Original subtitles

Hey, do you want to try driving the Ocean Rider?

Yep. Are you ready?

Yep, go ahead. Woo!

Faster!

That's it, twelve knots, that's as fast as she goes!

Throughout my career,

I've worked in all kinds of kitchens.

And every challenge I've faced has made me a better chef.

So now, I'm headed out on a journey.

I'm literally in the middle of nowhere.

To places like this, this and this.

Wow. Look at that.

To restaurants so remote that their chefs face

more challenges in a day...

See what it takes to get a good product?

Then most chefs face in a lifetime.

Oh, my God.

And yet, they turn these obstacles into

once-in-a-lifetime meals.

We got a fish.

Oh yeah. Looking good.

Now, they're welcoming me into their kitchens.

Cheers.

Welcome!

Oh, yum. Wow. Wow.

It's a chance to up my game.

I'm just blown away.

That's good. I know.

While having the kind of adventure that can only be

had at the very end of the world.

I got it.

I'm heading to Turner Farm in Maine, whose legendary

barn house suppers draw people from all across the country.

Part of the appeal is how remote this place is.

After flying into Portland,

guests drive 100 miles to Rockland.

Then board a boat for a 90-minute ride out to tiny

North Haven Island, which is 12 miles out to sea.

Have you spent much time at the farm?

I do, yeah, these guys are friends of mine.

Takes a unique individual

to live on an island off the coast of Maine.

It's remote...

...there's just a small group of people in the wintertime.

It's not so easy.

Living on a remote island requires residents to

be self-sufficient.

And Turner Farm is no exception.

While there might be plenty of seafood available in the

summer months, Turner Farm still has to contend with a

very short growing season and limited access to suppliers.

So, the menu has changed very little over the years.

But now, there's a new manager and chef

looking to shake things up.

Thank you for the ride.

Yeah. It was my pleasure.

This is nice.

Hi. How are you? You must be Ben?

Yeah.

Benjamin or Ben? Benjamin.

Ooh, I like it. Yeah.

Formality. All right. Yes.

So glad you're here.

Thank you.

Cause, just getting the farm open for the season.

So, I'm really excited to show you and

we've got a lot of work to do.

Okay. Here, let me get that.

Thanks. This is why I'm here.

Make sure you look nice and tidy.

Ah. So, every guest that comes here

comes exactly through this entrance?

They do.

Wow. That's amazing.

It's like you're arriving in like

a fairytale place.

Yeah.

Like you get on a boat,

and you leave civilization,

and you walk through the forest

and then you see the farm.

The first time I came here, I absolutely fell in love.

I was just enthralled by the island, its beauty and

realized that this was a special place.

Can we just stop for one second?

Okay. Woo!

It's, it's a little hike up the hill.

Okay. Yeah.

Yeah, it's okay.

We, I mean we got off that boat and we kept going.

Right. This is good.

Let's just take in the view for a second.

Yeah, certainly. Doesn't it look nice?

Yeah. It does.

Okay, I caught my breath.

We can go now.

All right. All right. Thanks.

Yeah, no problem.

Benjamin took over Turner Farm earlier this year.

But instead of sticking to tradition,

he had plans of his own.

I am really pushing the farm into a new direction.

And so, we want to change things up a little bit.

What exactly does that mean?

I hired a chef from the South.

She really knows a lot about farm to table cooking and the

idea of like being flexible with what's available.

Um, but like throw a little twist into it.

I'm excited to see it all come to fruition.

We're going to put you to work.

Oh, gosh. I'm ready.

The restaurant is only open in the summer months.

And the grand opening is scheduled three days from now.

So, there's going to be a lot to do to prepare.

Ooh, wow.

And here we are.

Just stunning.

There's charm and elegance

surrounding this entire property.

Kristen, this is Carolynn.

Hi. Hi.

How are you? Good, how are you?

She's going to really like amp up the dinners

and we're, we're really excited for it.

Hoping to.

Well, I'm going to let you two get at it.

Show me everything.

Yes. I'm just bottling hot sauce.

You want to help?

Yes, I would love to help.

Bottle some hot sauce?

Could I taste this? Yes, absolutely.

So, this is carrots from the farm, ginger and jalapeños and

it's not that spicy but it's very warming.

Want to taste?

Thank you. Yes.

I like it. Right?

That's good. That's really good.

Cool.

Carolynn hails from Atlanta and has only been at

Turner Farm for two weeks.

After breaking up with her partner of seven years,

she was looking for the kind of change and career challenge

this remote restaurant offers.

And while you can take the girl out of Georgia, Carolynn

says there's no way you can take the Southern influences

out of her food.

I like very spicy.

I want to like sweat profusely.

Yeah.

But I don't want to go so far that people

aren't enjoying their food.

I want to ease people in.

Yeah.

Because I have been coming to Maine for a very

long time and I've found that Mainers are a little stuck in

the ways with like how things are prepared.

And being somebody from the South and

loving spice and loving flair,

I want to incorporate that into every dish.

I'm trying to find the sweet spot of fusion.

South meets Maine, without deviating too far away

from the food traditions that they have in Maine.

I don't want to scare people off.

So, our grand opening is in a few days.

And I'm nervous because I have not tested the menu out yet.

Oh, wow.

So, I'm doing a taste test with the crew here.

Okay, so you're going to get like

brutal family honesty.

Brutal Maine family feedback.

Okay.

The day after tomorrow, Carolynn will do the taste test

that will determine what she serves at the grand opening.

She'll then just have 24 hours to make adjustments to those

dishes before the big day.

So, what is the menu?

So, the meal that I have sketched out for the

grand opening is going to be Southern infused with

ingredients from Maine.

So, oysters.

Um, hot sauce isn't normally something that Mainers

put on their oysters.

But being a Southern girl, like hot sauce is like...

Sure.

Has to go on their oyster.

So, I'm going to test the waters.

Okay. We'll see.

We'll see what happens.

Great.

And then lobster roll. Yep.

Traditionally here, they're a hot dog bun.

Yep. I mean, it's great.

Yep.

But I want to put it on

a buttermilk biscuit, instead.

Okay. Okay.

And I want to fancy the meat up.

So, think like pickled shallots, preserved lemon

and homemade mayo.

So, it's a little heartier and you can still taste the

lobster but I'm bringing in the South...

Got it. Subtly. Yeah.

Subtly. I feel like that makes sense.

And it's not so far departed.

Hopefully, nobody like runs me out of Maine.

I'm here to help in whatever way

you need me to help.

Truly.

Oh, I'll put you to work.

First thing is going to get lobster.

Yes. Do you want to go?

Happily. Cool.

With limited resources and a tiny

population on this island, Turner Farm is often dependent

on one supplier for each of its key ingredients.

And for lobster, that man is Abel.

So, this is Abel.

You are the man that's going to keep me safe

and feed me lobster, right?

Yeah. For sure. Pleasure to meet you.

And Remy. What's up, Remy?

How are you?

I actually need five lobster, six maybe?

That many? Oh yeah. It won't be a problem for sure.

Okay. Cool.

So, I have a ton of stuff to do.

Okay, I will come back with lobsters, I promise.

Please and thank you.

See you. Bye, you guys.

All right. I'm excited.

Now we're moving.

All right guys, gloves on.

My adrenaline's pumping.

I'll tell you what to do when the trap gets up here.

Is it, is there like a term that I need to use,

like in the kitchen we say, yes chef.

Do I say like, yes Captain?

Yeah, for sure. Okay. Okay.

Yes, captain.

We'll be hauling in traps that have been set the previous day.

But since it's not the peak of the season yet, it's unclear

how many lobsters we'll actually come up with.

All right, so your job, take out this bait bag.

Oh my God.

Huck it in there and put a new one in.

You're going too fast, which is setting the

expectation that I'm meant to go that fast.

So, after the trap comes up and we check it for lobsters,

my job is to add a new bait bag.

And then wrap, wrap, wrap.

I see.

Make sure there's no sneaky crabs left in there.

Ow, ow, ow, ow.

Ahh!

Pinched my little finger.

And then throw it back into the water for the next time

Abel comes to harvest.

I don't want to go over on the first one.

No lobsters in that one.

Same thing.

Bait bag, get the crabs out.

There's like no time for not being great at this.

I mean they rely on setting these right, getting them out

as soon as possible, like time is money.

I get it.

Lobster, lobster, lobster.

We got one? No.

(bleep) What's that?

I don't know what that is. That was an octopus?

Everything's just moving so fast.

And you're like, move faster.

Oh (bleep).

I got it.

We got it.

That's our last one.

Come on, lobster.

Still nothing, but...

Damn.

So, we're just going to head out to another ledge

that's a little ways out here.

I think it might be a little bit better.

We have one more bank of traps to check.

And if there's no lobsters, we might need to rethink the menu.

All right, you guys, back to work.

It's now or never.

Lobster, lobster.

We are at the last bank of Abel's lobster traps

and if we don't come up with anything here,

it's back to the drawing board for Carolynn.

Still nothing. Wah-wah.

You getting nervous with no lobsters?

We are tasked with bringing a bunch of lobsters

back to feed people.

So, yeah.

Ah ha! We got one.

Oh, my God, there's a bunch.

Woo.

So, we got to check every one of these, see if

they're legal size, see if they've been notched on this,

uh, tail fin right here.

So that right there, that means that somebody

caught this lobster.

They saw that it was an egg bearing female and so they

put a notch there.

So, forever this lobster, basically, is safe forever.

Got it.

To live and swim and reproduce.

Free to go.

Live forever.

So, this one right here?

Yeah? It's a good size.

And it's got no notch. So, that's a good one.

The cool thing about these rules is that they've

kept the population stable for years.

While still providing 80% of the lobsters we eat in the US.

That's a good one, too.

So, that was a good trap right there.

Four, four lobsters in the trap.

We need two more lobsters to be safe.

Two more? Okay. Two more.

Here we go.

Loaded.

Nice big one right there.

We got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

eight, nine, ten, 11.

We have dinner. We have dinner.

I had a great time.

I felt like I just got like 20 years of schooling in a matter

of a couple of hours.

And Carolynn is going to be thrilled.

We did it.

All right.

We got more than one. Okay, good.

We got more than five.

Yeah.

I love it. I'll take them all.

The lobsters will be kept in a trap tied to the

pier at Turner Farm until the day of the meal.

Yes.

Meanwhile, we're off to get the next key ingredient

for our test meal: oysters.

And this tiny remote island is known for having some of the

best in the world.

Lobsters, of course, represent Maine.

Oysters represent North Haven.

Just two ladies going oystering.

Just going, look how beautiful that is.

Oh, yeah.

Gorgeous.

Is that Captain Adam?

Captain Adam. Yes.

Captain Adam, holy (bleep).

The one and only. Hey. How's it going?

The entire island has only 400 residents.

So, I guess I shouldn't be surprised when the guy

I hitched a ride with to get to the island, also runs the

local oyster farm.

A man of many things, apparently.

Yeah, welcome.

You guys want to check out some oysters?

Yes, please.

We need 100 for the dinner coming up.

Yeah. Yeah. We've got them right here.

You want to help me pick them up?

Let's do it. All right.

You guys start.

What size are you looking for?

So, we're looking for a two and three-quarter,

three-inch oyster.

Okay.

So, you got an oyster that's,

touches on the bottom...

Yep. And touches here?

That's a two and a three-quarter oyster.

And you do that because you want them to grow

to their full maturity?

Yeah. So, when we harvest for you guys,

we just make sure they're all perfect.

No pressure. No pressure.

No pressure.

Just your debut dinner. No big deal.

Right?

The oysters are sold all over the country.

Some of the best restaurants in the world, you know?

French Laundry and all through

New York and Boston and California.

Because North Haven has beautiful soils.

The ocean's clean.

And that comes out in the taste.

And for oyster aficionados, um, it's a damn fine oyster.

So, green crab. Ow. Ow.

I got bit by a crab today on the lobster boat.

Oh, no way. You did?

I did. It grab, it grabbed me, yeah.

With Abel? With Abel? Were you with Abel?

Nice.

He took it off. I was like get it off me.

So, I call Abel my oldest son.

We went lobstering and oystering together

for five years.

It really is a family out here.

All of you on the island.

Yeah. Yeah.

In a community this small,

everyone relies on each other.

And I can see that Turner Farm plays a huge part in

supporting the whole island.

So, everyone here is personally invested in its success.

How many do you think we have right now?

That is definitely over 100.

Great. Okay.

Yeah. One oh, 103.

Nice. Good karma.

Cool, yeah. Done.

All right. You want to taste this?

I sure do.

Mm. Mm!

Right?

That is one of the most beautifully salty oysters.

Yeah. I've ever had.

Thank you so much. Isn't it good?

Ever.

There's been so much hype around these North Haven oysters,

I didn't know what to expect.

But I love the sweet, salty creaminess and it's amazing.

And, honestly, better than I could have ever imagined.

But I've also spotted something at Adam's oyster farm

that I want to share with him.

Taste this.

That are really tender that you...

What? Oh, huh, what?

I'll try that. I'll try that.

Thank you.

Oh, my God, that's good.

Yeah, that's fantastic.

They're like little, tiny gherkins.

Ooh, and I like that crunch sound.

Right?

That's so satisfying.

Think about if you dehydrated this whole thing.

And deep fried the whole thing and how the

whole thing would just puff up.

Oh.

Uh, you had me at deep fry.

Yeah.

Carolynn has a plan for her oysters and

this great hot sauce.

But I'm kind of inspired by this seaweed project.

I'm going to call it a project for now, cause I still have to

figure out what, what I'm going to do exactly.

I want to do something unique, surprising,

something that will really add to what Carolynn is

already doing at Turner Farm.

No clue what it's going to be yet.

But I'll figure it out.

Little green garlic here.

This is going to be part of the buttermilk ranch dressing.

So, we're looking for, not all of this is ready,

so we're looking for stalks that are a little thicker.

So, this one's a good one.

Okay.

It is earlier in the season so

not everything is available.

I have to plan menus around what we have and

it's a bit of a challenge.

Right now, we have beautiful root veggies and salad greens.

Oh, I love that sound.

Oh, nice.

Isn't that a gorgeous sound?

That's amazing.

I want to make salad with buttermilk ranch dressing,

which is traditionally a Southern application for

ranch dressing.

But the buttermilk has a bit of a tang to it.

And the garlic has a little bit of tang as well.

And that's not something that's traditional for Maine.

So, I'm pretty nervous about how some of this stuff will

go down with the Mainers.

Oh, wow.

I know. Isn't this beautiful?

This is amazing.

I know exactly what Carolynn is feeling right now.

And what it feels like to make a big transition.

When I opened my restaurant,

I also faced a lot of those anxieties around

how it would be received.

Would people come?

So, I can totally relate to what she's up against.

Ben is so excited about you.

Just you can hear it in his voice and just how he talks.

He's like, I got this new chef and

she's going to shake things up.

But for you being the one that's the one shaking it up

and the one that's, you know, all eyes are on.

Yeah.

What does that feel like for you?

There's a lot on the line, you know?

Yeah.

Like am I good enough?

Am, it, are people really going to like this?

Can I do this?

Especially being somebody from the South.

What brought you here in the first place?

Well, my love for Maine brought me to

Turner Farm, for sure.

I wanted to, instead of private cheffing, which is

what I was doing, I wanted to do weddings and larger events

and this place was just so beautiful.

And I knew of it through an ex.

I was with my partner for almost seven years.

But we realized that

I wanted to be more rooted, literally.

I really wanted to work with a farm to table business.

He wanted to travel.

We were no longer walking together.

And so, we decided to split up.

Wasn't easy, but my dream of doing this here was

so important to me.

I love Turner Farm.

I wanted to be in Maine, and I wanted to be able to

start that now.

Hoping that people really, truly feel what I'm bringing

to the table.

I do put a lot of like heart and soul into what I cook.

I care so much about it that I want it to be received.

And I want people to smile.

I want at least one person to cry.

Oh, okay.

Cause I cry over food all the time.

Yeah, sure.

Carolynn is carrying a lot on her shoulders.

Becoming the new chef at Turner Farm is so much more

than just a job to her.

She needs her food to be accepted and loved because

she uprooted much of her life to be here.

I personally can't wait to taste your food.

No pressure.

All right so today is tasting day for Carolynn, um,

to feed her team some of her food.

Pull em on up.

And we're picking up the lobsters

we left tied to the dock.

Aha.

There they are.

What I love most about Carolynn is that she's

adding a lot of herself into something that is

so rooted in tradition.

And yes, of course, there's always a risk whenever you

try anything new.

But it can be a huge payoff.

Well. Okay.

Put me to work. I will, I will do anything you need.

For this test meal, Carolynn will be making oysters with

her homemade hot sauce,

a farm fresh salad with buttermilk ranch dressing,

and a lobster roll on a buttermilk biscuit.

This dish, in particular, is a huge gamble because

Mainers take their lobster rolls very seriously.

And they're almost always served on hot dog buns,

not biscuits.

Ooh, yeah.

Looking good.

The lobster meat will still have a mayo base to it.

I personally would add more,

but I'm trying not to kill anybody.

And it's going to have preserved lemon in it.

It's going to have celery.

A little bit of jalapeño.

There's pickled onions.

Oh, yum. That's good.

It's a play on like a Southern chicken salad.

That's how I make my chicken salads at home.

There might be some raisins in there.

We won't do that to the lobster roll.

Cause that would be disgusting and also people

here would probably kill me.

Beautiful.

So, do you get nervous when guests start to arrive, and

you start to see people?

Oh, absolutely.

Right beforehand, it's like, okay, almost curtain, right?

It's like the theatre.

It's like you have the one shot to like make it happen.

We chefs have all been in a place of presenting

something new and seeing how it's going to be received.

And it tests your nerves, and it can be very scary.

So, even though it's not my restaurant, I feel all the

butterflies around this taste test.

And what it could mean for the future of Turner Farm.

Hey guys, you ready for lunch?

It's finally time for Carolynn to test out her new

menu on the Turner Farm team.

These are the folks that not only tend to all the crops on

the farm but ultimately, they'll be serving the meal

to the guests as well.

Thank you. Yeah.

There's no greater feedback than those who are

going to be serving the food.

You got to get those people on board

in order to sell your story.

I'm excited to try it all out.

Yeah. Yeah, me, too.

You know what's on the menu?

Is it under wraps?

Uh, it's a surprise. Ooh.

Ready whenever you are.

Let's do it.

Hey, guys.

Hello. Hey.

My role on this test lunch is to support Carolynn from

behind the scenes.

It's her food and her menu.

And she needs to be the one to present that to the team.

Oh, I'm so excited for you to try these.

It's a carrot ginger jalapeño hot sauce fermented.

Hot sauce is a Southern thing.

And so, that's what I'm trying to bring to the table.

I can appreciate that.

Let me know how you, how you feel about it.

Of course.

That's pretty good. Does anybody want a second?

I kind of want a second one.

How is it? I could eat all of them.

So, I'm letting other people grab them first.

Yeah. Right? Right?

Thank you so much. Yeah.

You guys ready for more?

That was fantastic. Yes.

Yay. Always ready.

How'd it go?

It went great. Yeah.

They liked it. All right. Salad.

Oh, this is pretty.

I mean, does this all look familiar?

Absolutely. Farmers?

Salad with pickled veggies and buttermilk ranch dressing with

grilled green garlic.

Yeah, from the lower beds.

So, enjoy.

Wow, look at this.

Whoa, it's so creamy.

All right. I don't even know if I'd...

Call it ranch. Call it ranch.

Yeah. Yeah, right.

Like it's like a green garlic...

Yeah. Vinaigrette, almost.

Right. Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like the perfect consistency.

Oh, my.

The lobster roll, I'm taking to the next level.

So, it's on a buttermilk biscuit.

See, the theme? Buttermilk?

The lobster is: mayo but there's preserved lemon in there,

celery in there and there's pickled onions.

Dill? Dill.

Thanks, that you guys grew.

So, thanks for the dill.

Yeah. All right. Dig in. Get messy.

This is perfect. This I have...

No feedback? No qualms. Yeah.

Take that bite and then taste it with that turnip.

As I'm chewing? Uh-huh.

Okay.

Yeah.

That turnip was really good.

This is how new stuff is born.

Right?

I want to run out there and be like, don't eat anymore.

We have an, we have an idea.

It's really nice on the biscuit.

Mm-hm.

It's better than a hot dog roll. For sure.

Absolutely.

How is it?

Delicious. It's fantastic.

What do you y'all think about South meets Maine?

It's great.

It's like two worlds collide, you know?

Do you feel like the island's going to accept it

and people that come to eat?

You've been here for a while.

They're a little slow to take things up.

I think they might be intimidated by it.

I feel like locals or people who come in summer here and

go to these events expect the same thing.

Do you feel like I bridged the gap, though?

Like enough to where people are going to be

interested in trying?

Well, I think keeping it anchored in the Maine things,

like the lobster and the oysters, having lemon with

the oysters as an option would be nice for folks to have.

Um, but yeah, I mean I think people will try it.

As long as they try, that's all I care about.

Maine, in general, really has an identity that

feels like strong and authentic and people like what they like.

But I'm hopeful that people will take to it.

Thanks, y'all.

Thank you. Yeah.

It was delicious.

Watching from behind the scenes, it's obvious to me

that they really love the food.

Even if they are skeptical about how it will go down

with the guests.

I'm interested to see how Carolynn and Benjamin will

incorporate that feedback into a plan for the grand opening.

So, you've brought in the chef to shake things up.

Do you have any reservations going into this dinner in a

very short amount of time?

I, I think it's going to be great.

We are really creating a narrative and I can explain

that to the guests.

This is a traditional lobster dinner...

Yeah. With a twist.

You think that would go over?

Yeah. Okay.

They'll love it.

They'll keep coming back year after year.

I hope so. Yeah.

Yeah, for their, for their Southern/Maine experience.

Yeah. Yeah.

The flavors are there. The concept is there.

So, I think, uh, we are definitely headed in a

new direction but the right direction.

Put me to work.

I'm here to help with whatever you need.

So, I haven't come up with a dessert yet.

Okay.

Do you want to come up with a dessert?

You have all these great...

I would love to come up with a dessert.

Yeah. Yeah.

So, let's have, let's, let's talk this one through so we

can come up with an idea together.

The neighboring island has a goat farm,

and they do amazing goat milk caramels.

Oh, yum.

I'd like to incorporate that cause that is

very South, too, like caramel, right?

But I'm stuck and my brain is fried on

thinking about like a dessert.

Once I taste them,

I'm sure like all these ideas are going to start.

Yeah. Yeah, you got to taste it.

You got to see the place.

Like you got to kiss a baby goat.

Once I kiss that baby goat, I am sealing in my idea.

Right, right on its little nose.

I am so excited.

I'm looking forward to just cooking with a fellow chef.

But also, very nervous.

Because I need to make a dessert that complements her

Southern style and helps to elevate the meal.

You're welcome to pet Mr. Bean.

Hi, Mr. Bean.

Yeah. He's, he's an absolute lover.

I'm at Creelman Farms to try the goat milk caramels

Carolynn would like me to use in the dessert

for the grand opening.

So, how does one even start a goat farm?

I wanted to have cheese and milk for my family.

Uh, island, 12 miles offshore, how are you going to get that?

And it happened sort of incrementally.

I am a cheesemaker, a shop owner and a farmer.

Pretty much jack of all trades, which is a good thing

when you're on an island cause there's not a lot of other

people to kind of fall back on.

So, you want to taste some of the stuff that I make?

Yes.

With the milk from these guys?

I would love to.

I have to tell you, it's pretty special.

Oh, wow, what do you have?

Fresh milk from this morning.

And then these are the caramels.

Cheers. Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

That's far more mild than what I, I was expecting.

Right?

So, you want to taste the goat milk caramels?

Yes.

All right, so tell me what's in these?

So, it's goat milk, sugar, butter.

And a dash of Maine sea salt.

The texture is perfect.

Mm-hm.

So, obviously, the goats are creating some of the

most beautiful milk.

What are you feeding them to make these so good?

Well, I think that's something maybe that

I should show you.

Okay.

Hey, goats, goats, goats, goats, goats.

Oh my God. I can't with the little jump in the air.

They go like this. They run.

And they go.

It's like a little like floppy thing that happens in the air.

This land is made to have goats on it.

They're eating huckleberry, blueberry, bayberry, all those

plants with the deep roots that really take up the taste

of the soil and that immediately goes into the milk.

Wow.

So, we're going to go to a spot that's really special.

Come on, girls. Let's go.

So, look at this.

Seaweed eating goats. I love this.

Yeah. Who knew?

I don't know, it's just something that

you never associate.

You think of goats, and you think of farms.

You don't necessarily think of this.

A buffet of crunchy seaweed lining the waterline.

Like, how cool is that?

So, this really, you think outside of all of the other

foliage and great stuff that they're eating, you think the

seaweed is the magical ingredient?

I really do.

The seaweed has that savory undertone.

It enhances every other flavor, I think, um, naturally.

Just like salt would. Yeah, just like salt.

And the microbes that are in it.

And so, they're, they're just getting this broad spectrum of

just wonderful goodness.

Oh my God, it sounds so good.

Come on. Crunch, crunch.

There's just so many different points of inspiration

literally all around us.

So, caramel and dessert

are kind of a match made in heaven and they go...

Oh, yeah. So well together.

But I was really inspired, honestly, by the sound of the

crunchy seaweed, just hearing the goats eat it.

So, I'm thinking of having like crunchy, puffy, yummy

garnish or something at the top. Right?

Oh, wow. So, what time am I coming?

Do not hold me to actually creating that...

I'll bring the goats.

Because I got to test it out tomorrow.

But, um, that's kind of my, my train of thought.

As soon as I tasted Erin's goat milk caramels, obviously,

so many different ideas started to come about.

And like you can throw caramel in anything and call it a

beautiful dessert, especially those.

But I'm feeling a little bit pulled to incorporate a little

seaweed component.

Yeah, yum.

Ever since we found that seaweed in the oyster bed,

I just can't get it out of my brain, so I just

feel like this is all an interesting combination.

Just as like this natural salinity that goes so well

with something sweet like caramel.

I just have to figure out how to actually make a dessert

with all those things.

How are you looking?

I'm ahead of the game.

I am not.

I've got less than three hours before guests arrive to

figure out this dessert.

Normally they say stick to what you know.

Do what you've done before.

But I'm not doing what I've done before.

Cause I was just inspired by being here and coming up with

something on the fly.

Maybe a dumb move. We'll find out.

Oh, boy.

We could or could not have dessert later.

Need to melt butter.

Is there a little pot to melt butter?

Oh, he's rinsing it out for you.

Things are definitely getting hectic.

With 25 guests set to arrive in two hours, we're both

feeling the pressure to pull off this brand-new

experimental menu.

Behind you.

Meanwhile, I'm making up the

dessert recipe as I go along,

and Carolynn has added two new dishes to tonight's dinner.

So, are you feeling nervous, excited, all of the good

things before people come?

I'm in like, go-mode.

Yeah. Just don't sit down.

Just don't sit down.

Yeah.

After the taste test with the staff, my takeaway was to make

Southern food that I think is delicious and to lean into that.

And so, decided to make stewed collard greens and grits

today, which is quite traditional in the South.

But collard greens, they didn't go over very well in

the past here at Turner Farm, because people didn't know

what to do with them.

They were sautéing them as you would spinach and they're not

that great like that.

When you stew them down, that's how they taste the best.

And I'm hoping that everybody latches on to like stewed

collard greens from here on out.

I like that you suggested the Hakurei turnips to go on the

lobster rolls.

So, we'll do that.

Okay.

Oh, it's going to be great.

So, I'm going to take Erin's beautiful goat caramels and

I'm going to melt that into my heavy cream to basically make

a caramel sauce to then be folded into mascarpone.

So, it's like a salted caramel dollop of creaminess.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Are you putting pecans in there, too?

I see pecans over there.

So, that's going to be part of the crunchy...

Okay. Garnish.

That's going to carry through with the salad, too.

There's going to be some candied pecans on here.

Oh, great.

Carolynn uprooted her life to be the chef at Turner Farm.

So, I need to make sure my dessert helps

make this meal a success.

Like she was saying, how important she wants someone

to cry over her food.

I don't need her to cry over anything I make.

But I do need her to feel like it's something that she also

would have made herself.

I saw the canola oil come out.

There will be frying. There will be...

Frying and popping of seaweed.

I am intrigued.

I was like, I get everything else, but I don't know what

that seaweed is doing on the dessert.

So, we'll see.

How's it going? It's coming along.

I think Carolynn's nervous.

I'm just a little bit nervous as well.

I'm really hoping to make our grand opening a success.

Laying the groundwork for a successful season.

Oh my God.

I'm getting, I'm getting ready, getting ready.

Thanks for coming.

Tonight's grand opening mainly consists of

people who've been coming to Turner Farm's barn suppers

since the very beginning.

Winning over these pillars of the community will be the key

to a successful dinner.

I have a new chef, uh, this year,

and she's from Atlanta.

So, the whole menu has like a little Southern twist to it.

We were at probably the first barn supper that

they held out here.

And I think that most Mainers will say,

stick with the old rules.

Wow.

The mint syrup is so gorgeous.

Do you guys make it yourselves?

Carolynn does.

I'm really excited to have a mint julep, like

by somebody from the South.

I've made them myself.

I don't think it's going to be quite the same, right?

Yeah.

In addition to the paying guests, Benjamin and

Carolynn invited their suppliers to get their opinion

on this new menu, including Abel the lobster man,

Erin the goat farmer and Adam, the oyster harvester.

Hey, how are you? Good.

Thanks for the oysters. Yeah.

Yeah, my pleasure.

Do you want to try the hot sauce?

Yeah. So, this is new.

So, I'm an oyster snob.

And I rarely ever put anything on my oyster.

You ready?

Cha-ching.

Mm, yummy.

It doesn't cover up the flavor of the oyster.

I love the hot sauce. Yeah.

All right.

Please have a seat. Dinner is served.

Thank y'all so much for coming, uh, out to Turner Farm.

It's our grand opening tonight which is, uh, very exciting.

The menu tonight is pretty special.

I have a new chef at the farm this year.

Uh, her name's Carolynn.

She comes from Atlanta.

The menu tonight really is an infusion of her Southern style

and a lot of Maine in there as well.

Thanks for trusting me with your taste buds.

What's on the table right now is a salad.

But we have a buttermilk ranch dressing with

roasted green garlic in there.

So, enjoy.

Yum, yum.

This is really good.

You going to be ready to go in just a second?

All right. I'm, I'll be ready.

Can I taste them?

Yeah.

Oh yeah. Yum.

So, we have grits with blistered cherry tomatoes.

Enjoy.

Looks fabulous.

Mmm!

It's amazing, really.

I can't believe it.

So good.

How we doing?

Pretty good. Good.

How's it going out there?

Um, good. They're loving it.

They love the grits.

Thank God. Yeah.

While Carolynn readies the final course,

I'm knee deep in the dessert.

So, it's ready once the lobster rolls are finished.

Timing is everything.

So, we have collard greens,

which was a staple in my house.

I hope that you like them.

And I made y'all lobster rolls, but on buttermilk biscuits

because that's the way it should be done.

So, enjoy.

Mm!

This is really good.

Yeah. Delicious.

I like the, the celery in it and the,

...and all the veggies that go with it.

It's a really nice ratio, actually,

of lobster to biscuit, too.

It's delicious.

I was a little skeptical to tell you the truth.

But it's wonderful.

I gotta take smaller bites, but it's too good.

Those are the best collard greens

I've ever had in my life.

Yeah, I agree. I usually don't like collard greens.

I don't know what she did, but they're amazing.

I like the Southern twist very much.

I don't think she bent the rules, but she gave it

enough of a twist that it made a difference.

We're going to serve dessert.

You may take it.

All right.

Oh. Oh, thank you.

You're welcome.

Uh, this dessert's really special.

We had a guest chef, Kristen,

and she came up with an amazing dessert.

She's going to come out and describe the dessert for you.

Hi, everyone.

How is everything?

Fantastic.

My dessert is really here to enhance what Chef Carolynn's

already made.

So, I hope you enjoy goats eating seaweed.

The Southern portion of this dish is a, uh,

bread and butter custard pudding.

The caramel's melted down made into a sauce, folded into

mascarpone which is that smear of cream over on the side.

And then on the top we have puffed rice, fried seaweed and

powdered sugar.

So, get in there and just kind of mash it all together and it

should be hopefully very delicious.

That's amazing.

The best thing I've ever eaten.

Mm!

So, I feel like I need your stamp of approval.

You described it and... Yeah.

I was kind of like I don't know.

It, but then you, I'm just blown away.

Oh, yeah. Oh, very good.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Yes. Thank you.

Yeah.

It was a nice first kickoff dinner, wasn't it?

They loved it.

Like absolutely hands-down.

Everyone wants it again.

Lobster roll biscuit, you know...

"Can we have this for lunch?"

"Can you put it in farmstand?"

Well, congratulations. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you.

This has been truly a wonderful experience being here,

...and just being inspired by you and Carolynn.

So, thank you so much.

You're welcome. Thank you.

This is fantastic.

You know, I think the obvious lesson here is that when you

lean into what really speaks to you, people will respond.

This is gorgeous. I'm glad you like it.

Thank you.

But there's something else that

I've taken from this experience.

And that's the importance of community.

Who caught the lobster?

Um, Abel got lobsters.

Yeah, yeah.

It truly takes a village to raise a restaurant.

Looking around here, that couldn't be more obvious.

And it's an important thing to remember for any restaurant,

whether that's mine or this one,

at the very end of the world.

Captioned by Cotter Media Group.