Mama's Boy Bistro

By Captain D


Lucas St. Clair is betting his new restaurant can turn Winter Harbor into a destination for people who appreciate fine cuisine.

He has a lot riding on this notion. His newly-created restaurant, Mama’s Boy Bistro, is housed in the most spectacular structure this Downeast village has ever seen. People entering town on Route 186 can’t miss it; the soaring, three-story, gabled, post-and-beam building dominates the downtown area completely. Designed by famed Maine barn builder John Libby, it features cathedral ceilings, banks of windows, warm wood with raw steel, and unfinished concrete floors. From every angle it is a fascinating construct.

Besides the architecture, patrons can view the ocean or the completely open kitchen. No secrets here. Lucas’ girlfriend, Jen Amara, is head chef, and there are 11 other cooks plying their various specialties. Lucas himself does most of the pastries.

Lucas and Jen realize it’s the food, not the architecture, that will make Winter Harbor a destination for gourmets. Here too they’re sparing no expense to insure that the food is as good as it can be.

Lucas, who is 27, trained at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in London, an institution that has turned out more than its share of world-class chefs. He has worked in New York City as well as Portland, Maine, before coming back to Winter Harbor, a town his family has been deeply rooted to. He grew up in Parkman, Maine, but after high school decided he wanted to see the world. He did so, paying his way by working in kitchens.

Jen, who grew up in Pittsfield, Maine, is self-taught, but shares Lucas’ deep passion for culinary artistry. They met three years ago when both of them were working in a Portland restaurant. It was, they agree, love at first sight.

They describe the fare as a mix of comfort food and haute cuisine. You can get the traditional steamed lobster, but you also can get dishes such as lobster ravioli with roasted shallots, fennel and red grapes.
Much of the produce is locally grown and organic while most of the seafood is caught locally. Lucas and Jen have worked hard to establish working relationships with area farmers, fishermen, and specialty food producers. Everything is as fresh as can be, and free of insecticides and many preservatives.

“We tell people it’s a good thing if they find a bug in their salads,” Lucas jokes, displaying a lightheartedness that permeates his establishment. “In New York, everything was deadly serious,” he points out. “Sure, we take food seriously, but this doesn’t mean we have to be pretentious. People should have a good time.”

The spirit of fun is reflected in the name of the place. Three years ago when Lucas told friends that his mother was going to help him start a bakery, they kidded him about being a “mama’s boy.” He could have taken offense, but instead he adopted the name.

His mother, Roxanne Quimby, is the founder of Burt’s Bees, a hugely successful company that markets natural skin- care products internationally. She financed Lucas’ original Winter Harbor business, Mama’s Boy Bakery, which operated for four years in totally unpretentious digs on the same plot of land as today’s bistro.

“After the fourth year, we were bursting at the seams,” Lucas says. “Obviously there is a huge potential here in Winter Harbor, and now we have a facility that will enable us to realize that potential. We think it’s a perfect small town for a really good restaurant. We know people will go out of their way to come here.”