Friday Food Insider: New executive chef at Black Point Inn brings Michelin-starred experience
Courtesy / Michael Bergin
Michael Bergin is the Black Point Inn's new executive chef. He brings years of experience in the hospitality industry.
From Boston to New York City to Washington, D.C., the new executive chef at Scarborough's Black Point Inn brings years of experience at some of the East Coast's top restaurants.
With family roots on the South Shore of Massachusetts, chef Michael Bergin says his love for Italian cuisine was inspired by his Sicilian grandfather. Bergin spent summers in his grandfather’s produce company, Noe & Sons.
After honing his culinary skills at Johnson & Wales University, Bergin moved to Washington, D.C., to cook at Kafe Leopold. In 2007, he was named executive sous chef at Sel de la Terre in Boston, followed by a post there as sous chef of L’Espalier — both famed, old-school French restaurants that have since closed.
In 2011, Bergin became sous chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York, A Voce.
“I decided to look at my career at this point,” Bergin told Mainebiz. “My grandfather is from Italy and he shaped who I am as a person. I wanted to move away from French cuisine.”
Bergin moved on to Del Posto, another New York establishment with a coveted Michelin star. The stars, a restaurant rating published since 1900 in guidebooks from the French company Michelin, are considered one of the highest prizes in fine dining. Fewer than 200 restaurants receive stars each year in the U.S.
Bergin ultimately returned to Boston, working at Coppa and then the Fat Hen. In 2017, he ran the kitchen at the Salty Pig in the city's South End.
In 2020, Bergin moved his family to Maine, where he took on various roles within the restaurants of Maine-based Big Tree Group. He opened Wandby Landing in Kennebunk as executive chef. When COVID hit, Bergin was in the process of opening a new restaurant with a friend, but they dropped the project because of the pandemic.
"I am thrilled to have found a home at Black Point Inn and to have the opportunity to cook for my Scarborough neighbors and visitors,” said Bergin. “Drawing inspiration from my Italian roots and culinary experiences, I look forward to creating memorable dining experiences that celebrate the flavors of Maine."
About the menu
Bergin will unveil his menu for the upcoming season at the Black Point Inn's Chart Room on May 10.
The new menu will include lobster rolls, fried clams and boardwalk-style fish and chips, and the tartar sauce will be made with homemade pickles and homemade mayo. There will also be a steak frites strip loin, with rosemary fries, and pasta dishes including a duck ragu.
“The menu will consist of old-world complexity of flavors, letting the food speak for itself,” Bergin told Mainebiz. “Maine has great ingredients year-round. The menu will show how much we care.”
What menus are you looking forward trying out this summer? The Mainebiz Food Insider wants to know! Contact Alexis Wells at awells@mainebiz.biz.
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Congratulations! We look forward to dining there soon!
I understand this Chef Michael is amazing
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