Ogunquit's Lobster Bite Challenge confirms its status as a seafood paradise

By Shawn P. Sullivan
Portsmouth Herald

If the people of Ogunquit did not know this before, then they know it now: there are great lobster dishes everywhere in town.

The Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce held its first-ever Lobster Bite Challenge at the Ogunquit Playhouse on Saturday, May 3. The tasting contest, billed playfully by the Chamber as a "culinary showdown," was a successful showcase for many local restaurants, all of which have their own spin on the Maine lobster on their menus.

For a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, guests mingled inside a tent – which, thankfully, provided shelter from the first true thunderstorm of the year – and treated their palates to creative and delicious lobster bites.

These 10 local restaurants competed: Clay Hill Farm, Saltwater Farm, Jonathan's Ogunquit, MC Perkins Cove, Pepper's Landing, Surf Point 360, The Dunes on the Waterfront, The Front Porch, The Front Yard and Walkers Maine.

One of them won not just one of the day's big prizes, but both: the Judges' Choice and People's Choice Awards.

That would be Clay Hill Farm, the restaurant and events venue at 220 Clay Hill Road. At the end of the afternoon, Chamber Director Alice Pearce presented Wesley Philbrick, the restaurant's executive chef, and Jen Lewis, one of its co-owners, with the awards.

For the contest, Philbrick and Lewis served up the perfect bite-sized palate-pleaser, lobster on a toasted brioche, buttered and topped with caviar.

All three of the competition's judges – television meteorologist Jason Nappi, local lobsterman Chris Goodale, and myself, a reporter for the York County Coast Star and Seacoastonline – agreed that the offering from Clay Hill Farm scored best in the categories of creativity, presentation, and, of course, taste.

As Nappi said, when describing Clay Hill Farm's best bite, "The lobster was the star."

As a result of their twin victories on Saturday, Philbrick and Lewis and their team at Clay Hill Farm now advance to the Harvest on the Harbor competition later this year in Portland.

My two fellow judges knew their stuff. The chamber was smart to pick them for this inaugural event of theirs.