We’d heard wonderful things about Nina June from various friends up in Rockport since it opened last summer, but it wasn’t until this past weekend that we finally had a chance to sample the Mediterranean cuisine ourselves during their Saturday brunch service. The space, with its abundance of bright light and beautiful water views, is largely unchanged from the layout of the old Salt Water Farm cafe that occupied the bottom of Rockport’s Union Hall before Nina June took over last year. Dining with my mother, we had the chance to sample a number of dishes on the menu including the ricotta pancakes topped with blueberries and pistachios, the rabbit hash, two fried eggs with toast, a wedge salad with blue cheese, and sides of both bacon and potatoes. Although the pancakes stole the show, the entire meal was outstanding – with plenty of cross-table reaching throughout the meal. Our comforting Saturday brunch was also the perfect way to spend an extraordinarily cold winter day in Maine. Now, we just need to find a time the three of us can head back up to Rockport together to sample the dinner menu.

Photos by Meredith Perdue for Map & Menu.