Fodor's Expert Review The Garrison

Christian Hayes—a champion on the TV show, Chopped, and a seventh-generation Mainer whose family has a deep history in the local fishing and farming industries—is the chef-owner of this bistro. He uses pure and simple ingredients to create complex dishes such as meaty sautéed mushrooms in bright, silky egg yolk or slow-braised pork belly with chili, cucumber, garlic-scape kimchi, quail egg, and cashew powder. The dessert menu features ice cream, but it's not the ordinary cold stuff, with offerings like sour cherry and Champagne sorbet or Thai-iced-tea iced cream with butterfly pea flower whipped cream and chili crisps.