Taking a cooking class or attending one of the feasts at Salt Water Farm in Lincolnville was high on my list of things for Michael and I to do last summer, but unfortunately life got in the way and we just couldn’t make it work. Over the winter I was delighted to hear that owner, Annemarie Ahearn, was opening up a cafe and market in nearby Rockport. Finding a chance to take one of the farm’s classes during a busy wedding season might not be doable, but who doesn’t have time for lunch (or brunch, or dinner, or drinks!) with a view of Penobscot Bay?

When planning my day around the wedding I was shooting in Camden over the weekend, I made sure that I’d have plenty of time to stop in for a leisurely lunch at the newly opened cafe & market at Union Hall before I needed to make my way over to Camden. The bright, open space inside the restored 19th century Union Hall building is the perfect home for the local-inspired restaurant that believes in preparing “simple, nourishing food using ingredients that honor their time and place.”

After browsing the selection of the goods in the market, picking up a lovely table linen, and the latest issue of Kinfolk, I placed my lunch order: a Spanish Tortilla with Maine Grown Potatoes and Chorizo, accompanied by the Salt Water Farm salad. (It should be noted that I would have happily ordered literally anything on the lunch menu – it all sounded, smelled, and looked fantastic, which is why I plan to return with Michael as soon we have the chance!) My meal was delicious, of course, but the experience of enjoying a meal at the new Salt Water Cafe & Market goes well beyond the food. Eating in such a delightfully open space adorned by fresh flowers, with a view of both the kitchen and the water is an experience that shouldn’t be missed, and plenty of reason for many, many return trips.