This is Rick pretending to be the Phantom Gourmet.

The Wayfarer Restaurant is just off Route 9 in Cape Porpoise, Maine. It’s about 3 miles from our house and we’ve been a few times for breakfast, once or twice for dinner. Tonight was special! It’s BYOB, so we brought a nice Spanish Red. Lauren greeted us as we entered and showed us to a booth in the back of the restaurant near the door to the kitchen. I had decided that if I ordered off the menu, I’d get the filet, but I asked Lauren if she tell us about the specials. Prime rib…no thanks. Sea Bass done special. Elaine said she’d have that. Haddock Oscar. Baked haddock, with lobster claws smothered in a bearnaise sauce. Comes with asparagus and choice of pilaf, mashed or baked. I’m up for that. Elaine says, “I didn’t know about the lobster.” and switched.

Both Elaine and I looked at the sauce and agreed that it didn’t look like any bearnaise that we had ever seen, but


IT WAS AWESOME!

So, Elaine’s eating and I’m done except for a little bit of Bearnaise sauce left on my plate.

Here it comes!

Kitchen door opens and out comes Brandy. We’re the first table, so she asks how it was. We raved, but we also mentioned that it didn’t look like Bearnaise sauce. So, Brandy tells us her secret. Spends a couple of minutes. She’s a very fun lady and a great chef. We ask her how often she offers that special. We ask her what other special specials she has and she mentioned sweet potato encrusted haddock and lobster stew. So, we kind of agreed that we’re gonna call and find out what the specials are before we make reservations anywhere. Then, Brandy does two things that floor me. First, she says that if we want a particular special, call her a few days ahead and she’ll make sure it’s on the special board. Then, as she’s about to leave, she asks, “Need anything?” I point to the sauce on my dish and say, “A roll.” She smiled. Went to get one, then came back and said that she had to put more in. Next thing I know, Lauren brings to fresh, too hot to handle, rolls with a little dish full of hot Bearnaise sauce. I wiped up every drop in that bowl and my plate.

So, although this post may seem a little different from the norm, I think that it’s a great example of what happens when the product is awesome AND the salesperson understands how to keep a customer for life.

You can reach Brandy at the Wayfarer Restaurant on Pier Rd in Cape Porpoise, Maine, but call (207) 967-8961 to make reservations because her front porch is usually full of people waiting for their table.