Taking Creative Risks and Seizing Opportunities featuring Chef Devin Finigan

Take Aways

• Persistence is key in pursuing your dreams.
• Community support can make a significant difference.
• Courage is needed to embrace change and growth.
• The journey of entrepreneurship is filled with learning opportunities.
• Dreaming big can lead to unexpected adventures.

Resources

• Learn more about Chef Finigan and Aragosta at Goose Cove here.
• Follow them on instagram.

And other resources of note:

• Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)
• Eliot Coleman of Four Season Farm
• Dan Barber, Stone Barns
• Thomas Keller, Per Se

Transcript

I’m Devin Finigan, chef owner of Aragosta at Goose Cove, and this is No Time to be Timid.

Tricia  (00:22)

Hey there, I’m Tricia Rose Burt, and in this podcast, we talk to artists who show us how to find the courage to take risks, step out of our comfort zones, and use our creativity to make our work and change our world. Pay close attention, because this is no time to be timid.

Hey there and welcome to the show. As you heard in our last episode, my sweet mother, Sadie B., died on April 15. Thanks to my listeners who’ve reached out with your condolences. I’m sad for me, but happy for Mama. She was 94 years old, ready to go, and she lived large!

Now my mother would have never called herself an artist, but she was always making something. Many of our friends sent wedding invitations addressed in her exquisite calligraphy, still sleep under afghans she knitted, and drank gallons of her Brandy Bubbles that she made every holiday. Most importantly, Mama loved food. To her, food was the solution to most everything. It brought comfort, connection, and community.

Number six on the No Time to be Timid Manifesto is “Practicality is overrated.” In the spirit of that principle, Mama had nearly a thousand cookbooks – and if you’re in the market for a cookbook, let me know – and experimenting with new recipes was her passion. She’s actually in one of those cookbooks, the cookbook from Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church. Her recipe for curried chicken cups is on page 16. And also on that page is scripture, Matthew 15:32 that says, “I will not let them leave hungry.” And that perfectly describes Sadie B. She never let anyone leave hungry.

I haven’t lived in my hometown of Tampa since 1987. When I lived in Ireland, Mama would bring me Cuban sandwiches wrapped like Christmas presents so she could get them past the customs agents. And every time I came to visit Mama over the past nearly 40 years, she made sure I left with either a bag of frozen collard green soup or a frozen batch of her fabulous crab meat spaghetti sauce. Even though I lived 1,500 miles away, Mama was still feeding me.

Towards the end of her life, when her memory was not what it once was, whenever I came to visit, I tried to cook something for her. And one time I said, Mama, I’m gonna make you some chili and it has a special ingredient in it. And she said, is it chocolate? And I said, ew, no. And she said, Tricia Rose, go into my den, get the Cleveland Junior League cookbook, look in the stew section and there’s a recipe for chili with chocolate in it. She could not remember what she had for lunch that day, but she remembered where that chili recipe was.

Mama would have loved this episode’s guest, the remarkable chef, Devin Finigan, owner and chef of Aragosta in Maine. Chef Finigan never went to culinary school, but that didn’t stop her. Just like my mother, Devin says, “I just love to make people feel comfortable and loved through food.” She’s been nominated for a James Beard Award, collaborated with celebrated chefs all over the world, and defined herself and her voice within the community of Deer Isle, Maine and the culinary community at large. All along the way, Devon’s taken risks after risks and they’ve all paid off. Aragosta was recently named the number two restaurant on Food and Wine’s Top 20 US Tastemakers list.

In this interview, Devon shares some of the secrets to her success, which include the importance of staying true to your vision, sharing the story behind your work, collaborating with local artisans, stepping way out of your league, and never giving up on your dream, no matter how daunting the obstacles.

Chef Finigan could have written the No Time to be Timid Manifesto herself. Prepare to be inspired.

Devin, thank you so much for joining us.

Devin (04:18)

Thanks for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

Tricia  (04:21)

The only thing that would make this better is if we were sitting in your restaurant right now having a meal.

Devin (04:26)

Absolutely. Soon enough. Soon enough.

Tricia  (04:28)

We go every summer to our friend Tim Donovan, who’s the one who told us about your restaurant. He was also the first guest of the podcast. Season one, episode one was Tim Donovan.

Devin

Wow. Awesome.

Tricia

And we have gone for several years. In fact, we did not go, but walked past Aragosta when it was in its first version right there on the harbor.

Devin (04:49)

Yeah, my first location.

Tricia  (04:58)

But before we even get into that, I like to talk to people who got where they are from sort of an unconventional path. Like they didn’t necessarily know they were going to end up doing this particular thing. For the show, we’ve created a thing called the No Time to Be Timid Manifesto that has different points to it. Like the first one is “The riskiest thing you can do is play it safe.” And the second one is “There is more than one way in life.” And what I’m interested in for you is that 20 years ago, more than 20 years ago, you went to Savannah College of Art and Design with the intention of photography. And so tell me what that motivation was and then why you dropped out.

Devin (05:31)

Yeah, I always loved taking photographs. And it was kind of my niche in Vermont, driving down the country roads and just taking photos. And one of my sisters was going to Savannah, to SCAD. And I had been there and I love Savannah. And I thought, well, I’ll just do photography. And so I went and I had a great time doing it. But I suddenly found myself missing the passion that was inside of me, which was cooking. And I would cook for her. I was, you know, always going to the farmer’s market, seeing what was available. My dad is a chef, so I was the one that worked in the restaurant with him. I never thought I would be a chef. Never thought that that was the path I would choose. But then I realized that that’s really what I love to do.

Tricia  (06:26)

Like when was the moment you knew that? When did the penny drop and go, wait a second, this actually is what I want to do here.

Devin (06:32)

I think after I had met my now ex-husband, but my husband at the time, and we started having dinner parties and really becoming this host. So it was when I moved, when I moved back to Maine and I had bought a sailboat randomly before I went to college. And so I had this tie to Stonington and I had this like vision of, you know, what, where I wanted to be in it. And honestly, it wasn’t in Savannah at that time. So I was figuring like I’m spending a lot of money being here. And then I just decided to move to Maine after you know I was done with the year of schooling.

Tricia  (07:12)

So you were there for a year, just about a year, and that you’re like, photography, food, photography, food, food was really calling to you.

Devin (07:20)

It was calling to me and I feel like I realized that I just love to make people feel comfortable and loved through food. And with my photography, you know, I’m, I’m a pretty artistic person. 

Tricia  (07:34)

That’s pretty clear. Pretty clear.

Devin (07:49)

I can put that on a plate, you know, and I can plate a dish and, and, you know, I think of that dish as art and so I really started to go with that.

Tricia  (07:51)

You’re composing what the food looks like on the plate. It’s like a little tiny painting every time you send it out.

Devin (07:59)

Yeah, it’s like my palette, you know? Yeah, my canvas.

Tricia  (08:03)

Yeah, Adam and I were talking about this earlier. He was, cause he’s a musician and he was wondering, like, how do you, when you’re making dishes, it’s like, are you, are you making a hundred songs every night? Like, are you making a hundred paintings every night? Like what’s your relationship to it when you’re creating an actual dish? How does it feel like art to you?

Devin (08:21)

Well, yeah, of course. All of a sudden I have this like vision. There’s a lot of visions with me. I have a vision of, you know, Aragosta at Goose Cove. I have a vision of a dish. This vision of the dish, sometimes I draw it out, you know. Other times I cook multiple, we’ll just say it’s a duck breast, right? I’ll cook three duck breasts and then I’ll plate that dish three different ways until it’s kind of right to where I want it. And then where it’s, where it looks good to me, then I show people. Obviously it needs to taste good, but it also, I mean, people, the first thing they’re gonna see is the dish before they put anything in their mouth. So it needs to be aesthetically pleasing. So I do a lot of, certainly on my off season, I have a lot of journals. I do a lot of reading. I do a lot of, you know, I try to travel and see what other people are doing. And that’s like, that’s a fun way to do it.

Tricia  (09:15)

You do a lot of rough sketches, so nobody else gets to see those, just you and the staff as you’re cooking these duck breasts or whatever it is. And then you sort of get them solidified in a way. So when you’re back there, there’s not a guess. It’s like, you know what that vision is going to look like on that plate.

Devin (09:32)

Yeah,and sometimes it’s great to have my team because you know, we’ll plate a dish and then I’ll, I want their input, you know, I’m a big advocate of team. These chefs that I’ve created that work alongside me, they’re all talented. And so I want their input and they’re like, well, maybe, you know, the sauce over here. So we’ll replate it again. You know, there’s never a bad answer. And sometimes I’m like, yeah, I hear what you’re saying but I like it this way, you know. It’s, at the end of the day, it’s like what feels and looks right to me.

Tricia  (10:06)

Well, it’s your vision and you’ve got creative control. So, you know, you have the input from people. I mean, it’s the same work that I’ve done as well. And, you know, we do have a vision and sometimes the vision gets complimented by other people or sometimes other people’s input can make me go, no, I’m actually more certain about my vision than I was before. You it just helps you solidify it. That’s fascinating that you try it out first. Like you have these rough sketches first.

Devin (10:34)

Yeah, I do. And I have many journals and it’s interesting, you know, it’s fun to look at those journals and see how it’s actually come to life. You know, we did this spread for the last couple of years that we called the ode to the season. So like when we would open and it would be ode to spring and it all came from reading one of my daughter’s, this children’s book. And it was about a Japanese young chef. It was, you know, a kid’s book and it was about Kaiseki and their spread of you know all these different plates and I took that kid’s book and then started sketching my idea of what that would be and for the last three years we’ve been running an ode to whatever season we’re in and it was so fun to have that story. Another thing, like to have stories to tell the waitstaff, to tell the chefs like, how did I get to this dish. Well, there’s a story behind it. I think that’s important.

Tricia  (11:30)

I’m a storyteller for a living. That’s what I do, is teach people how to tell their stories. And it just makes an experience far richer if you know what’s the story behind something. I swear it probably makes the food taste better. But I also love the idea that it came from a children’s book.

Devin (11:42)

Yeah, I know. And I, you know, I bought that book, it’s down on our shelf. And so to see those old sketches, and then to see how far the ode has evolved is pretty cool. And, and, you know, scallop dishes, I always, I’m always jotting, you know, oysters, there’s always some, something I’m sketching in my journal. And it’s fun, I’ll show my chef, sometimes I won’t, I’ll be like, I’ll plate that dish, and they’re gonna wonder where it came from.

Tricia  (12:17)

When you were at SCAD, did you have any drawing classes that helped or were you just a natural, could you naturally sketch and draw?

Devin (12:23)

I mean, I’m not gonna say I’m a fabulous drawer, but I’m always doodling. It was more like color theory, the base classes at that point at SCAD. But no, I mean, I took art class through my prep school years, but I was never the artist in my family, but I was always in the garden. I have interior decorating.

Tricia  (12:51)

Yeah, I’m going to challenge that idea of artist. You know, and I think that that’s a good point to bring up because one of the, I mean, I’ve always wanted to have a chef on the show because your medium is food. And that’s what I think is really interesting is what does that mean? You can be an artist and your medium is business for goodness sakes. I mean, just thinking out of the box of what it means to be an artist and what you’re creating, because if we love something, we tend to be very creative with it and about it.

Devin (13:19)

Absolutely. And like, you know, living on this magical property on the coast of Maine, just, the inspiration I get from just walking around the property and seeing, you know, certain things that are budding. It’ll make me think, well, that, you know, that rosebud could pair really well with quail or, you know. It’s being in nature and seeing the ingredients that really gets me inspired. I’m such an advocate to be outside. And I think it’s important. And with the seasons, you know, I know that when I, I know that when I get my first halibut from the fishermen and I have that smell of fish on me, I know that, I know that we’re here into spring. I know that spring brings rhubarb and it brings nettles and it brings, you know, first of the season carrots. And it’s just, it’s like this storybook that opens every year and living in Maine, it’s essentially the same ingredients every season, right? But it’s being creative with those ingredients and knowing what we’ve done and knowing what people like, but also, you gotta keep evolving as a chef. You gotta keep pushing yourself and trying new techniques. And, and that’s just really important. I feel like I push my staff to try new things and to learn and go and we travel, you know, I think it’s how we keep growing.

Tricia  (14:48)

Well, there’s been a lot of travel. I mean, as I’ve been researching you of course before the interview, and you’ve done a lot of travel and you’ve also really sought out very accomplished chefs to learn from and so talk about that journey of, cause I think as artists to really grow, travel is so key. And also, who are our mentors? Who are our teachers? Who can we learn from and who can push us and help us be more creative and more curious and ask the right questions? And so talk about that part of you that really wants to grow and learn and know.

Devin (15:22)

So when I first realized that I wanted to be a chef, I was like, okay, I want to go to the best places. You know, I didn’t go to culinary school. That didn’t stop me though. No time to be timid, right? I was out of my league. I had met connections through various people that, you know, it got me to be able to go to Per Se. So I’m in Per Se, a three Michelin star, you know, restaurant Thomas Keller, you know, and I’m with all these talented chefs that went to culinary school. And here I knew that for me, I’m a hard worker and I can pick, you know, I’m also aware of what’s going on. So I felt like putting myself in situations that I was uncomfortable, led me to grow, led me to open a door to then, okay, there’s Thomas Keller’s restaurant. Well, what about Dan Barber? Let’s go to Stone Barns, you know, let’s go to his smaller restaurant in the city. Again I mean, out of my league, right? I’m not from the city. You know, but I didn’t, I didn’t, I was bringing something else to the table. I was bringing that, I was coming from an area where we have the most famous seafood. We have the most famous farmers, you know, and I know all these people. And so I was in my mind, I was like, okay, I’m going to show them, you know, what they should be growing on the rooftop garden, you know, for garnish. So I think taking those risks

is really how i’ve gotten to where I am. i’ve taken a lot of risks in my path and a lot of scary decisions on signing leases you know with my first restaurant. I remember that day.

Tricia  (16:59)

The story about how you ended up in Logan Airport signing, I mean, please tell that story. This is fascinating.

Devin (17:08)

I was headed to go cook off the coast of Barcelona with this chef, Macarena de Castro, she, her restaurant is Hardin, two-star Michelin. She was like the rising female chef in Spain. And so I was headed, coming from Bangor Airport, changing flights in Logan, and I was in the Starbucks line. And I just started talking to the gentleman because I’m coming from Maine. Everyone’s pretty friendly here. So I was just talking and he was headed to Maine. And I asked him where and he said, oh a tiny town, you know, up the coast. And I said, well, where? And he said, Stonington. I said, whoa, what are you doing in Stonington? That’s where I live. He was going to put his building, his restaurant up for lease and he was going to do the walk around and put it in the paper. And I asked him if he had 30 minutes to sit and talk with me. And he did, Rudy. And he was great. And we just talked and we shook right there that he wasn’t going to put it in the paper. That he was going to wait for me. I was going for three weeks to go cook and I shook with him, went to go cook in Spain, came back four weeks later, opened Aragosta.

Tricia  (18:17)

That is so insane.

Devin (18:20)

The amount I learned that first night of service to the first week to the first year. It’s amazing! I mean at that point in my life that was the perfect restaurant for me. It was elegant. It was small. It had you know the deck. It had the location. And I just, it was great I am like so thankful for that but I remember signing that lease when I got back and it was a big decision. You know I didn’t know if we were going to have people. I didn’t know if Stonington needed a high-end restaurant. But that’s like, I mean, I’m also a dreamer, you know? So you gotta, for me, I gotta dream a little and take the risk and it’s paying off, I mean, for sure.

Tricia  (19:06)

Yeah. And what I love about you, even just to back up even a little bit when you were talking about, you know, taking the risk and, and working with these chefs who were very accomplished. I love how you were thinking though, this is what I’m bringing. It wasn’t like, I’m sort of at the mercy of their greatness or whatever. Here’s the value I’m bringing, this is what I’m bringing to the table, which I think is such an interesting way, an important way to go into relationships like that, is to say, yes, I’m gonna learn so much, but I’m actually, I have value that I can teach you as well, from my own experience. I think that, that’s a huge difference to think that way, you know? But also just, you know, the chutzpah to say, I’m gonna sign this lease and we’re gonna make this happen, because it’s a lot.

Devin (19:54)

It’s a lot. was a lot and it was a big decision. I, yeah, I’m so proud that that came upon how it did. And, you know, I realized probably three years in after I had my first daughter, my third year open, that I was like, OK, we’re like we max the capacity of this restaurant. Now I’m a mom. The thought of living on property was kind of the next goal for me. And then I started doing my research and figuring out where that might be.

Tricia  (20:29)

So let me ask you this before we get into version two of Aragosta. What is one of the things you learned that was like wowza?

Devin (20:35)

Trying to train a staff the first night open, you know, we were, I mean now thinking of it wasn’t really that busy. Maybe thirty covers but they all sat at once. I think we learned about staggering reservations. I think we learned, you know how to plate oysters quicker than you know let’s get a little better at shucking. Just you know being in a new kitchen and it’s one thing to prep and get yourself ready for service it’s another thing to be in service and having that flow continue. One thing that I can say about me as far as a chef, I’m a pretty good expediter. It’s like I can run the flow of the restaurant and I am aware of what’s going on. And, you know, I have leaders in the front of house, but it all has to work in sync. Otherwise, you know, one of, you know, it doesn’t, and then food is cold or guests are unhappy or whatnot. But, you know, just learning the new flow of a kitchen and learning, okay, this is what we’re going to do different tomorrow. You know, we’re going to set the salad station up over here, we’re going to change the oysters over here. Then, you know, after that first week, it was like my first payroll. And then I was like, Whoa, okay, you just don’t, you just don’t pay people by the hour, you got to match federal and state and it was just very eye opening to me.

Tricia  (22:00)

It’s the business part of the artistry and it takes all of us. I mean, I’m like, wait, what? I mean, can I just make the stuff? Do I actually have to do this back end? It does sneak up on you.

Devin (22:10)

Absolutely.

Tricia  (22:39)

We’ll get back to the second half of our conversation in a moment, but right now I want to tell you about our sponsor, Interabang Books, a Dallas-based independent bookstore, which was named one of the country’s top five bookstores by Publishers Weekly. They have a fabulous curated online collection and it’s just as easy to shop with them as it is with Amazon. Who doesn’t want to support an independent bookstore? Please show them some love and check them out at interabangbooks.com. That’s Interabang, I-N-T-E-R-A-B-A-N-G, Books.com.

Tricia

So you max out and you say, I need to grow into a space that’s larger where I can be on property. How did you find where you are now in Goose Cove?

Devin (23:58)

So I, at that time, now my second daughter, Emmylou, is born. And so we have two little girls, Luke and I, and these big, massive dogs. And we used to bring them down to Goose Cove in the winter to go run on the beach. And it was always closed down. I noticed, you know, we would come every year that there were oil bins that never moved and broken windows that were never attended to. And I was like, what is this magical place that’s like run down? And so I started, you know, figuring out who owns the property and what was going on here. And through Eliot Coleman – who Four Season Farm, he’s like the legend of organic farming – he introduced me to my investor. What I’m going to tell you next – I just never gave up, you know? I emailed my investor and pitched this whole idea on this email and he said, no thanks. And that was in January and he told me no. And I was like, okay, that’s okay. You know, I was sad, but I was like, okay, well too bad. And then I knew that he summered in Deer Isle in the summer. And so it was the following season. I had emailed him in January and in July I was like, well, I’m just going to invite him to dinner. He should meet me, you know. And so I invited him to Stonington and that was the first time I had eaten at my restaurant. And that dinner was great. I was so nervous. I was so nervous to like, you know, try to pitch myself to someone who, I mean, he’s an incredible man making dreams happen for real, but, it was fun to meet with him and he, he’s so humble and just to like, tell him my vision. And, but it didn’t happen right away. It was four years of being very patient and persistent and just keeping in contact, reminding him that I still had that vision of Goose Cove. And then finally, my lease is up in Stonington. I was either gonna sign another six years of that location, or I was going to move forward with Goose Cove. And I finally called my investor and said, listen, the living in limbo, it’s hurting my soul, is what I told him. I said, I either need to move forward or I’ll just stay in Stonington. And that’s what it took. And then that was in November, right before Thanksgiving. And then January 10 of 2019, we got the keys to the property. It was amazing. I drank a lot of champagne that day.

Tricia  (26:39)

But you know what, we had a woman on the show in season three, her name is Laura Wilson, and she, it took her four years, she’s a photographer, took her four years to get a picture of Cormac McCarthy, who had not been photographed in 20. And she just kept showing, going from this angle, this angle, this angle, this angle, and just kept at it, and then got these amazing shots that no one’s gotten, and he hadn’t been photographed in 20 years. So it’s that same persistence that you had. You just keep the communication open and you believe in your dream and you believe in yourself and you just keep at it. That’s fantastic.

Devin (27:19)

Yeah, it was a happy, happy day.

Tricia  (27:22)

And also a year before COVID.

Devin (27:24)

A year before COVID. When I opened in Stonington, my only investor was my husband. We had like, you know, a small amount of money and he was like, here you go. And that was a turnkey restaurant. Goose Cove was not, was, you know, it’s 21.9 acres, nine cabins, roofs falling down in these cabins, a restaurant that is just dirty, dingy, you know, not up to code. We went into full renovation. I learned a lot about a budget. I learned a lot about, you know, I would love that light fixture, but it’s not in my budget. I learned a lot about using the local community. And that’s really where I learned. I used every local person I could possibly think of, because I knew that I was given this gift essentially of having an investor that, you know, we’re investing in this property, but I’m able to use a local potter to make my dishes for the restaurant. I’m able to use a local woodworker to build this beautiful communal table or to build, you know, saloon doors. And it was, it was, I mean, we tore down buildings, but a lot of it was not fun. It was like plumbing and electric.

Tricia  (28:40)

It’s the stuff that isn’t sexy, that just kills you.

Devin (28:42)

Like all of a sudden I’m like, whoa, that like really affected my budget. But it also showed my investor that, okay, she does have a vision. And that gave him, you know, I think that just encouraged him that, you know, maybe I’ll help her a little more. And then when he started to understand, like he started to trust me, you know, we didn’t know each other. He had a dream of this property and I’ve made that dream come true. And he tells me that all the time. And like the feeling I have hearing that it’s incredible.

Tricia  (29:15)

It’s such a great example of collaboration, you know, and I know, you know, I have people who are believing in me, which is why this podcast is able to happen, right? And when you have someone who believes in you or is helping you make a dream happen and you end up helping their dreams come true, there’s this wonderful collaboration that takes place and it requires trust. And it does require having them go, man, they’re serious about this. They do have, you know, and so it really seems like you delivered. But I also love this in all of the conversation with you, one of the lines, again, in the manifesto is constraints are opportunities. And every time you have a constraint, you make that work for you. And so I think that’s such part of your success. A lot has been, I’m going to work within the seasons and what’s available during the season. I’m going to work within this, you know, I have this budget and so I’m going to work within this community of local artisans, which makes it an even richer, more beautiful. I mean, I’ve been to your restaurant. It’s exquisite.Well, there is a feeling that it is so part of the fabric of Maine and of that space. I mean, it’s just so rooted in the landscape and it all feels like everyone is vested, right? Does that make sense? 

Devin (30:38)

Absolutely.

Tricia  (30:41)

It almost feels like an installation piece. It’s exquisitely done. You have a great sense of aesthetic. If our listeners – go – but I sat at the bar to have a three course meal and there is a wall covering behind the bar that is exquisite. It’s that gold metallic. What is it made out of even?

Devin (30:44)

I mean, that’s wallpaper.

Tricia  (31:07)

It looks, it’s wallpaper and it looks like it’s… 

Devin (31:11)

It’s mermaid scales.

Tricia

Yeah, I mean it’s extraordinary.

Devin

I wanted to do it in tile, but that wasn’t in the budget. So it’s okay.

Tricia  (31:19)

It looks like it’s something far richer than wallpaper, is my point. You’ve used these constraints and made it work for you, even more creative. And allowing these local craftspeople to be a part, I mean, it’s just, it has to be beloved within the community because so many people are part of it.

Devin (31:43)

Absolutely. I mean, it’s full circle, right? Encourage an artist, you know, multiple artists, and then, you know, they’ll come and dine or though it’s word of mouth here. So I always think, you know, full circle, what you give, you’ll receive back. I remember our opening menu, I had all the artists on the back of the menu, and it was a lot. It was so great. Yeah, and then COVID happened. We were like, whoa.

Tricia  (32:10)

And how did you manage to get through COVID? Just briefly, did you just – lot of curbside pickup?

Devin (32:16)

A lot of curbside pickup, but like fancy curbside pickup, you know, with like little, our, our like Aragosta, I had never plated in boxes before, but we figured it out, you know? And that was great. And then that’s the following year is, I took, you know, 60 seats out of my dining room and presented a tasting menu because I knew that if we weren’t going to do the amount of, of covers each night, we had to figure out something in order to survive.

And I actually wanted to open Aragosta at Goose Cove with the tasting menu, but  my investor was like, let’s get people excited about the community. Let’s get them coming to the restaurant. And he was right. I mean, I like, I will listen to anything he says, you know, and that year is the year we were nominated for the James Beard. And then COVID happened and it was just like, holy cow. But we did well. We’re still here.

Tricia  (33:09)

So you did have a year of being a normal restaurant and people came in and then you had COVID and you had to do the tap dance that everybody did. And then when you came back, you could – now explain to my audience what you mean when you say a tasting venue.

Devin (33:13)

So our tasting menu, it’s essentially a 13-course menu and it takes you on the coast of Maine. You know, it starts with the cold sea, oysters, scallops, crab, headed into warmer lobster pasta, the ode to spring or ode to summer, whatever that ode is into, you know meats. I tend to not have a lot of meat on my menu just because the ocean is literally my backyard but if you’re a meat eater you do like meat. We have a wood fired hearth in the kitchen. We cook over live wood so that you know pairs really lovely with meat so and then you head into you know sorbet a palate cleanser into dessert into like a little you know little treat at the end. It’s an experience. It’s like three hours. But we also offer a bar menu which is three-course which you had.

Tricia  (34:08)

And that’s what I did. And for me, it was very funny. We were sitting at the bar and this Caesar salad came and I looked at my husband. I’m like, what is happening? Like, why is this salad the most exquisite thing I’ve ever eaten? And that’s why I asked the person behind the bar. I’m like, who’s the chef? Like, how can this, like what? And you were so sweet and you came out. But do you often look at things like a normal Caesar salad dressing and say, I could make that lots better. Or do you tend to make things from scratch different or will you look like a classic and improve on it? What do you tend to?

Devin (34:54)

I mean, the classics are the classics. I tend to just really cook with not trying to mask ingredients and more highlight the ingredients. So when you had that Caesar salad, it was mackerel season. And when we get mackerel, we get a lot of mackerel. So what can we do? And we were getting these beautiful gem lettuce from the farm. And so I thought, well, everyone loves a Caesar salad, right? So we have this mackerel. So essentially I’m thinking about the classics and I’m thinking about how can I do a twist on that, right? And now, I mean, that recipe is in my cookbook. I just finished writing. So that’s like great.

Tricia  (35:37)

When does the cookbook come out? Is it already out?

Devin (35:40)

No, spring of 2026.

Tricia  (35:42)

Heads up to everybody. Let us know if there’s a place to pre-order. We can put all that in the show notes.

Devin (35:47)

I surely will. That was quite a job.

Tricia  (35:51)

Just to recap what you do, you know, one of your mediums is food. You’re also a master certified gardener as well. So you have that going. You’ve renovated and now you’ve slipped in you’re an author because you’ve done this cookbook. Did you do that on your own? Is it just a list of recipes? Were you writing stories? Did someone help? Like, how did that work?

Devin (36:14)

I co-authored it with a gentleman, Peter Kaminsky. I had met Peter through a friend and Peter, you know, used to write for the New York Times for like 30 years. And he has written so many cookbooks, some of the best cookbooks. And if he’s not writing about cooking, he’s writing about fly fishing. And we just really had a connection when I met Peter. And then we were like, okay, let’s – so Peter’s my voice. I’m the chef. I do the recipes. He’s my voice. He came through so lovely. It’s been, I mean, we’re going on three and a half years working on this cookbook. It wasn’t a quick thing. There were times where I was like, what did I get myself into? Because throwing recipe testing in the midst of August in a busy kitchen, because you have to recipe test with the ingredients that you’re putting in the cookbook, it was a lot. Last summer was our summer where we shot the whole cookbook.

Tricia  (37:10)

I was going to say, did your photography come into play?

Devin (37:13)

Well, more just the plating, we have Will Hereford. He’s the photographer for the cookbook. Now a great friend. He is so talented and I met him through Peter and he’s the best. I just went down and cooked at his wife’s restaurant in Uruguay this past January. So fun. It was really a learning process and it was fun to see. The shots are beautiful. My kids are in the book. You know, Food and Wine came. We did a whole photo shoot with them and part of that’s in the cookbook. Yeah, I’m pretty relieved that I don’t need to cook, shoot the cookbook this summer. That was like phew!

Tricia  (37:50)

Yeah. You know, but you have an eye for it though. You have an eye for it. I was reading the article in Food and Wine and it says that you, there’s a line in there that says, you went from muffin baker and pancake flipper to chef in her own restaurant, which I love that narrative arc of how you have really grown in this role. A question for you though, has it been tricky as a woman in this role?

Devin (38:17)

Absolutely. I feel like, I mean, I’ve always been a strong woman, but to be a boss, right? To be the boss and to be a woman. There’s some employees that haven’t worked out. You know, some people, gentlemen, men I’m thinking of, sometimes it’s hard for them to take, you know, orders from, from a female. Well, that’s too bad, but you’re not going to work for me. You know?

Tricia  (38:45)

Yeah.

Devin (38:45)

And that’s just the nature of the business. know, I feel like ⁓ as far as purveyors and farmers and fishermen, they’re great. I’ve never had a problem with them. Like they’re lovely. It’s more figuring out the staff. At the height of my season, you know, I have two entities. I have Aragosta, which is the restaurant, Aragosta at Goose Cove, which is the accommodations, because we’re not just a restaurant anymore. We were a place for people to stay. Um, we can house 40 guests, which is like amazing. And I have like, you know, close to 80 employees in the summer and which is like insane, but also I’m so proud of that. You know, I’ve come so far. Um, and I have, you know, 10 people on year round salaries, which is incredible. And this past season, other than shooting the cookbook, my oyster farm. So we have an exclusive oyster farm that took me four years.

Tricia  (39:42)

Wow, I didn’t know that!

Devin (39:44)

Yeah, so we have when I first got the property is when I started working on that with Luke and then I put a pause on it after we divorced and then I went back to it and it took me four years to get that oyster lease and so now we have exclusive Aragosta oysters that you can only eat here, which is so incredible.

Tricia

That’s fantastic.

Devin

I know. So fun. So you come back this summer and I’ll feed you those oysters.

Tricia  (40:13)

Yeah, no, yeah, we’re coming back. We’ll be back in July for sure, but I’m, you my husband’s doing a lot of traveling and I’m thinking I might just need a field trip up there just with myself to come on up. So, so I have two questions I want to ask you before I let you go. First of all, I know that you’re eager to get to Asia and Japan. Tell me about that dream to get there.

Devin (40:38)

Well, I would love to go this time of year when the cherry blossoms, because like, what a bucket list thing, you know? But the thing that draws me to Japan is just the simplistic flavors, you know? They’re so incredible in how they just highlight, you know, say this fish and very delicate, very delicate flavors. I just want to go to Japan and eat my way through Japan, you know?

Tricia  (41:06)

Can I please go with you because it is so on my bucket list. Well, just the aesthetics of Japan, the food of Japan, just everything about Japan is exquisite.

Devin (41:18)

It brings like just thinking about – there’s this calmness that I would really love to, I think we all Americans need more of that calm way in our life. And just so respectful of the ingredient and the people. it’s just a really incredible way to live I imagine and I would love to go experience that.

Tricia  (41:42)

Yeah, yeah. All right, okay. So this is the question I ask all of my guests. What do you need courage for right now?

Devin (41:52)

What do I need courage for right now? I feel like I always need courage this time of year to know that I’m headed into a busy season and that means that I am not going to get that nighttime with my kids to be honest. You know, that is a balance. I’m a single mama raising two little girls and I always need courage for that. I feel like, but for business, you know, the courage to just start working 90 hours a week, right? Because I have an incredible staff and an incredible team, we’ve been talking recipes and menus this whole winter, you know, we always meet and talk about it, but just the courage to start all the spring things that need to happen. There’s quite a list, you know, there’s a big list every year. And, amazingly enough, we get it done. And I feel like for me, I need more courage on just being better with myself personally, like, you know, having time to just like, to just have that personal time. Once I start working, it’s really hard for me to stop working. So just more courage to have more time to just me. And that and having that time, it’ll make everything better, right? It’ll make the food taste better. It’ll make the staff feel better. But it’s hard for me. I’m like a pretty I like hands-on and it’s hard to just walk away. So I’d like courage on getting better about that.

Tricia  (43:28)

Yeah. To refill the well. You’ve got to refill your well. So yeah, so we will be sending you courage to take care of yourself. You’re not the only one that needs that. Thank you so much, Devon, for being on the show. We’re so excited and we’ll put all the information in the show notes because it is a beautiful experience to go to Aragosta. And what you’ve created there is just beautiful. And thank you for your commitment from starting from the very beginning. You it’s been, I mean, you can look back and know how many years now since 2019 or 2013

Devin (44:11)

2013  from its original version, 

Tricia

You know, so you can look back and go, wait, I’m pretty good at this. And that’ll give you the courage to keep going, I hope.

Devin

Absolutely. We’re not going anywhere. But thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure. Nice seeing you.

Tricia  (44:26)

Thank you. We’ll talk again soon.

Devin (44:28)

Okay, thank you.

Tricia  (44:42)

There is no question Mom would have bought one of Chef Finigan’s cookbooks and I hope all of you will too when it comes out next season. In the meantime, here are some questions to think about. What are your visions and how do you realize them? What’s the story behind your work? And how are you taking risks and pushing yourself way out of your league? For more information on Aragosta at Goose Cove or to make a reservation to eat or stay, go to aragostamaine.com. And get this –Food and Wine just ranked at number two on the top 10 US hotels for food and drink. And you can follow Aragosta on Instagram at aragosta.maine.

Thanks for joining us. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at podcast@triciaroseburt.com. And if you liked this episode, please share it with one other person that you think will enjoy it. Then maybe talk to them about the parts that resonate. It really helps build our audience. And remember, this is no time to be timid.

No Time to Be Timid is written and produced by me, Tricia Rose Burt. Our episodes are produced and scored by Adam Arnone of Echo Finch. And our executive producers are Amy Grant, Nancy Perot, and Sage Wheeler. I’d also like to thank contributors to my Fractured Atlas Fiscal Sponsorship, which helps make this podcast happen. No Time to Be Timid is a presentation of I Will Be Good Productions.