A lot has been said already about the world-class food served at Primo Restaurant in Rockland. Chef Melissa Kelly and crew have been nominated for (and won) several James Beard Awards. Anthony Bourdain featured the restaurant on the Maine episode of the Travel Network’s “No Reservations.” Nearly every dining guide for the state insists you visit Kelly and husband-partner Price Kushner’s restored Victorian mansion on South Main Street in Rockland.
And with good reason — the soulful, imaginative food is rooted in Kelly’s Italian upbringing and her time spent cooking at acclaimed restaurants such as Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in California and the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company Inn in upstate New York. Primo has routinely been ranked among the best restaurants in New England, and though the food is top notch, it’s entirely possible to have an affordable meal there. Two can eat off the excellent bar menu, with drinks, for under $50. Or, two can have an unforgettable meal in the regular dining room and spend as much as you care to. Either way, Primo is an experience well worth seeking out.
The first thing you notice upon arriving at Primo are the greenhouses and buzzing bees. Much of the food served — from greens to tomatoes to broiler chickens — is raised on site, on Primo’s compact but plentiful kitchen farm. While inside the restaurant hums with preparatory work for that night’s dinner, outside there’s a kind of serene, orderly productivity, as farm hands plant seedlings, harvest lettuce and herbs and care for chickens, ducks, bees and pigs.
For the 2012 season (Primo’s 13th overall), Kelly hired farmer Jacinda Martinez as her head gardener. Martinez, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., worked for the last two seasons at Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick, where she managed the restaurant accounts, sourcing produce to eateries in the Brunswick area.
It was there she got a taste for the symbiotic relationship between farm and table, a relationship that’s perfectly illustrated at Primo. As Martinez says, she’s Kelly’s eyes in the field. She can come to Kelly with a variety of different veggies — from baby spinach to green tomatoes — and together they can figure out how many they need and of what size, texture and color. Of course, Mother Nature does have the final say in what comes out of the garden — but Martinez and Kelly can work together to improvise on the fly.
Kelly, who co-founded Primo restaurant in Rockland and oversees satellite restaurants in Tucson, Ariz., and Orlando, Fla., also has written a cookbook-memoir, “Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too: Eating to Be Sexy, Fit and Fabulous!” that’s available at Amazon.com.
Primo Restaurant, located at 2 South Main St. in Rockland, is open Wednesday-Sunday 5:30-9:30 p.m.
“No Reservations” is on the Travel Channel, not the Food Network
Thank you. This will be corrected.
I’m sure the food is excellent. Meanwhile I hope that Ms. Martinez doesn’t succumb to exhaust fumes while running a tiller in that enclosed hothouse.
How do you know it’s enclosed?
The picture.
Uh, yuh, I see the picture, but only one part of the hothouse, that’s all…
You’re pushing to make a point that has no merit. One shouldn’t work in an enclosed area with a gas driven motor running. I get it, you like the restaurant. As I said before, I’ll bet the the food is excellent. However I stand by my original statement concerning the welfare of Ms. Martinez.
How would the plants live if there was no ventilation?
I understand your point and am not really pushing anything. I just figure that she knows to have ventilation when operating the tiller. I’m also figuring that to operate a tiller in a relatively small space, the sides of the hothouse must be open. In any case, you make a good point about the exhaust fumes. I live nearby so I’ll take a look at the hothouse sometime.
Melissa’s last name isn’t Kelly. It’s whatever she tells the UPS driver each day! :-p
My last name is Kelly…and I have worked extremely hard (the past 25 years) as a chef to get to this place.
Much of the time, myself, not being able to afford to eat at many restaurants of high caliber.
Growing and preparing quality food without chemicals, animals being cared for properly is very labor intensive and costly. At Primo we take great pains and pride in doing so.
We have been here for 12 years and have brought much attention and many guests to the midcoast area that might not have made it here (and by the way while they are here we recommend other area places for breakfast, lunch and dinner…as well as accomodations and recreational things to do).
Many of you should research or think before you comment. Primo has added something to the local area, brought new visitors and we choose to spend our dollars locally.
Primo employs many local people as well as supports numerous local businesses.
We are very proud of what we have done here and also spend a lot of our time donating to Maine charities, businesses, events to raose money for local causes and donate numerous gift certificates to many causes in our community.
We have lead numerous tours and cooking classes with local children on our time and our dime.
Some of the other restaurants mentioned also close for part of winter, it is a fact of doing business in Maine, winter is brutally hard.
and FYI YES the greenhouse is ventilated… Ms Jacinda Marintea is a qualified farmer, very smart and we also would not put one of our workers in a dangerous or toxic situations
thank you, Melissa KELLY
PS and yes we do have many vegetarian options
“… it’s entirely possible to have an affordable meal there. Two can eat off the excellent bar menu, with drinks, for under $50. ”
“Affordable” for whom? Fifty bucks for a meal for two isn’t affordable in my book. There are many people in Rockland and vicinity who are expected to feed themselves and their children on much less than that daily. Maybe this place is decent but many of us cannot afford to eat there.
I wouldn’t bring my children until they can appreciate it. But there are a lot of area restaurants that charge a lot more for a lot less quality. I’ve gone to another area restaurant and I had a burger and shake, daughter had fish and chips, my son had fried shrimp and fries, total bill was $58 not including tip! And no one finished because it didn’t taste good.
If you are going for a special night out than $50 is really affordable. This isn’t the type of place mom and dad bring the kids for a weeknight “suppah”. You could easily pay that much and more for mass produced chain food at Olive Garden or Ruby Tuesday (they are fine, but not what I consider good eating experiences).
This place is raising a lot of its own food and being prepared in creative ways, that there is worth a few extra bucks to me. We don’t eat high end often, but there are special occasions where we appreciate great food and atmosphere.
There are several affordable local (not chain) restaurants in the Rockland/Thomaston/Rockport area that are affordable and have excellent (if not better) food; and in my opinion better atmospheres. To each their own but there are excellent and affordable restaurants in the area where you can bring children.
You don’t have to eat there daily… and definitely wouldn’t bring children!
I can’t afford a new BMW, Lexus, or Mercedes. I don’t expect those who can purchase a luxury car-not to-because I can’t. I’m sure there are people eating at Primos’s who have planned the occassion for a year. It’s a special place, not Denny’s or the 99.
Heck at a good eatery I expect to pay $50.00 for the tip.
if you’re looking for dining on a budget you aren’t going to Primo. I would consider a meal for two for less than fifty dollars at a restaurant the class of Primo to be a good deal and an affordable night out.
Good luck to them. I am not about to drive to Rockland from Bangor for a restaurant, but I appreciate that they are doing well.
It’s quite an experience. Worth the trip!
bring a flashlight, and earmuffs. dimly lit and noisy. overpriced and overrated.
Cut back on the sugah and your palate will improve tremendously.
I cook better than that and can feed more than three for $250.
It probably is wonderful but it will only survive by being supported by the influential Mainers and the tourist. Last time we went out to a restaurant was McDonalds and that was just for a senior coffee.
they shut down in the winters, and run another restaurant in Florida. I have to agree…they’ve “out-priced” the locals and cater to those from out of state. I don’t bother to go there on special occasions because there are other area restaurants that are just as good, if not better especially once you start comparing quality of food and price. A few of my favorite places – Amalfi, The Slipway, and even Rock City (used to be Second Read) is putting out some great, creative dinners.
But check that menu–not a vegetarian choice in the lot.
Will not go there…
Are you sure about that. I can’t imagine that one of Maine’s best restaurants would not have something for everyone. Can you imagine losing a party of a dozen people because you don’t offer some choices for vegatarians? Perhaps they accomodate upon request.
I heard that they will cook a meal for special diets if requested.
they’ll even serve a little crow, Mary jo.
If you have special dietary needs, you should be calling ahead to every (non-chain) restaurant before you visit. I’d be shocked if 90% wouldn’t be willing to accommodate above and beyond what is or isn’t on the menu.
Put another way, many restaurants will have a vegetarian offering on the menu, but if you call ahead you may get something a little nicer. If the regular menu has nothing that works, any decent restaurant will do something for you that will. Most chefs appreciate the heads up and many love the challenge of coming up with something innovative within your parameters.
Or are you complaining on principle because there’s no stock vegetarian menu item? If so, you’re missing out. Don’t be lazy, call. These people are in the hospitality business for a reason.
NO ONE should knock this restaurant until s/he’s been there, period. People grousing about the cost of eating at Primo, etc, who have never been there, are missing a beautiful place, with exceptional menus, drinks and service. When you have a special occasion, just go for coffee and dessert after your meal somewhere else. Or go for a glass of wine or beer and let yourselves have a relaxing and good time. You’ll be well taken care of. Consider the possibility of showing appreciation for your local growers and creative business owners.