The Last Unicorn: Galloping Gourmet
By Michelle Troutman

Long-time downtown fixture The Last Unicorn is as legendary as the creature it's named after, considered one of the best restaurants in Waterville for casual fine dining, traditional American favorites, and specialty dishes.

In the middle of the Silver Street business strip, between the Midnight Blues Club and Cancun, red and white umbrellas hang above tables and chairs along the patio before its square structure. Eclectic paintings and electric signs add sleekness to the cozy, open dining rooms.

Owners Joe Plumstead and Michelle Cyr Plumstead met while working at the Last Unicorn in the early 1990s, married in 1999, and bought the restaurant from Rick Gallup and Honor Stanley a year later.

"We were new to owning a place, so we had to kind of make it ours," Joe says. "They had had this place for 20 years, and had pretty much set the standard" as an alternative to the steakhouse scene. The Plumsteads strive to maintain that image.

Joe originally planned to go into a partnership with an architect from Thailand who wanted to open a restaurant in Wiscasset. At the same time, his bosses at the Last Unicorn wanted to know if he was interested in buying it from them.

"The primary reason was the assumption that we would have a huge amount of independence by owning a restaurant. Well, not taking a vacation in 10 years is not a huge amount of independence," he says, laughing. "But really, I didn't ever see my career going anywhere other than restaurant ownership somewhere."

Until a few years ago, Joe cooked as a first chef on the line. He's now mainly the baker, and supervises the rest of the cooks, while Michelle bartends and manages the wait staff and bar staff.

Following their purchase in June 2000, they endured the recession after 9/11, increased competition, and damage from a water main break along Silver Street in 2007, which caused water to seep out the back of area businesses, down the street, onto nearby Spring St., and along the Ticonic Bridge into the Kennebec River. Silt and sludge soaked the upstairs of the Last Unicorn, five feet of water having flooded the basement. Flood insurance didn't cover the damage, but Plumstead had foreseen that he should get insurance for water main breakage.

"A few years before that, when they were digging up the sidewalk here to expand it for outdoor dining for the restaurant, I had seen the water main that was out there, and I asked the public works guy, 'How old is that pipe? That thing looks old,' and he said, 'about 125 years old.' And I said, 'Geez, I wonder if I'm covered under that?'” Plumstead says, chuckling.

"We were up and running in three and a half weeks. We really sailed through it, and that was a huge turning point, and we've been doing great since."

Plumstead had wanted to live in Maine since he was about 10 years old, his father's side of the family having come from Maine, and while growing up he spent family vacations here. He started his food service career as a dishwasher at a Greek restaurant in Baltimore, entered the kitchen at 16 and has stayed there for the past 37 years.

He moved to Maine in 1980, finding work at Alden Camps on East Pond. Since 1989 and on and off until 1997, he spent summers at the resort and falls at The Last Unicorn, traveling the remainder of the year.

From inside a tiny kitchen and a downstairs prep area, Plumstead and his crew take pride in making traditional dishes (grilled steak, broiled salmon, cheeseburgers), and more distinct fare. "I'm from Baltimore, and that's why we have Chesapeake Crab Cakes -- it's our biggest seller, and we've gotten a few awards for it, but most of the Thai cuisine is a result of just traveling throughout Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia."

They prepare everything from scratch and try to buy from local vendors whenever possible. Among customers' other favorite menu items are Burnt Hickory Barbecued Ribs, salads, and cheese dip, which they consume nearly 10 gallons of every week.

Cajun dishes also appear on the menu, and will be part of their dinner theme at the Taste of Waterville this year, scheduled to serve from 5:00 to 9:00pm on Wednesday, August 5. "I've got Cajun roots as well. My mother was from Louisiana," says Plumstead.

He credits their success to using "fresh products, a mixture of realizing the value of our customers, and their input,” whether it's positive or negative, “and at the same time, treating our employees really well, as we would want to be treated."

The Last Unicorn restaurant at 8 Silver Street is open seven days a week. May 1st through November first, they open daily from 11:00am to 10:00pm, and November 1st through May 1st they open from 11:00am to 9:00pm: (207) 873-6378. Web site: www.lastunicornrestaurant.com

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