CAPE ELIZABETH – Enjoying locally produced foods has become a whole lot easier for residents of Cape Elizabeth and its environs.

A new take-out, cash-only restaurant, The Well, started up at the beginning of the month on the property of Jordan’s Farm at 21 Wells Road in Cape Elizabeth.

The restaurant is owned and operated by Jason Williams, former sous chef at the Back Bay Grill in Portland.

Williams, a 1998 Culinary Institute of America graduate who has been cooking professionally for the past 15 years, said the idea for the restaurant started a year ago when, still working at Back Bay Grill, he was looking for the next culinary challenge. During his tenure there, Williams said he always enjoyed heading out to local farms, Jordan’s Farm included, to pick up local produce for use in the restaurant’s dishes.

It has been a dream of his to operate his own restaurant, but he never envisioned a place quite like The Well.

“I’ve always wanted to have my own place,” he said, “but this was more of a creation based on the recession, people’s interest in local foods and trying to find a way to bring people local food options outside of a fine dining establishment.”

Since the relationship was already established, Williams said it made perfect sense to set up his restaurant on the farm property.

The idea, he added was not only a dream of his but also of Penny Jordan, who owns and operates the farm.

“It had always been her dream to have some sort of public prepared foods establishment on site using local produce from the farm,” Williams said.

All menu items are made to order with fresh ingredients. Picnic tables are provided for on-site dining.

“My menu changes constantly depending on what is in season. I always try to have a local chicken, local fish and vegetarian option,” he said. Recent menu offerings have included grilled pork chops with glazed carrots and cranberry beans, Casco Bay cod with corn pudding and potatoes, grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli, squash-filled pasta with braised leeks and wilted arugula, and a 1/4 pound lobster with black rice, green beans and marinated cherry tomatoes.

Currently Williams gets his seafood from Browne Trading Company in Portland, much of his produce at Jordan’s Farm and other menu items from various farms in the area. He hopes to get his meats through an animal husbandry program at Down Home Farm in Parsonsfield.

“This year we really just want to introduce it to the community and get a good bearing on what people want,” he said.

Williams said he hopes to be open through November but, “I’ll let the weather decide that for me.”

So far, he said, the restaurant has been well received in the community.

“It’s been going great,” he said. “People seem to really like the food.”

Local diners are not the only people benefiting from Williams’ venture. He said while his restaurant is independent from Jordan’s Farm, there is little doubt that he is helping the farm bring in additional revenue due to the $500 a week he spends on produce and the foot traffic he attracts to the farm property.

“It is benefiting not only Jordan’s Farm, but other Maine farms as well,” Williams said. “All in all it is a good thing for the state’s agriculture.

“I think farms are always looking for additional revenue rather than just relying on selling their produce,” he said. “This is a unique way to provide local food and produce to people.”

The Well is open six days a week from 5 to 8 p.m. The phone number, 831-9350, has a voice recording with the current menu, but phone orders are not accepted at this time.

Jordan’s Farm on Wells Road in Cape Elizabeth is the site of The Well, a new take-out restaurant opened by Jason Williams, former sous chef at the Back Bay Grill in Portland. The restaurant uses locally grown produce on its ever-changing menu. (Staff photo by Michael Kelley)