From Staten Island Advance, July 10, 2002

Fresh produce and seafood always on the menu by Jane Milza
Local farmers knock on the door of the Youngtown Inn daily with fresh produce, cheese and flowers

"Local people knock on our door all the time with fish, with scallops and lobsters. Some even grow produce especially for us - special lettuce, herbs, fresh flowers," said MaryAnn Dooley Mercier, former Great Kills resident who with her husband, French chef Manuel Mercier, owns and operates the Youngtown Inn in Lincolnville, Maine.
"Manuel loves chive flowers and decorating with herbs," said the innkeeper.
Locally grown produce, artisan goat cheese and poultry from nearby farms always are available to the innkeepers. Visit during the winter holiday season, and it's not unusual to find local pheasant or venison on the menu.
The historic inn and classic French restaurant has attracted enough attention to be featured in an issue of Downeast Magazine.
Dinner the night we visited featured crab cakes - bulging with delicately flavored seafood - served on a mesclun salad and accompanied by a Remoulade-like sauce. The chef's choice of rich, yet pale slices of duck pate, made decorative with fanned apple slices and a feathering of garden -fresh greens, followed.
Then came the stumbling block: Whether to select as entree the restaurant's popular Rack of Lamb with Herb Crust or the Dover Sole.
The addition of a rice timbale with a medley of yellow squash, zucchini strips, string beans and carrots swayed my companion's vote in favor of the seafood.
If it had been a night when the specials featured Wild Mushroom Ravioli with a Light Mushroom and Cream Sauce, or a main course of Diver Scallops, Shrimp and Lobster served over Lemon Pepper Linguini in a Tomato Basil Sauce, we might have been in even more of a quandry.
Even diners who forgo dessert most times, find it hard to resist the chef's Creme Brulee or made- to-order creamy souffles.
A sun-drenched porch adjoining the main dining room is the setting for breakfast which is served between 8 and 9 a.m. That morning, fresh fruit, muffins - baked fresh by Chef Mercier and still warm from the oven were on the menu, followed by fluffy scrambled eggs made festive with confetti-like bits of smoked salmon scattered through the mix.
It was Manuel and MaryAnn Mercier's self-confidence that led them to buy and restore the six- acre property - dotting it with tulips, orange blossoms, cherry and white birch trees - near Maine's spectacular coastline. They had little to lose, said the former Staten Islander, who met her husband aboard a cruise ship where he was working as a chef.
"I can clean and take care of the house, and Manual cooks the 'best' food."
They just hoped locals would appreciate having a French restaurant in their backyard.
"When we're really busy, he hires a sous chef from town," Mrs. Mercier explained.
"I'm more like a Kraft maca- roni and cheese person at home, but he trained me to make the souffles - raspberry, chocolate and Grand Marnier, they're all popular."
In addition to the restaurant, a small fireplace room is available for intimate gatherings, but the "Banquet Barn" - refurbished last year by the couple - can accommodate 140 guests. It often is used by the Merciers for private parties as well as for corporate events hosted by clients, like MBNA, the Delaware-based marketing company that created 4,000 jobs when it opened offices in the Camden, Maine area eight years ago.
"When we first moved here, we lived on the third floor, and we always were keeping the children quiet, so we didn't disturb the guests. That was difficult," Mrs. Mercier recalled. "Last year, we built a house in the back, so we have a home life now. The children don't have to be quiet all the time."
While couples and singles always frequent bed and breakfasts, the Merciers reach out to young families with secluded suites. "It works out," she said, continuing, "The parents can put on a monitor to hear the children while they're having a romantic dinner downstairs, and still feel the children are safe and sound."
Moving to the more relaxed New England way of life wasn't a mistake, according to the couple. Their three boys all benefit from it, said their mother, adding, "The only thing they're missing is the diversity of people they would meet other places. Otherwise, it's perfect. If I lived in New York, someone else would be watching my kids for me." The off-season in winter gives the innkeepers respite time to play." "We have a life in winter - cross-country and downhill skiing, activities on Lake Megunticook. The kids love it," said Mrs. Mercier. And, then there's always the annual trip to France, so the chef can catch up with family and friends.
While the restaurant is open to the public year round, "The tourists in the summer are interested in what we're doing which is a step in the right direction," said the chef. "People come back again, and that's the best you can get."
The following recipes from Chef Mercier offer a taste for the Youngtown Inn's stellar menu as well as for the attractive bed and breakfast accomodations and the surrounding Maine landscape.

Rack of Lamb with Herb Crust

Serves 2
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tsps. fresh thyme
2 tsps. fresh rosemary
2 tbs. fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 lb. trimmed and frenched rack of lamb
(7 or 8 ribs)

In a small bowl, combine well the bread crumbs, oil, chopped herbs, and garlic. Season the lamb with salt, pepper and olive oil. Pat the crumb mixture evenly on the fat side of lamb. Arrange lamb, crumb side up, in roasting pan. Roast lamb in the middle of a preheated 400-degree oven for 15 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 130-135 for medium rare meat. Transfer carefully to cutting board and let stand, uncovered for 10 minutes. Cut lamb between the ribs and divide it between 2 plates.

Creme Brulée

Serves 4
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
6 large egg yolks
4 tbs. light brown sugar

In small saucepan, combine cream and vanilla bean. Boil and let stand one hour. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks and add the cream in a stream, whisking. Remove vanilla bean. Combine well. Divide among 4 ramekin dishes. Bake custard in middle of preheated 300-degree oven for 15 minutes or until just set. Let cool, chill them, covered, for at least 4 hours.
To Serve: sprinkle brown sugar on top evenly. Place in preheated broiler just to carmelize sugar evenly, being careful not to let the sugar burn. Serve immediately.