PEMBROKE, Maine — There are many combinations that can tease or tickle the senses: macaroni and cheese, raspberries and chocolate, a comfy chair and a sunset, lobster and butter.
In Pembroke, just a little dot on U.S. Route 1 Down East (population 879), photographer Kathy McCabe has combined coffee and art, creating a unique gallery that is getting big attention — Cappuccino, Gallery and Gardens.
Last week, Anne Talman and Michael Richards (you know him — Kramer, from the hit TV show “Seinfeld”) popped in for a latte. And well-known writers — who prefer to be anonymous — can often be found sitting in the gallery’s cafe.
Although lattes and cappuccino aren’t the normal fare in Washington County, exceptional art is, and there is plenty of that for visitors to the gallery.
McCabe’s motto is “Fine art. Fine food. And wicked good coffee.”
Local artists such as Don Dunbar, Bonnie Clymer, Pierre Woog, Gerald Cloud and W. Ray Freden have filled the airy, peaceful gallery and cafe with traditional Down East art.
“This is what I have found the travelers and tourists want — a real glimpse of Maine and traditional local scenery,” McCabe said. “But they want it in a sophisticated atmosphere.”
With the help of her sister, Elaine Stevens, and mother, Elaine Leighton, McCabe has been reconstructing her gallery, nearly from the ground up.
“My sister and I planned on retiring here,” McCabe said. “We both consider this home. This is where we want to be.” The sisters graduated from Shead High School, and marriage and careers took them all over the country.
Six years ago, McCabe bought the Pembroke property.
“I knew it had great potential,” she said. But the existing buildings also had problems. “We had to remove the entire top floor and replace it.”
The gallery and cafe space are open, airy and filled with soft music.
The atmosphere is different from a standard gallery, she explained. “You can sit and be comfortable with the art. It is nowhere near a museum experience,” she said.
Yet it is welcoming enough that both a local poetry club and book club meet in the space, and writers staying in the area often sit and write while enjoying lunch or a baked goodie.
“It’s turned out exactly the way I wanted it,” McCabe said. “It is a comfortable space where visitors can sit and relax and have lunch with friends.”
The cafe can seat 25 inside and 12 on the deck.
The menu is simple but hearty — soups, salads, lobster and crab rolls (with the meats purchased locally), chicken salad, and a bevy of home-baked desserts. The coffee is Starbucks and includes lattes, cappuccino, espresso macchiato and just a plain old cup of Joe. The gallery and cafe also offer free Wi-Fi.
“It’s not upscale here,” McCabe said. “It’s just nice.”
And it is especially nice to be around family, she added.
“The three of us actually did a lot of the work ourselves,” she said, from putting in the wood flooring to creating a mosaic bar top in the cafe.
But where are the gardens? “Next year,” she said. The photographer has been kept too busy with her onsite art reproduction and giclee printing business. She offers not only services to other photographers and artists, but hosts four photography workshops each summer.
Next spring, she expects to construct a greenhouse and raised bed gardens for both flowers and vegetables to be used in the cafe.
McCabe said she also hopes to add special evening events, such as a girls’ night out with dinner and a movie.
“But I’m really happy with the way it is right now,” she said.
For information on Cappuccino, Gallery and Gardens, call 726—4761 or visit www.cggmaine.com. The space is open from the end of May until late September.