Mother’s Kitchen

Route 102, Town Hill, Bar Harbor (next to Salsbury Hardware)

288-4403

Sandwiches require one special thing to go from mundane to marvelous: good bread. And Mother’s Kitchen, a little lunch spot on Mount Desert Island, has several hearty homemade varieties that are as delicious as the stuff put in between two slices. They include tangy sourdough, robust rye, and a heavenly onion walnut dill bread.

The dill bread tasted great on the Summer Kitchen ($6.25) that I ordered on a sunny, breezy day this month. The sandwich had stacks of smoked turkey layered with avocado, bacon, lettuce and tomato, with a creamy dill sauce. My friend had the Charlie Noble ($6.25), featuring chicken salad with walnuts and tarragon, slathered with cranberry sauce and topped with crisp lettuce. This was all followed by an extremely gooey and rich walnut fudge brownie, also homemade.

At Mother’s Kitchen, you order your lunch, and then go outside to stake claim to one of the picnic tables or benches on the lawn in front of the little wooden building. On this day it was so busy some opted to just sit cross-legged on the grass and wait for their order to be brought out. Also, they’re only open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. – they do a brisk breakfast business – so get there on time, or early.

The only problem that I could see was that the sandwiches were crammed so full of fillings that half of it fell out before it reached my mouth. I’m coming back to try the Grandpa Jack ($5.75) sandwich – homemade meatloaf on sourdough. Just like Mom used to make.

– Emily Burnham