Farmington Diner

(207) 778-4151

It’s always worth wandering around New England, but especially so when the fall foliage is turning. The leaves are fiery orange and brilliant red, the rivers and lakes are full of hungry fish, and the air smacks of ripe Macintosh apples ready to be picked. It is a grand time to be cruising the backroads, and there is no better place to do it than Northern Maine.

But it’s hard work watching leaves turn color, and on a misty, drizzling September morning, it was okay to take a break at the Farmington Diner. Just over 50 years old, and built inside an old train car, this café has just what you would expect of an old, well-used country diner. Red swivel stools line the counter, the floor is black-and-white checkerboard, and the cold cases are packed full of homemade pies.

The customers are all locals, and most days talk centers on such things as the high school football game, fishing, and Ken Burn’s new TV series, The War. The same wonderful chit-chat that you hear in any small town café around the world. While you eavesdrop on the local happenings, check out the chalkboard menus hanging above the counter—all carefully written out in an elegant and graceful hand. Everything sounds good, but beware—the portions are huge!

Instead of ordering an entree, try loading up on a few of the homemade side dishes. The baked beans ($1.50) are good and tangy, with hints of vinegar and brown sugar. The clam chowder ($1.95/cup, $2.75/bowl) is nicely spiced and packed with tender whole clams and chunks of potatoes, while the fish chowder ($1.95/cup, $3.50/bowl) has large pieces of flaky haddock, thin slices of potato, and pools of floating butter. You can make more than a meal out of a few sides, and you’ll really get a flavor for what the cooks can do in back. Just about everything on the menu seems to be available all day. Trish, the delightful waitress who shows up for work every day at 4 a.m., didn’t even blink when I asked for chowder and a meatloaf sandwich at 7 in the morning!

The café has a large selection of sandwiches, and that meatloaf sandwich ($4.50) is a great place to start. Stuffed with 4 huge pieces of homemade meatloaf, you can get it hot or cold, and with any condiments you choose. Trish suggested getting it on a “bulky,” a roll which looked like a firm burger bun and was totally appropriate. And of course, there is the ubiquitous fried haddock sandwich ($4.75), available all over New England.

Entrees include such staples as chicken livers with bacon ($5.95) and corned beef hash ($5.75) Both are served with the café’s glorious home-fried potatoes, paper-thin slices of potato fried to a nice crunch. For a New England dish that smacks of childhood memories, try the homemade baked beans and franks ($5.95). A lot of elderly folks seemed to order them, and not for the first time!

A large sign near the cold case advertises the homemade pies, eleven of them in all. Everything from fresh apple to gooey Toll House. I took the plunge on Trish’s favorite, the strawberry-rhubarb ($2.75). Only moments out of the oven, it was steaming hot and packed with big chunks of fresh rhubarb and tender strawberries. The crust was flaky, but firm, and the filling had just the right combination of sweet and tart. One day, I’ll go back and beg Trish for her recipe. It was terrific!

If you are lucky enough to visit the Farmington Diner in the fall, be sure to wander some of the wonderful roads leading out of Farmington. There are plenty of U-pick apple orchards in which to work off your meal, and every town features the historic churches and cute Main Streets that can only be found in New England. It’s a lot like being in a Norman Rockwell picture, only the pie tastes better!

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