Joshua's Farm to Table Philosophy
 

Chef Joshua Mather, together with his parents Mort and Barbara, opened Joshua's Restaurant & Bar in 2004. The Mather family converted a 1774 colonial house on Rt. 1 in Wells into the restaurant. Joshua's seats 75 and is open year round. Advertising is mostly word-of-mouth; the restaurant is full on weekends 12 months a year and every night in the summer. Repeat customers form the basis of the business, from locals to second homeowners to seasonal visitors. An oft heard phrase from departing guests is "It's just so consistent here".

Joshua Mather grew up on an organic farm in Wells in the 70's and 80's. His parents, "back-to-the-landers", grew vegetables, raised chickens, pigs and beef, baked bread, and started a home dessert baking business that supplied restaurants from Ogunquit to Portland for 19 years. Today, that same Easter Orchard Farm where, 30 years ago, Josh ran in the fields, hung out in the chicken house and ate tomatoes right off the vine, is certified organic by MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assn.) and supplies most of the vegetables served at Joshua's.

Josh bakes the 3-4 different types of bread (baguette, anadama, rustic potato, rosemary focaccia, challah) fresh every day from scratch, as well as all of the desserts, including the ice cream. Stocks, sauces, dressings, pate, pasta are all made in-house, from scratch. Strong support and deep commitment to Maine farmers, fishermen, foragers, and small local business owners are reflected in Josh's philosophy and everyday practices of owning and running a restaurant.

Suppliers and purveyors include:

Easter Orchard Farm (our farm) - mixed vegetables (5,812 pounds last year), herbs and eggs

Laughing Stock Farm (Freeport): mixed greens

Wood Prairie Farm (Bridgewater): organic potatoes

Spring Break (Smyrna): maple sugar and syrup

Burke Hill Farm (Cherryfield): blueberries

Swan's Honey (Albion)

Coffee By Design (Portland)

Browne Trading (Portland): day boat haddock and other fish, MDI crabmeat, Damariscotta region oysters, Bangs Island mussels

Zach Donnell/Happy Hour (Perkins Cove, Ogunquit): lobster

Down East Meats (Cape Neddick)

Ovington Produce (York)

Beryl Marton & Co. (Ogunquit): Cheese

Preparing everything from scratch and using fresh products requires very labor intensive practices in the kitchen. Joshua's maintains a strong commitment to the local community by employing 15 people (including waitstaff) year round in a restaurant in what is considered by many a seasonal area.

Chef Joshua Mather has built a solid reputation on serving top quality, consistently delicious meals at fair prices. His life journey embodies the concept of "farm-to-table". Technically, Joshua's is "farm-to-table-to-farm" as all of the vegetable peelings, fish skins, fruit rinds, egg shells, etc. from the kitchen prep come back to the farm and get composted. Then that rich nutrient-dense compost gets spread on the gardens to nourish the soil to grow the asparagus, the Zephyr squash, the Watermelon radish, the Bulls's Blood beet, and all the other vegetables that will grace the plates at Joshua's.

Joshua's:
1637 Post Road
Wells, ME 04090-4608
(207) 646-3355
http://joshuas.biz/