A visit to a local business: fresh
Chef Kent Thibault and owner Sara Caines
Our hero, Roger Thornhill, played by the inimitably debonair Cary Grant, meets the lovely heroine Eve Kendall on a train. Eve is portrayed by the cool and sophisticated blonde beauty Eva Marie Saint.
The action really heats up when Cary lights Eve’s cigarette in the dining car of the train.
When Eve gently cups Roger’s hand to guide the match to her cigarette and then, still holding Roger’s hand blows out the match … the erotic frisson is palpable. Ooh la la is all I can say!
Who needs graphic images of nekkid bodies and sweat?
This movie has caused me to forevermore equate romance with trains and travel by railcar.
So I was thrilled to be a part of a recent birthday party held at Fresh Fine Dining in Florenceville-Bristol for my bro-in-law, business partner and friend Jonathan Gagnon.
Fresh is open again after a brief rest and intensive search by owner Sara for a new chef. She needed to find someone up to the challenge of the demands of the intensive menu that Fresh patrons have come to expect.
She ultimately connected with chef Kent Thibault, who is originally from Fredericton Junction. Perhaps it is sheer kismet that Kent, from a railway town, would end up plying his craft in a fine dining restaurant housed in a vintage 1930’s rail car!
Sara began her career in the restaurant industry with a job at Grandma’s Restaurant in Centreville. While working here, she attended a staff party at Hatfield Heritage Inn in Hartland and experienced one of those life changing moments.
The food and service at the Hatfield Inn blew her away. She told the owners how much she admired the service and cuisine, and of her desire to learn more. Her enthusiasm got her a job, and she began to work for them and stayed at the Inn for the next five years, until they shut down the business.
After the Inn closed, she found she really missed the experience and the atmosphere and so she committed to opening her own fine dining restaurant.
Fresh opened in September of 2007 in a beautifully re-fitted Classic Deco 1930’s railway dining car next to the Railway Museum in Florenceville-Bristol.
Dining at Fresh is dedicated to exquisite cuisine combined with impeccable service with several hours of time allotted to enjoy and savour the entire experience. The restaurant seats just 26 people, so your dining adventure is intimate and cozy.
Forget about “fast food.” A meal should be a leisurely event in which one eats and converses with friends….not something you bolt down. Fresh takes slow food seriously. When you dine at Fresh, prepare to spend 3 or 4 hours enjoying the meal, the experience and your company.
The menu changes every six weeks to keep it fresh! And, you always have the option to make special requests or to order the Chef’s Surprise. You tell Sara what protein and flavour you are hankering for and you leave it up to the chef to create your meal.
Our party had all ordered our entrees, and we had finished our appetizers when Sara appeared with our amuse-bouche ….which means, literally in French, “mouth amuser.” This is a small tidbit served as a free extra at fine restaurants to keep you happy while you are waiting for your entrée.
Our amuse-bouche for this evening was a giant grilled shrimp served in a Pad Thai sauce, on a small bed of rice noodles. It was awesome. I told Sara how delicious it was, and how much I missed Pad Thai (which I ate on a weekly basis at Tommy’s Thai Restaurant when I lived in Denver) and she immediately offered to change my entrée to chicken and shrimp Pad Thai!
Kent did a terrific job with our meals, my Pad Thai was fabulous, and all this wonderful food is made in a tiny kitchen with four electric burners and a grill. It is quite a testament to the skill of the chef to turn out all these different custom made orders in such small kitchen.
Fresh is open Monday through Saturday starting at 5:30 PM by reservation. Seating is limited, and timing is everything! Visit the Fresh website to see the current menu and photos of the lovely dining car. Call Sara at 392-6000 to book your reservation.
Www.freshfinedining.com
Stephanie Kelley
