photo/Figgy DiBenedetto
The Garrison
81 Bridge St., Yarmouth
847-0566
thegarrisonmaine.com
One of my favorite ways of conning my 17-year-old son into conversation is to take him out for dinner. He’s trapped into having to talk to me for hours, leaving the TV and phone behind. And as my white, cis-gendered, teenage offspring prepares for his college applications, I am constantly reminding him that even more important than a good education is just being a kind, compassionate person. You attract good things when you’re a good person who does good deeds. Proof of this can be hard to find in the headlines these days, but it’s on full display with everything Chef Christian Hayes touches.
Hayes’ restaurant, The Garrison, is tucked inside an old textile mill on the Royal River in Yarmouth. The roar of rushing water greets guests in the parking lot, but soon the soft buzz of conversations and the clinking of glass and metal settles you in among the refurbished wood tables and chairs. The décor is a perfect melange of disparate cultural elements, not unlike the food that awaits you.
The menu, mostly small plates, changes based on what’s in season, and we were treated to an autumnal extravaganza during our visit last month. We started with Bluefin Tuna ($21) crusted in black and white sesame seeds and seared rare over a sticky rice cake. The dish, much like the artwork around us, was a barely controlled eruption. One bite, with its cilantro lime oil and fried shallot, took us on a trip to Southeast Asia. The next forkful, with panko fried rice and furikake, found us in a late-night Japanese izakaya. The dish is disorientating in all the best ways.
The Chili Sumac Melon & Coppa ($20) employed the traditional Italian flavor combo of prosciutto and melon, but paired with North African and Middle Eastern spices. Every bite blasted us with sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami flavors. Likewise tickling all five taste sensations were the Buttermilk Fried Scallops ($21): crunchy fried scallops wrapped in meltingly soft cured-pork speck, with some pickled green apple, spicy honey and a tangle of bitter greens.
Want a more subtle and simple dish? Too bad! ’Cuz here comes the Pork Belly ($20).Slowly braised with sweet and smokey barbeque sauce and paired alongside a jicama/white bean succotash with tangy passionfruit dressing, it leaves traditional BBQ in the dust.
OK, now you can breathe. Just kidding! Enter the Squash Ravioli ($25), the surprise hit of the night. With cinnamon pasta dough, ras el hanout (North African spice mix) and Italian sausage broth, we wondered how Chef Christian could possibly pull these parts together. He did, of course, once again masterfully combining Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors. A perfect bite including every component then gave the dish a curry profile that left us happily bewildered, yet again.
Our evening of deep conversation and adventurous eating ended on a high note. The Tres Leches Cake ($14), comparatively simple after the kaleidoscope of flavors we’d just experienced, was simply adorned with whipped cream, local apples and hazelnut praline. It tasted like the rainbow that follows a thrilling thunderstorm.
Can you imagine if we could peacefully bring together the states of the world as seamlessly as this kitchen combines flavors? Well, Hayes helps do that, too. He is constantly giving back — not only to the community that fostered his career, but to domestic food-service workers in crisis and folks in need around the world. Go to his website (christianhayes.com) to see the details.
Christian and spouse Christine also co-own and operate Dandelion Catering, Thoroughfare [reviewed in The Breakfast Serial, April 2021], and The Handy Store, all also located in Yarmouth. Oh, and he won Food Network’s Chopped, which, we all know, is a stupendous culinary feat that only the greatest (and most attractive and interesting) chefs of our time can claim (ahem).
The Garrison is open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Reservations highly recommended.
