From the New York Times bestselling author and founder of the beloved restaurant The Lost Kitchen comes a stunning collection of 100 Maine recipes for every season.
“A sensory joy . . . simple seasonal fare, creatively elevated and beautifully photographed . . . The recipes in The Lost Kitchen beckon you to keep returning for more.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
Erin French grew up in Freedom, Maine (population 719), helping her father at the griddle in his diner. An entirely self-taught cook who used cookbooks to form her culinary education, she founded her acclaimed restaurant, the Lost Kitchen, in the same town, creating meals that draws locals and visitors from around the world to a dining room that feels like an extension of her home.
No one can bring small-town America to life better than a native, especially when it comes to Maine, one of the country’s most off-the-beaten-path states, with an abundant natural bounty that comes from its coastline, rivers, farms, fields, and woods—a cook’s dream. Inspired by her lush locale and classic American cooking, Erin crafts deliciously satisfying and easy-to-make recipes such as Whole-Roasted Trout with Parsnip and Herb Hash, Maine Shrimp Rolls, Ramp and Fiddlehead Fried Rice, and Rhubarb Spoon Cake.
Erin’s food has been called “brilliant in its simplicity and honesty” by Food & Wine, and it is exactly this pure approach that makes her style of cooking so appealing—and so easy to embrace at home, wherever you live.
Erin French turned a string of early catering gigs into a secret suppers series in her apartment. She took her dinners on the road, organizing traveling "fork-to-field" dinners from a tricked-out 1965 Airstream trailer, before returning to her tiny hometown, Freedom, Maine, to build her dream restaurant, The Lost Kitchen, in a restored 1834 gristmill. Each spring, the day the phone line opens to accept reservations, the restaurant books up for the entire year. This is her first book.
“This Freedom, Maine, restaurant, located in a restored 1800s mill, is a hot ticket these days, and has the reservation wait list to prove it. French, whose beautiful story needs to be heard, truly delivers with a book full of fantastic seasonal recipes like Maine halibut Niçoise.”—Tasting Table
“This charming, tremendously personal book speaks so beautifully of the remote and glorious land it comes from and is packed with wonderful ‘perfectly imperfect’ tales of life, cooking, and the love of place. Erin French’s passion is contagious and her simple but nuanced and detailed ingredient-focused cooking captivating. Think Wood-Smoked Leg of Lamb with Garlic Scape & Mint Pesto, Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk & Chives, and Sweet Parsnip Cake with Hazelnuts & Mascarpone—oh, my!”—Suzanne Goin
“Long before I got to the very tempting recipes in The Lost Kitchen, I was hooked by Erin French’s charming storytelling. Home cooks will enjoy the warm tone in which Erin has written her recipes. They are a breeze to follow, call for only a handful of mostly easy-to-find ingredients, and reveal the good life of the four seasons in Maine.”—Nancy Silverton
“One of the most magical experiences of my life was eating at Erin French’s Lost Kitchen, a magnificent restaurant-in-a-mill in Freedom, Maine. The food was deeply personal, local, and delicious. I am filled with joy at the prospect of re-creating some of the dishes at home from the recipes in this gorgeous cookbook.”—Dana Cowin
“At first I thought this was simply a gorgeous restaurant book full of the food I love to eat, but now I think Erin French has done something more magical than that; hers is that luscious, dim restaurant you go to in your dreams, the one that feeds you in every sense of the word. Her food isn’t just beautiful—although it is—it also contains emotions, moods, and a lot of love for her Maine roots.”—Amy Thielen
“Part of the allure in perusing The Lost Kitchen, I admit, is that I won’t be scoring a reservation to Erin French’s boutique restaurant anytime soon. So re-creating her food is as close as I’ll get to understanding why the Lost Kitchen has become such a dining destination. Bordering on precious, some might say, but the cookbook is both aspirational and attainable. And it could be the only one I read this year that offered directions for concocting a milk-and-honey body scrub.”—The Washington Post, Best Cookbooks of 2017
“A sensory joy. The 100 recipes are simple seasonal fare, creatively elevated and beautifully photographed. . . . French’s story reads like a novel. . . . The recipes in The Lost Kitchen beckon you to keep returning for more.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
