The MDI report

Just back from the island, and here’s what’s new and changed since my last update:

NEW:

• Side Street Cafe, Rodick Street, Bar Harbor: Very promising. Serving breakfast, lunch, and as of this weekend, dinner (small plates), too. Plans to be open year round (we’ll see; heard that before). Very comfy space with avocado and tangerine walls, fireplace in dining room.

• Chow Maine, Clark Street, Southwest Harbor: Chiaolin and Ken Korona are back in the space adjacent to the Post Office. According to a sign on the door, they hope to open later this week to serve and sell Taiwan-born Chiaolin’s wonderful Asian foods along with selections from Pectic Seafood, home-baked goods, and “lots, lots, more.”

• Pizza place, Main St., Bar Harbor: Where the doll shop used to be, no sign and wasn’t open when I went by, but an acquaintance said it was pretty good ‘za. More details when I get them.

CHANGED:

• Pier 1 Suites, Southwest Harbor: Don and Javier have renovated and redecorated each of these sweet accommodations (efficiency to two-bedroom) that hover over the harbor. Genuine cottage style that doesn’t try to hard. Each is cozy, private, with great views. Rent by the week in summer, three-night minimum, when available, spring and fall (and some good specials right now, too).

• Parkside, Bar Harbor, has new owners; didn’t eat there, so can’t report.

• Colonel’s Restaurant, Northeast Harbor, has rebuilt and looks quite nice. Still an enticing array of baked items in the front room with the dining room out back. New upstairs: luxury rental suites.

• The tea shop in Bar Harbor moved to Main Street.

LOOKING GOOD:

• The Claremont, Southwest Harbor: Celebrating 125 years and looking pretty spiffy for a grande dame. Hearing good things about Xanthus, its restaurant (in the able hands of Chef Daniel S.), and the new restaurant bar looks both cozy and inviting.

CLOSED:

• Presto’s, Southwest Harbor.

• Song of the Sea, Bar Harbor (that wonderful music store)

• The tavern/bar/hot dog emporium in Southwest, behind the hardware store is gone, replaced by an addition to the hardware store

Cheap sleeps on the Maine Coast

Looking for a place to rest your head that won’t bust the budget?

Yes, it is possible to find lodging on the Maine Coast that’s not only cheap, relatively speaking, but also has character. Some of these are waterfront. Some have a bit more, uh, character. If you’re used to five-star lodgings, these won’t cut it; many wouldn’t earn even two. But all are clean and pass my sniff test. And each has peak-season rooms (not every room mind you, but at least a few) that go for less than $100 per night, some considerably less.

I’m devoting a separate page to my cheap sleeps for each region, and I’ll add to it (or delete) as necessary. Go ahead, check it out, you might find you want to check right in:

Southern Coast

Greater Portland

Mid Coast

Acadia

Down East

Chocoholics choice in Camden

I’ve previously blogged about both the Hartstone Inn, in Camden, and Black Dinah Chocolatiers, on Isle au Haut. Blogged is an understatement, I’ve raved. The Hartstone is a classic New England with a fabulous chef and wonderful dining room. Black Dinah’s chocolates are to-die-for.

The weekend of Dec. 5-8, chocolatier Kate Shaffer (the magic behind Black Dinah’s confections) will be teaching an artisan chocolate-making course at the Hartstone. Talk about a double header!

The two-hour class will be offered on Saturday afternoon and repeated on Sunday afternoon. It will cover working with chocolate in a home kitchen, making ganache, making holiday chocolate confections, and packaging and storing chocolates. Salivating yet?

Oh, it gets better. You can make a weekend of it, spending two nights at the inn, with full breakfast each morning, afternoon cookies and tea, a five-course gourmet meal by candlelight. Rates, including one class for one, begin at $305. Individual enrollment is $45.

Other upcoming courses, all taught by Michael Salmon, include French specialties, Nov. 22; holiday hors d’oeuvres, Dec. 20-21; haute chinese cuisine, Jan. 24-25; romantic dinner for two, Feb. 7-8. For more details and other classes, see the inn’s class schedule.

The inn, I might add, is one of those special places: elegant yet comfy, smack downtown, yet quiet and private. Rooms are spread out among three buildings, and some spa services also are offered. It’s a great getaway anytime, but in the off season, it’s a steal.

Can’t swing a stay or the five-course set-menu dinner? Mondays and Tuesdays are Bistro Nights, when the set menu comprises an appetizer and entrée for $24.50 pp, plus $5 for optional dessert. The menu changes nightly.

By the way, you might also like to read my review of the inn, based on an anonymous stay in 2007. It appeared in the Boston Globe.

Cheap Sleeps in the Kennebunks

You don’t have to be religious to book a room at the Franciscan Guest House. An easy walk to Lower Village and Dock Square (avoid parking hassles), the guest house, located on the grounds of the riverfront Franciscan Monastery, provides simple accommodations, with a few frills.

The guest house is located in a renovated former Catholic high school and outbuildings. While some stay here for religious reasons, guests of any faith are welcome.

I paid $69 for a room with a single queen bed, and that rate includes a full buffet breakfast, with dozens of breads and pastries, two hot entrees, cereals, fresh fruit, meats and cheeses. The room: vintage 1970s decor, with blond fake paneling, brown carpeting, synthetic patterned bed spreads, not-so-great art, TV, pine desk and bureau, full bathroom. All spotless, with a tinge of antiseptic aroma. Also available are a rec room, an outdoor pool, free wifi, and two computers available to guests. But hey, who needs fancy with this location.

The monastery was founded by Lithuanisan Franciscans, who fled war-torn Europe in 1947 and purchased the Tudor Great House and estate, originally landscaped by the Frederick Law Olmstead firm. Monks still reside in the mansion, which isn’t open to the public except for a seasonal gift shop and a modern chapel, attached.

A sneak peek toward Kennebunkport

The monastery’s 66 mostly wooded, riverfront acres are open to the public (no pets), providing a wonderful escape from the nearby hubbub. Paved, wheelchair- and stroller-accessible trails lace the grounds, which are peppered with shrines and an outdoor chapel. Don’t miss the eye-catching, recently restored, modern sculpture, created by Vytautas Jonynas for the Vatican Pavilion during the 1964-1965 Worlds Fair. A guide to the shrines is available in the gift shop or the Guest House for 50 cents B&W or $1.50 color.

This is an inexpensive place to stay, a great value with a wonderful place to walk or meditate. Another plus for guests, it’s an easy and pleasant walk (past the oh-so-haute White Barn Inn) to Gooch’s Beach.

News and Snooze: Open, shut and in flux

In short: The Danforth and the Chebeague Island Inn are back; Atlantic Seal B&B is closed; West End Inn, Bear Mountain Inn and Newcastle Inn change hands.

The Danforth, located in a lovely John Calvin Stevens-designed mansion on Danforth Street, near the Victoria Mansion, has reopened. A guest there reported it’s again an elegant and gracious inn. Rooms are spacious and have luxury touches, such as robes and fireplaces. Breakfast is a Continental buffet. The gardens are lovely. Only quibble I have is that in the opening online promo, it advertises itself as being in the Old Port. Wrong. It’s on the city’s West End, an easy walk to the Old Port, but definitely not in the Old Port.

Another welcome back to the Chebeague Island Inn, accessible from Portland (1.5 hours) or Cousins Island, Yarmouth (15 minutes), via ferry. Renovated basement to attic in 2004, this old-time summer hotel closed last summer, but is now being leased with an option to buy. Also reopening is the dining room, as well as a lounge serving tapas and a “flambé ice cream” parlor.

And a sad farewell to Tom Ring’s Atlantic Seal B&B, which he operated in his family home on the water in South Freeport. I spoke with Tom earlier today, and he said the sheer volume of hotel rooms available in Freeport now did him in. Of course, it didn’t help that he’s a technophobe who didn’t own a computer, have a web site or use an answer phone. Tom’s still operating his excursion boat, with trips to Eagle Island and Seguin Island, and he promises to have someone manning his phone in another week or two. Before then, call in the early evening.

Back in Portland, the West End Inn Bed & Breakfast has changed hands, as have the Bear Mountain Inn, in Waterford, and The Newcastle Inn, in Newcastle. More on these after I’ve done some snooping.