There were quite a few goals I didn’t achieve in 2025: I didn’t relearn how to change a tire, I didn’t meet with a financial planner and I didn’t make homemade miso. But in September 2021, when I visited Maine’s Acadia National Park for the first time, I’m proud to say I accomplished a singular resolution: to eat lobster every single day! Chunky lobes of butter-drenched lobster nestled inside buttery, toasted split-top brioche rolls; lobster claw meat tangled up in strands of linguini in an herby white wine and garlic sauce; lobster Benedict bathed in Old Bay Hollandaise; and creamy lobster stew.
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Everyone knows Maine is famous for lobster, some people know that Maine is famous for whoopie pies, but did you know that Maine is also famous for popovers?
Crisp on the outside, light and chewy on the inside, popovers are savory pastries that start as a thin, eggy, milky batter and dramatically (magically!) poof up, several inches above the muffin tin, when baked in a hot oven.
Why are we talking about Maine and popovers? Because popovers are Neko Case’s last meal! The Grammy-nominated, western Washington born-and-raised musician is my guest on the newest episode of Your Last Meal!
When I think of popovers, I think of Jordan Pond House, a historic restaurant and tea house in Maine’s Acadia National Park that has famously been serving them since 1895. Every day, thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the restaurant to enjoy fresh-from-the-oven popovers, served warm with butter and Maine strawberry jam; filled with lobster salad or roasted chicken, veggies and gravy or scoops of ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce. Both Neko and I have been there!
In the episode, I chat with the world’s most enthusiastic popover fan, Sisile Maruzzelli, a pastry chef who baked thousands of them daily, for five years, at Jordan Pond House and somehow still isn’t sick of them! Sisile now bakes popovers at Bailey’s Cafe in Dalton, Pennsylvania, and was kind enough to share her recipe with us! I plan to make them in a couple weeks and will let you know how it goes.
Neko Case and I also talk about:
- Her days working as a soup cook at Hattie’s Hat, my favorite bar and diner in Seattle, and as a bartender at Tacoma’s legendary Bob’s Java Jive.
- Her tough childhood. In her memoir, she says she was raised by “Two dogs and a space heater” and there was never enough to eat.
- Her thoughts on AI and the music industry.
- Her new record, Neon Grey Midnight Green.
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Have a food- or drink-related question? (Need a restaurant rec? Have a mystery that needs solving?) Send me a note: rachel.belle@cascadepbs.org
XO
Rachel Belle
