Just chronicling our "neighborhood" as we explore the possibilities of turning Wild Rose Maine into a one of one, unique, hospitality experience.
Erin French seemingly single handedly turned tiny Freedom, ME into a one of a kind travel experience.
As the story goes, Erin, a native Mainer, built up quite a following when she began hosting pop-up dinners in Mid-Coast Maine out of her Airstream. By 2014 she moved to a permanent location – an old mill in Freedom, ME.
The mill was not in great shape, but Erin & friends, along with the community, turned it into a beautiful culinary experience – 40 candle-lit tables where guests enjoyed a feast fit for Mainers, no menu, instead a hand crafted 8-10 course spread complete with ingredients sourced from local farmers. The Lost Kitchen was born.
To those that dined there it felt, different, unique, more like a big family gathering than a rote restaurant experience, and as with anything good and worthwhile, word travels fast, especially when the Internet is involved.
Demand quickly far outweighed supply. The restaurant was open from May - New Year's Day serving meals four days a week and reservations were impossible to get. As hundreds of inquiries became thousands, Erin came up with a lo-fi solution – each prospective diner would send a hand written postcard in hopes of getting a table. Every April, prior to the restaurant opening for the season, the staff would choose those lucky enough to get a table.
In 2024 the restaurant received over 60,000 submissions for (if my math is correct) somewhere around 5,000 reservations each year. That would put the acceptance rate somewhere in the range of 8%! For reference, that isn't dissimilar to the acceptance rates of many of the top colleges and universities in the US.
If your postcard is selected for a reservation, it will cost you $250 per person for your meal. That price tag isn't far off from Alinea, Chicago's Michelin 3 star eatery that is widely considered one of the top culinary experiences in the world.
Over the years Erin and her team have added four cabins, a community garden, and a farmer's market to the property, to make sure guests, who travel from all over the world to dine here, have a full experience.
The Lost Kitchen has also spawned its own reality TV series and a popular series of cook books.
In her tiny hometown of ~700 people, far from the nearest city and 70 miles from the closest tourist attraction, Acadia National Park, Erin has created an amazingly successful example of experiential hospitality.
