HANCOCK — Chippers Restaurant is bringing in the new but keeping the oldies but goodies on the menu.
What’s new?
Comfort food with a twist. Say, macaroni with bacon and cheddar cheese and a homemade Alfredo sauce.
“Everything starts in New York and then works its way up here,” said Chip Butterwick, chef and owner of the 56-seat restaurant. “I call it gourmet comfort food.”
People also are eating smaller portions with varied tastes, he said.
Some couples, he said, might order one appetizer, two salads and split an entrée.
Homemade ice cream is another popular item on the menu. He orders his from The Ice Cream Lady in Stonington. Favorite flavors are espresso toffee chip, ginger, butter pecan and coconut.
Diners also like his homemade, award-winning chowders and — despite all the warnings from cardiologists — still love their fried food, particularly clams.
Butterwick recently started adding a new wrinkle on French fries with his own version of that French Canadian staple, poutin.
Other choices follow the seasons.
“When halibut is in, everyone orders it. One way I serve it is with mango salsa,” Butterwick said. “People are also eating more grilled salmon. And then I always have haddock.”
On the carnivore side, rib eye, with its tasty, heavily marbled state, is more in demand than filet mignon.
Martinis are big — especially the pretty ones like the limoncello and white cosmo — and the inventive ones, like the chocolate martini.
Wines continue to be a standard, but there is more demand for craft beers. One popular item is the Scottish Innis & Gunn, an aged bottled beer.
The people are changing, too, Butterwick said. He still has his loyal fans, but he is seeing more and more younger customers, many with their children in tow.
“It’s the new money in their mid to late 30s who are self-employed,” he said.
Butterwick said the catering side of his business continues to thrive and he recently began serving delicacies for high tea at the Woodlawn Museum in Ellsworth.
The menu changes day to day, but a recent high tea included Woodlawn cookies based on a recipe from “way back,” scones, chive, dill and cucumber sandwiches on wheat bread, a ham salad sandwich with a ground mustard sauce, lemon poppy seed bread and a cold peach tea and hot tea.
White Chocolate Cherry Cream Pie
Chocolate Cookie Crust
1 package chocolate cookies, crushed
6 Tbsps melted butter
Spray bottom of pie pan. Combine cookies and melted butter and press into bottom and sides of pan. Crush up enough to fill the bottom and sides of a pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Pie Filling
One 8 oz. package cream cheese brought to room temperature
One 8 oz. container of mascarpone
½ cup confectioner sugar
1 tsp almond extract
¾ cup white chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups of whipping cream
One 21 oz. can cherry pie filling
Beat the cream cheese, confectioner sugar and almond extract with mixer until smooth. Carefully melt white chocolate chips in microwave and add to cream cheese mixture. Whip until smooth. Whip heavy cream and fold it into mixture. Place mixture in pie shell and chill for 2-3 hours. Before serving, layer top with cherries and garnish with several unmelted white chocolate chips.
Lobster Mac and Cheese
One quart heavy cream
12 oz. cheddar bacon cheese
12 oz. Velveeta cheese
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
Fresh parsley to garnish
One 12 oz. box cavatappi shells
3 lbs. picked lobster meat
This recipe requires that you stay with it, so grate bacon cheddar cheese and dice the Velveeta cheese ahead of time. Warm heavy cream. Add Velveeta cubes. Keep stirring on medium heat until it starts to melt a little. Add bacon cheddar then Parmesan and garlic powder. Once the cheese is melted, add lobster meat.
Serves 10 people as a starter course.
Find in-depth coverage of local news in The Ellsworth American. Subscribe digitally or in print.
Jacqueline Weaver
Latest posts by Jacqueline Weaver (see all)
- In fashion - October 9, 2019
- Quimby makes plans to revive Ocean Wood Campground - September 6, 2019
- Blurred lines - September 4, 2019