The New Gloucester Village Store

Most folks have childhood memories of particular foods that soothed the soul when they were under the weather. In my children’s case, it was the chicken soup that our nurturing neighbor, Judy Coggeshall, made.

The soup looked innocent enough with the usual cast of characters, but it always tasted like a magic potion with a secret cure.

A consistent yet unknown difference between “homemade” and Judy’s “homemade” existed, and as I got to know her throughout the 1980s, I realized why everything she created at her federal colonial home in New Gloucester was so remarkably bright, fresh and tasty.

Judy’s ingredients were as “locally sourced” as could be: If she did not grow, keep, farm or raise it, she would get it from someone in town who did. That being said, when Judy’s son, Sam Coggeshall, resolved to resuscitate the general store in New Gloucester’s Lower Village in 2008, success was guaranteed because of his standards of quality and taste, use of local ingredients, significant family and community support, and tenacious determination.

As a Caesar salad aficionado, I will always remember my first salad from the newly opened, elegantly rustic and historic Village Store during the winter of 2009. The bleak and unfriendly December day made me yearn for “Judy’s homemade,” and I knew the trip to Lower Village would be worth leaving the warmth of my fire.

The Village Store’s whimsical swags of Christmas lights were as welcoming as the cashier, and his mention that Judy made the salad dressings immediately narrowed my decision from their tempting menu. My choice: a Caesar salad with chicken ($4.50 for a small, but large enough to share).

That truly outstanding Caesar salad, enjoyed with white anchovies and feathered parmesan, encouraged me to eventually work my way through the rest of the 10 salads regularly offered, from a simple green salad ($2.50) to a blackened catfish salad served with greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and a zippy yogurt-dill dressing ($8.25). Each reasonably priced salad is prepared to order, and, time and again, fresh and delicious.

Since the 1890s, the New Gloucester Village Store building has served as a vital meeting and marketplace for the community, yet never more so than now. The weathered wooden New Gloucester Farmers Union sign that spans the back wall inside the store conjures up images of cotton feed sacks, staved nail kegs, a wheel of cheddar atop a well-worn butcher block, newspapers, town fliers and penny candy in an atmosphere of dust motes and sawdust, and likely an old dog or two. In winters past, folks socialized around the stoked pot-bellied stove while waiting for their mail “to be up” at the small post office that used to be next door.

In fact, Sam re-purposed the old wooden mail cubbyholes for displaying tobacco products, while photographs of the notable property taken during the last century are nicely interspersed with antique farming implements. Sam has successfully maintained the ambiance of the old-time village store and farmers union, while incorporating the contemporary, such as art by local painter Tim Reimensnyder and the black steel condiment-and-silverware rack by sculptor Patrick Plourde. The warm and inviting lighting and little bouquets on the wooden tables mimic the comfort of eating at a friend’s home.

The Village Store’s extensive menu includes its now-celebrated brick oven pizzas, sandwiches made with their wood-fired homemade breads, and tasty, top-quality daily specials, posted daily at www.ngvillagestore.com.

For example, soups include chicken with barley and vegetables, squash with apple and ginger, and cheeseburger with tomato.

Entees include: mac and cheese with broccoli and cauliflower, baked stuffed (local) pork chops, chicken piccata, lasagna with chicken and vegetables, and meatloaf (local beef) with leek mashed potatoes. And keep in mind that their pulled pork is coal-roasted overnight.

As expected, the Village Store also offers grocery products, as well as more than 350 kinds of beer and wine, imported and domestic cheeses, meats, produce, eggs and delicious specials every day. Construction is currently under way to convert the basement area into a full retail market, which will be stocked with a larger array of grocery items.

When the expansion is completed this summer, the Village Store will more fully evolve into the quality of market found in L-A, Portland and Freeport, akin to Forage, Micucci’s Grocery and Bow Street Market, with its inimitable style in the quaint Lower Village of New Gloucester.

In addition to being the town hub for catching up on local news, the store offers catering, gifts, wine and beer tastings, and occasional live music. Its deck and porch are bordered with planters and window boxes whose contents are artistically and seasonally created and maintained by neighboring landscaper Abby Shattuck.

It’s no wonder that the Village Store used to be the star of Maine’s Humpty Dumpty Potato Chip commercials. The store is a tourist destination as popular as the Shaker Village and the Maine Wildlife Park.

When it comes to food, my two benchmarks of a good eatery — besides the service — are simple: If a place uses quality bread and rolls and meets my Caesar salad standards, I deem it worthy. The New Gloucester Village Store is a great local eatery, and then some.

Sam Coggeshall’s mercantile is certain to thrive throughout this century, much as it did in the past. Sam’s mother did right by him, and now Sam is doing right by her.

The vitals

The New Gloucester Village Store

405 Intervale Road

New Gloucester

Phone: 926-4224

Website: ngvillagestore.com

Hours: Monday-Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Caesar dressing

(Reduce ingredient amounts proportionally to make a smaller batch if desired.)

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 cups mayo