Since opening in 2013, Salt Warm Farm Restaurant has offered the magic of dining in the heart of picture-perfect-Rockport Harbor to savor the wonderfully creative cooking from the restaurant’s head chef, Sam Richman. However, the establishment closed abruptly a few weeks ago on the heels of Richman’s departure from the kitchen. One can’t help but to read between the lines for the real story. According to a recent Eater Maine post, owner Annemarie Ahearn is quoted as saying “We are in discussions with a very exciting and accomplished chef…for next season.” Why when there already was one?
Almost immediately Richman started a series of popups called Salty Soup Kitchen (see various Facebook posts); the first was held two Saturdays ago and the second this past weekend. When I heard about it I went up to Rockport for one of the events, which featured Mexican Night held in a stunning red barn on Mill Street in the West Rockport neighborhood where sprawling country estates grace the landscape.
Mexican Night menu and chef Sam Richman
I trekked up on Saturday afternoon, slogging through a 45 minute crawl through Wiscasset during the Columbus Day weekend rush that typified the town’s classic summertime bottleneck. Why they voted down the opportunity to create a bypass several years ago remains a big mistake.
