Hotel Newswire reports that Ken Oringer’s “farm to fork” restaurant, Earth, will open at Kennebunkport’s Hidden Pond resort. Oringer tells Grub Street that a soft opening will happen before Memorial Day, with a more formal opening taking place the first week in June. After ribbing him about the cutesy farm-fork coinage, we talked to him about the new restaurant and his big summertime plans for Clio and Uni. More ahead.
“Earth will be very polished cooking in a very casual environment,” Oringer told Grub Street. “Expect a very primal feel.” At the woodsy resort restaurant, “the milk is coming from right across the street, the fish is coming from less than half a mile away, lobsters are coming from half a mile away, veggies are coming from a farm on the property,” he said. The resort has been open for a couple of years, and it’s been so successful that a restaurant (complete with a firepit) seemed only fitting. “It’s kind of a like a summer camp, only comfortable,” Oringer laughed.
Helming the kitchen is Kevin Walsh, who previously worked as a sous chef at Radius and also did time at Flour + Water in San Francisco. Right now he’s being trained at Clio, Coppa, and Toro.
Fittingly, the restaurant has a wood oven, and Oringer told us to expect wood-oven roasted lobsters with green curry butter and Peekytoe crab with avocado and French cocktail sauce. As a nice bonus, each diner will get five “funky” different hors d’oeuvres “inspired by the garden and the ocean, simple but interesting.” Earth will be open from Memorial Day until mid-October.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Oringer’s also planning to give Clio and Uni a redesign. He hired Thomas Schlesser (Bar Boulud, Ma Peche) to perform face-lift duties. “Uni will be a little bit funkier, like being inside a Japanese box,” Oringer told us. “Expect a lot of woods, a very rustic feel.” He also plans to add more Japanese street food to the menu, with snacks like soft-shell crab steamed buns and Japanese fried chicken, which he’s been trying to perfect. Clio’s bar, meanwhile, will also get a revamp worthy of respected mixologist Todd Maul. “We’re creating a floor-to-ceiling display of liquors,” Oringer said, “and adding more booths in the bar, so we can double the capacity. Todd’s just so amazingly talented.” Expect these changes to happen in July.
