Michael Rossney is opening a seafood shack in Castine
Photo / Katie McKy
Michael Rossney at El El Frijoles in Sargentville. He and his wife, Michele Levesque, plan to open Dudley's Refresher in Castine, on the former site of the Breeze.
Michael Rossney and his wife, Michele Levesque, were living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was a commercial photographer and photography shop manager and she was an art teacher at a girls' middle school. One night, over red wine, they wrenched hard on life's steering wheel and veered away from their careers, selling their home and crossing a continent.
You might think that it was the red wine that kickstarted their taquería in Sargentville, playfully named El El Frijoles, a nod to L.L.Bean as frijoles means beans, but it was tradition. That's because Rossney's family had owned a summer home in Sargentville since 1905. Various generations had vacationed in Maine and never left, so it was Rossney's turn. Another incentive was rubbing up against food prep in their jobs, as Levesque had once worked as a fishmonger and caterer and Rossney's commercial photography had put him in many restaurants. However, they knew the last thing California needed was another taquería, thus, Sargentville.
El El Frijoles is in a cozy, shingled barn and topped with a cupola. Inside, it pops with subtropical color, but restaurant-wise, this couple is just getting started, as they've acquired a site lease in Castine where they're building a seaside seafood shack on the former Breeze site. Named Dudley's Refresher, it'll serve traditional fare alongside fish tacos and British-style fish and chips with mushy peas.
Mainebiz: What about the Castine site attracted you?
Michael Rossney: The lease was available on the land that the town owns. The town put out an RFP for interested parties and we won on the basis of their points system. Its location is just amazing, a really beautiful spot right on the Bagaduce River looking out into Penobscot Bay. What better place for a seafood shack than seven feet from the water?
MB: You've been selling at the Castine Farmers Market. Will those local connections help?
MR: We've been a vendor there since it started about five years ago. Through our seven kinds of freshly made salsa and a bunch of hot burritos, we were able to introduce ourselves and our products. I give out a lot of menus too and each has a map to our taquería on it. Now we have a lot of really great Castine customers who come out to see us pretty frequently. Based on the buzz, our Castine customers are super excited to give Dudley's Refresher a try.
MB: What have you learned at El El Frijoles that you'll apply at Dudley's Refresher?
MR: It can be tough to be our customer sometimes, as it's really busy here in the summer. We have a tiny dirt parking lot and nine seats. It's a challenge making people feel good about waiting in line and to make it OK that we're sold out of the daily special. Our customers deserve to have food that is better than they expect, to be treated well, to hear some interesting music, and to get a smile from the people in the kitchen. This is our challenge going forward, to bring this culture to a new location.
MB: What's your food philosophy?
MR: I know the whole farm-to-table thing is totally on-trend these days, but for good reason. We are really fortunate to have relationships with the Blue Hill peninsula producers making it all happen. I don't know of another taquería anywhere that can serve locally grown, organic black beans, but the Horsepower Farm [in Penobscot] plants us acres of them every year. There is also Nervous Nellie's Jams and Jellies [of Deer Isle], which produces the marmalade for our carnitas, and Tinder Hearth [of Brooksville], which makes some of the best bread in the world.
MB: Do you have expansion plans beyond Dudley's Refresher?
MR: Beyond world domination, we want to keep all of the folks on our team amused and coming back to play. Finding and keeping quality people is the key.
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