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Looking for the taste of summer in Maine? Here are five scrumptious recommendations

There’s a reason why lobster tastes better when you’re eating by the sea.

PORTLAND, Maine — Fresh corn on the cob. Baby back ribs, smoky and hot, right off the grill. Strawberry shortcake. Steamed lobster. Warm muffins bursting with blueberries. Ice cream, cold and creamy, in any flavor you like.

Americans may not be united on much in these unsettled times, but I think we can all agree that, in Maine at least, these are some of the tastes of summer. Sure, you might be able to get those dishes throughout the year, but they’re just so much more satisfying, so much more luscious in summer.

And there are certain places we can go this time of year that make food more memorable. Lobster never tastes better than when you’re eating it with friends on a deck overlooking the ocean. You could order that same lobster in the most elegant restaurant in Manhattan and pay five times what it costs at a seafood shack on Penobscot Bay—but it won’t taste as good.

With all that in mind we asked Joe Ricchio, the host of the Food Coma podcast, to come up with a list of places that really capture in some way what’s best about eating out in Maine in the summer. He came through with five recommendations running the gamut from a barbecue trailer to a high-end restaurant on the coast. They are:

--Dolphin Marina and Restaurant in Harpswell

--18 Central Oyster Bar in Rockport

--Aragosta in Deer Isle

--Bayley’s Ice Cream at Pine Point, Scarborough

--Smoki Good BBQ in Bethel

What makes these places so special, so…summery? Watch our conversation with Joe to get the mouthwatering details.

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