the next morning revealed the secret: The old "front' with walk up windows has been turned into a combination bakery and kitchen, and a door on the side led into a cozy dining room in what had been the old kitchen. What a surprise!
The place has a brand new name, Millbrook Company. The owner, Jill Smith, has quite a local reputation as a baker under the same name and a following via area Farmers' Markets. I had already heard about her sticky buns.
Jill's skills as a baker are clear when you walk in the door: a big glass display case is loaded with tasty treats, too numerous to list here, but including muffins, coffee cake, scones, cookies, bars (I adore date squares -- Jill had me there), toll house pies (guaranteed sugar shock), and a tip to the healthy with granola.
Jill has done a particularly good job with the menu: not too many items, and an accomplished straddle between traditional breakfast and lunch (two eggs, home fries and toast $5.25 and the Millbrook Charbroiled Burger -- bacon, cheese, carmelized onion on a ciabatta roll [a tad less tradional]) and items that are more contemporary and even exotic and/or healthy (Breakfast Burrito $7.50, Cambozola Plate -- cheese wedge, roasted garlic, soaked apricots, fresh fruit, olives and hunks of fresh bread -- $12.95, and various smoothies with spinach, beets, ginger, fruits and veggies $5). Can't imagine hardly any of that on the menu at the Country View. Here's Jill in the kitchen with a mess of home fries:
Seems that there are specials every day too, just take a look at the blackboard in the dining room. When we were there, I saw one of her crew picking out lobster. While not on the menu every day (Jill will put fish on when it is good and fresh), her lobster roll will be a traditional one on a grilled hot dog roll -- Jill says she knows better than to fool with a proven winner. Even better is the probable price: at $12.95, a bargain.
In fact, one of the biggest, and welcome, surprises are the prices -- only a couple of the menu items were over $10. That is nothing short of astounding. Summer prices for everything around here tend to be high, and this year the prices have seemed to take another big jump. With her prices and menu, Jill is clearly trying to appeal to a broad range of clientele, and the dining room showed it: A table full of workmen in paint covered pants. Older single men eating breakfast. Couples who looked like they were "from away." A table full of women talking about going shopping in Bangor. Several young women in knee high rubber boots.
Nothing is from the deep frier -- Jill didn't even put one in, on purpose. Other places up and down the road cover fried stuff just fine.
Jill says she'd like to stay open year around. The Millbrook will serve breakfast and lunch, for now, not shutting the door on longer hours, but with a "wait and see" attitude. Now scheduled to be open five days a week (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), that alone is a heavy obligation.
So want to see what we had for breakfast? Drew had the basic:
And I had the Eggs Benedict:
Eggs Benedict can be tricky -- poached eggs can be over or underdone, the hollandaise greasy, the English muffin soggy. These were perfect, absolutely delicious.
Both of our breakfasts, with coffee (great big cups), came to well less than $20. Really.
Fair warning: just barely open, the word has gotten around. We went for breakfast on a drippy cold Saturday morning around 9am and the tables were full. In nice weather, you could eat in the old Milt's Dream outside dining pavilion. But this place stands to be a real winner. You may have to wait to sit inside.
When we got here in May, for the first time in ages, there was action. Pickup trucks were in the parking lot and guys with hammers scurrying around. The building got a fresh coat of white paint with snappy red trim. Gossip had it that it was going to be some kind of combination sit-down restaurant and bakery. The Country View? How could that be?
Last week new signs went up and "Open" flags. We stopped in mid afternoon -- and it was closed! The sign said "7am to 2pm." A drive in that closed at 2pm? What was the story?
Well, a trip the next morning revealed the secret: The old "front' with walk up windows has been turned into a combination bakery and kitchen, and a door on the side led into a cozy dining room in what had been the old kitchen. What a surprise!
The place has a brand new name, Millbrook Company. The owner, Jill Smith, has quite a local reputation as a baker under the same name and a following via area Farmers' Markets. I had already heard about her sticky buns.
Jill's skills as a baker are clear when you walk in the door: a big glass display case is loaded with tasty treats, too numerous to list here, but including muffins, coffee cake, scones, cookies, bars (I adore date squares -- Jill had me there), toll house pies (guaranteed sugar shock), and a tip to the healthy with granola.
Jill has done a particularly good job with the menu: not too many items, and an accomplished straddle between traditional breakfast and lunch (two eggs, home fries and toast $5.25 and the Millbrook Charbroiled Burger -- bacon, cheese, carmelized onion on a ciabatta roll [a tad less tradional]) and items that are more contemporary and even exotic and/or healthy (Breakfast Burrito $7.50, Cambozola Plate -- cheese wedge, roasted garlic, soaked apricots, fresh fruit, olives and hunks of fresh bread -- $12.95, and various smoothies with spinach, beets, ginger, fruits and veggies $5). Can't imagine hardly any of that on the menu at the Country View. Here's Jill in the kitchen with a mess of home fries:
Seems that there are specials every day too, just take a look at the blackboard in the dining room. When we were there, I saw one of her crew picking out lobster. While not on the menu every day (Jill will put fish on when it is good and fresh), her lobster roll will be a traditional one on a grilled hot dog roll -- Jill says she knows better than to fool with a proven winner. Even better is the probable price: at $12.95, a bargain.
In fact, one of the biggest, and welcome, surprises are the prices -- only a couple of the menu items were over $10. That is nothing short of astounding. Summer prices for everything around here tend to be high, and this year the prices have seemed to take another big jump. With her prices and menu, Jill is clearly trying to appeal to a broad range of clientele, and the dining room showed it: A table full of workmen in paint covered pants. Older single men eating breakfast. Couples who looked like they were "from away." A table full of women talking about going shopping in Bangor. Several young women in knee high rubber boots.
Nothing is from the deep frier -- Jill didn't even put one in, on purpose. Other places up and down the road cover fried stuff just fine.
Jill says she'd like to stay open year around. The Millbrook will serve breakfast and lunch, for now, not shutting the door on longer hours, but with a "wait and see" attitude. Now scheduled to be open five days a week (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), that alone is a heavy obligation.
So want to see what we had for breakfast? Drew had the basic:
And I had the Eggs Benedict:
Eggs Benedict can be tricky -- poached eggs can be over or underdone, the hollandaise greasy, the English muffin soggy. These were perfect, absolutely delicious.
Both of our breakfasts, with coffee (great big cups), came to well less than $20. Really.
Fair warning: just barely open, the word has gotten around. We went for breakfast on a drippy cold Saturday morning around 9am and the tables were full. In nice weather, you could eat in the old Milt's Dream outside dining pavilion. But this place stands to be a real winner. You may have to wait to sit inside.
The Country View was open all through the sixties, maybe earlier. I went to camp in the area beginning in '62, and it was always a thrill when my cabin got to walk there for our "evening activity". It was called the "Debbie Joy" then, after Milt's daughter, I believe. My best friend, met at camp, has built a house on Walker Pond, very nearby, and I am so looking forward to visiting from St. Louis later this month and returning to that wonderful place. I've been following their progress online.
ReplyDeleteHey Mimi -- Thanks for contributing your memories and more Country View history. Anyone out there remember just when the old Country View got started? And BTW, thanks to Jill Smith for reviving an old favorite.
ReplyDeletePS I hear that in response to popular demand, starting next week, Millbrook will be open longer hours, until 3pm, Tuesday through Sunday.
ReplyDeleteAccording to an article in the Bangor Daily News, Country View started in 1963. It was started as a business for Nellie, so maybe it became Country View in 1963. Mimi - Debbie is one of Milton and Nellie's granddaughters. I remember the ice cream cone being referred to as a "Debbie Joy". They are beaming from above that someone is willing to work as hard as they did for so many years. I worked there for five years during high school and college. Such good memories.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for that piece of history. Give me a Debbie Joy!
ReplyDeleteMillbrook is now open for dinner Thursday through Saturday. Yum!
ReplyDelete