Anonymous Wine Drinker #4, Coffee Gal and I recently had the great good fortune to dine at Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit.  Arrows is routinely listed among the best restaurants in the US and its talented chefs, Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, were honored as the James Beard Best Chefs of the Northeast in 2010.  I’d never been before, had heard wonderful things and was so excited.  Turns out the evening was everything I’d hoped it would be, and more.

First off, we were met outside the restaurant by a lovely young man armed with the amuse bouche of the evening, a veal pastrami on crostini.  He had me at hello.  Inside, the restaurant is simply darling – dim lights, gorgeous table settings and a killer view of the Arrows gardens, which that night were adorned by pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors.

The Arrows menu needs a bit of an explanation (or at least it did for me).  It’s separated into “Collections” and one chooses accordingly, mixing and matching to your heart’s content.  I opted for two choices out of the “Garden” collection, including a fantastic celery root and chocolate fois gras “sundae” (pictured here).  I also enjoyed an exquisite and velvety vegetable soup.  Moving into the “Land and Sea” collection, I feasted on delicious scallops accompanied by tiny gems of lobster gnocci.  Portions are small but I was comfortably full at the end of my meal.

And dessert?  We opted to share the “Chocolate and Bread,” which consisted of brioche dusted with chocolate, cocoa nib chocolate bar, dark chocolate cremeaux, and accompanied European barley wine granita (aka, “beer sorbet”). We also enjoyed delicious, straight-out-of-the-pan doughnuts and churros.

Our wine choice for the evening was a Gary Farrell Chardonnay.  Hailing from California’s Russian River area, the wine is described by the winemaker as: “Bright clarity and medium intensity in appearance with a lemon-gold core color. Aromas and flavors of baked sour apples, banana, pineapple, and lemon meringue are complemented by baking spices, vanilla, marzipan, pie crust and crème brûlée. The palate possesses a supple texture and medium plus body, flavor intensity and length.”  Gary Farrell sells this wine for $38 a bottle on its site.

We’re already planning our next visit back to Arrows.  And I’ll definitely be on the hunt for the Gary Farrell at my local liquor store.  And if you don’t happen to have your bank book at the ready but still want to enjoy Chefs Mark and Clark’s fantastic food, head to MC Perkins Cove, also in Oqunquit.  Their Sunday jazz brunch is killer!