White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, Kennebunk: Chef Cornelia Sühr Is Cooking Maine From Coastline to Forest
Kennebunk · Maine
White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, Kennebunk: Chef Cornelia Sühr Is Cooking Maine From Coastline to Forest
In a restored 19th-century barn on Maine’s southern coast, a chef trained by Alain Ducasse is turning halibut, Stonington lobster and Jonah crab into one of New England’s most compelling tasting menus.
The barn came first. Long before it held one of New England’s most celebrated dining rooms, the tall white building at White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, sheltered horses, livestock and chickens, and for a while it even served as an ice creamery. In 1973 it was restored into a restaurant, and over the five decades since it has become the reason many travelers make the drive up the coast to Kennebunk. Now the kitchen has a new voice. Executive Chef Cornelia Sühr has taken the helm, and she is cooking Maine through a distinctly European lens.
Her résumé reads like a tour of the world’s grand dining rooms. German-born, Sühr cooked under Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and The Savoy in London, then became the first female chef de cuisine at The Carlyle in New York. She went on to lead Jean-Georges Philadelphia at the Four Seasons and cooked at The Surf Club Restaurant by Thomas Keller in Florida. Coastal Maine is a long way from Park Lane, and that distance is exactly the point.
“My goal is not to disguise these ingredients, but to give them a stage.”
A menu that follows the land
Sühr’s signature is the Coast Line & Forest tasting menu, and its name is also its map. Dinner begins at the water’s edge and moves inland, from shellfish and cold-water fish toward the deeper flavors of land, smoke and fire. The ingredients come from Maine’s farms, waters and forests, and the techniques are the patient ones: fermentation, preservation, smoking and live-fire cooking. Because the menu follows what each harvest brings, it changes as the season does.
“Maine offers an extraordinary culinary landscape, from the cold Atlantic and its abundance of seafood to its farms, forests, and beautiful yet fleeting growing season,” Sühr says. “I want our guests to experience Maine through the menu while weaving in my own European background, techniques, and perspective.”
Three dishes worth the drive
Halibut, razor clams, potato and dill
The opening note is pure coastline. Sweet, flaky halibut meets briny, slightly firmer razor clams, with potato for autumn comfort and dill for lift. The sauce borrows from French moules marinières, built on shellfish, white wine and aromatics, so the plate tastes of New England but carries itself like Paris.
Stonington lobster, Parisian gnocchi, sea beans and fennel
The lobster comes from Stonington, one of Maine’s great lobstering towns, prized for sweet, almost buttery meat. Airy Parisian gnocchi, crisp sea beans and anise-bright fennel play against it, and a sauce inspired by Provençal bourride wraps the dish in silky richness. It is two coastal traditions, Down East and southern France, on one plate.
Jonah crab, celeriac, green apple and chervil
Here Sühr gives Jonah crab, so often overshadowed by lobster, the starring role. Nutty celeriac and crisp green apple set off its delicate sweetness, and chervil finishes it with a soft herbal note. It is the lightest expression of fall on the menu, and maybe the most quietly confident.
The Coast Line & Forest menu is $250 per guest, with an optional wine pairing for $125.
The inn around the table
A landmark in Kennebunk for more than 150 years, White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, is a 27-room retreat rather than a big resort, and it trades on warmth and detail. Four waterfront cottages look over the water and open onto White Barn Marina, and there is an outdoor infinity pool, a spa and a second restaurant, the casual Little Barn, which brings Maine farm and fishery cooking to the table in a more relaxed setting. Kennebunkport’s Dock Square, with its galleries and shops, is an easy stroll away.
More reasons to linger
Dinner is the headline, but the inn builds a full weekend around food and drink. Guests can learn to shuck in the Shell & Shore oyster shucking and tastings, sit down for The Macallan whisky tastings, take a farm-to-cocktail class or explore The Art of the Petit Plateau. Beyond the property, autumn is when Kennebunk shines: bike rides through the village, apple orchards, traditional lobster bakes and the town’s annual HarvestFest, a celebration of local food, makers and community.
At about 90 minutes north of Boston, White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, makes for an easy fall escape, and Sühr’s arrival gives it a new reason to book. The setting is pure New England. The cooking now has a passport.
White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection — At a Glance
- Location
- 37 Beach Avenue, Kennebunk, Maine
- Chef
- Executive Chef Cornelia Sühr
- Signature
- Coast Line & Forest tasting menu
- Price
- $250 per guest; optional wine pairing $125
- The inn
- 27 rooms, including four waterfront cottages
- Also
- Little Barn, infinity pool, spa, White Barn Marina
- From Boston
- About 90 minutes by car
Plan Your Visit
Reserve a table for the Coast Line & Forest tasting menu, or book a room and make a weekend of it on the southern Maine coast.
Reserve at White Barn Inn, Auberge CollectionFrequently Asked Questions
Who is the executive chef at White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection?
Cornelia Sühr is the executive chef of White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, in Kennebunk, Maine. German-born, she trained in the kitchens of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and The Savoy in London, became the first female chef de cuisine at The Carlyle in New York, led Jean-Georges Philadelphia and cooked at The Surf Club Restaurant by Thomas Keller in Florida.
What is the Coast Line & Forest tasting menu?
Coast Line & Forest is the signature tasting menu at White Barn Inn Restaurant. It moves from Maine’s coastline to the deeper flavors of land, smoke and fire, using ingredients from the state’s farms, waters and forests and techniques such as fermentation, preservation, smoking and live-fire cooking. The menu changes with the seasons.
How much is dinner at White Barn Inn Restaurant?
The Coast Line & Forest tasting menu is $250 per guest, with an optional wine pairing for $125. Prices and menus change with the season, so confirm when you book.
What dishes are on the autumn tasting menu?
The autumn menu includes halibut with razor clams, potato and dill in a sauce inspired by moules marinières; Stonington lobster with Parisian gnocchi, sea beans and fennel in a bourride-inspired sauce; and Jonah crab with celeriac, green apple and chervil.
Where is White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection?
White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, is at 37 Beach Avenue in Kennebunk, on Maine’s southern coast, a short walk from Kennebunkport’s Dock Square and about a 90-minute drive north of Boston.
What else is there to do at White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection?
The 27-room inn has four waterfront cottages with access to White Barn Marina, an outdoor infinity pool, a spa and two restaurants: the fine-dining White Barn Inn Restaurant and the more casual Little Barn. Guests can also book experiences such as oyster shucking and tastings, The Macallan whisky tastings and farm-to-cocktail classes.
This article may contain sponsored or partner content and affiliate links; see our Editorial Policy & Advertiser Disclosure. Menus, prices and availability are subject to change.
