The Remote Restaurant In Maine That Only Takes Reservations By Postcard

We all know that Maine is pretty special. Not just because it's beautiful, but because we do things a little bit differently around here. Things here are slower (but we're not left behind!) and kinder (but we're not pushovers!) and...more delicious! While we've known this for some time, one special restaurant tucked away in the mid-coast has just proven all of this! The Lost Kitchen in Maine has changed their reservation system and it's pretty special. In fact, it was just highlighted by Food & Wine Magazine. The restaurant was also recently included in a list of 2018 must-visit places in Outside Magazine.

Owner, Erin French, is a Freedom native who left for California and medical school.

After the arrival of her son, she returned to Maine, working in catering and baking.

French started her own underground supper club out of her home in Belfast and each dinner was more popular that the last. They were always sold out!

Soon, she turned her passion into a restaurant in the same building that played host to the supper club dinners.

After this first restaurant, she turned her attention to an Airstream which allowed her to take her well-loved dinners on the road.

As her passion grew, she set her sights on the purchase of a local grist mill, allowing French to open of the current version of The Lost Kitchen on July 4th, 2016.

Inside the decor is perfect, lovingly created by Erin and the friends who work with her.

French is completely self-taught, using family recipes as her base with improvements that make them her own.

Reservations for The Lost Kitchen begin on April 1st for seatings between May and December.

Last year, the restaurant received over 10,000 requests!

So, this year things are just a bit different.

For a reservation in 2018, get out a pencil, a postcard, an envelope and a stamp because the only way to get in is with good ol' fashioned snail mail!

To avoid the frustration of dialing and redialing, this year all reservations will be taken by postcard which must be postmarked no EARLIER than March 31st and received no LATER than April 10th.

Cars must be 3x5 and include your Full Name, Mailing Address, Email Address and Phone Number on one side.

They can contain a short personal message on the other side.

Place your card in the mail and send to: The Lost Kitchen, 22 Mill Street, Freedom, ME 04941

Cards will be selected at random beginning April 11th, then throughout the week until reservations are full.

For more detailed instructions for how to make reservations at The Lost Kitchen this year, click here. In the event you don't get yourself a reservation, you can also bring home some recipes by buying Erin French's cookbook here.

Another great dining option in Maine is this one right on the water, which opens for the season on April 5th!