Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [18]
Harmon’s Lunch
144 Gray Rd.
207–797–9857
Falmouth, ME
L | $
We are indebted to Portland writer Elizabeth Peavy (author of Maine and Me and Outta My Way), who told us that when we headed out of town toward Gray, it was our duty to stop at Harmon’s Lunch. We make the same recommendation to anyone who loves hamburgers and burger joints with character aplenty.
A sign behind the counter warns, “This is not Burger King. You don’t get it your way. You take it my way, or you don’t get the damn thing.” In our estimation that’s fine, because Harmon’s hamburgers are just right. Doneness is not an issue. They are all cooked medium—nice and moist but not oozing juice or pink inside. They are lunch counter patties par excellence, sizzled on a seasoned old griddle and sandwiched inside soft Portland-bakery buns that are buttered and heated just enough to become ultra-tender mitts, perfect for hamburger holding.
Among the options you do have when you order a hamburger is a slice of cheese melted on top and, better yet, grilled onions. The onions are fried until melting soft, and they add sweet, smoky luxury to the little package. Also available are mustard and a vivid red relish. Lettuce and tomato? Forget about them. “They are not available on a Harmon’s hamburger!” proprietor Peter Wermell informed us. “Never were, never will be.”
The only other entree is a hot dog—of which we saw no evidence on anybody’s table or in the small open kitchen behind the counter. The one side dish is French fries, and they’re super: thick cut and delivered too hot to handle. However, when this little shop gets crowded, as it so often does, ordering French fries can delay delivery of the meal. You see, while fifteen hamburgers will fit on the grill at one time, the fry kettle has room for only four orders of potatoes. Therefore people who come only for burgers sometimes have their order put to the head of the line while potato-eaters wait. On a busy summer Saturday, it’s not uncommon to wait a half-hour for a meal.
The little wood-frame diner was opened in 1960 by Marvin Harmon, a former Air Corps cryptographer, and current boss, Mr. Wermell, maintains the unforgiving attitude for which the place became known. He only reluctantly agreed to allow us to take pictures of the wonderful décor—row after row of old-fashioned glass milk bottles from long-gone Maine dairy farms—and he did not seem at all pleased when we started asking him about the source of his good-tasting beef. Nonetheless, after we paid at the press-button, nondigital cash register and walked out the front door heading for our car in the dirt parking lot, Mr. Wermell came running out behind us—leaving a griddle full of hamburgers sputtering—just so he could give us a small magnetic calendar, the kind you slap onto a refrigerator door, that featured the restaurant’s name, address, and phone number, as well as the pacific motto, “Let’s Get Harmonized!”
Harraseeket Lobster
Town Landing
207–865–3535
Freeport, ME
LD May–Oct | $$
Dine at a picnic table overlooking the Freeport town harbor, the meal perfumed by the salt smell of the ocean and serenaded by the sound of an American flag flapping overhead. This is one of the nicest places west of Bath to plow into a shoreline meal and enjoy the view. The specialty is boiled-to-order lobsters (also available live, to go), but don’t ignore the seafood baskets. Whole-belly clams are giants, hefty gnarled spheres of golden crust enveloping mouthfuls of ocean nectar. On the side, you want onion rings: puffy circles of brittle, sweet batter around a hoop of onion that still has crunch. Clam cakes are good, too, their puffy dough holding dozens of little nuggets of marine goodness. The chowder is wonderful, but best of all is the lobster roll, served splayed open in a broad cardboard dish and packed with briny-sweet chunks of meat. Have it with onion rings or an order of fried onion middles (sweet, slick nuggets that are to fried rings what holes are to donuts), and conclude with a fudgy, hand-fashioned whoopie pie.