Yankee names two local businesses as ‘Editors’ Choice’

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    The May/June edition of Yankee Magazine’s Special Travel Guide which debuted on the newsstands April 29, has named two local establishments in Maine as “Best of New England — Editors’ Choice” winners for 2014.
    This designation is awarded by Yankee’s editors and contributors, who name select restaurants, lodgings, and attractions in New England to the exclusive list.
    Yankee Magazine, published in Dublin, N.H., has a nationwide circulation of 323,000.

    In the Maine Highlands Region, Stutzman’s Farm Stand in Sangerville, owned by Sid and Rainie Stutzman, was honored as the Best Farm-to-Fork business while Currier’s Flightseeing of Greenville Junction was honored for Best Moosehead Lake Views.
    Sid Stutzman said he was pleasantly surprised and honored by the designation.
    Stutzman’s Farm Brick Oven Café on Douty Hill Road in Sangerville is a third-generation farm, raising fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and eggs for their farm stand and its café.
    The restaurant is housed in an authentic timber frame overlooking the fields. Patrons can watch the workers harvest the crops from the café windows while they enjoy homemade fare like Quebec pork pie, lasagna and a unique assortment of soups, salads and sandwiches on their artisan breads.
    The specialty of the house is their pizza made in a wood-fired brick oven. Raised bread dough is the base for their many and varied pizza creations such as pulled pork with caramelized onions or bacon and apple.
    The hours also vary with the season and can be checked out by visiting their Facebook page — Stutzman’s Farmstand and Bakery — or by calling 564-8596.
    Currier’s Flying Service features scenic tours in airplanes of a by-gone era. Their fleet includes a 1954 deHavilland Beaver (famous in Canada and Alaska), several rare Cessna 195s — perhaps the only two commercially-operated in the U.S. — and several Cessna 180s.
    Owner Roger Currier also said he was surprised to hear about the Yankee Magazine listing. “I didn’t know anything about it until I got the email,” Currier told the Observer. “It’s quite an honor. We get a lot of people who fly with us during the summer including some outdoor writers. So someone must have given us a nice recommendation.
    Currier’s scenic flights include tours of Mount Katahdin, Moosehead and Lobster Lake, Moose Mountain, Mount Kineo and moose-watching flights.
    Currier is also the first pilot to certify the ice-out date on Moosehead Lake. “I’ve been doing it since the 1980s when I was a contract pilot for the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologists.
    “When the state stopped using flight contractors, I just kept doing the ice-out report as a community service,” Currier said.
    This special issue of Yankee Magazine also names 20 top events in Maine and a total of 120 events across New England.
    For more information, visit www.YankeeMagazine.com.