Smack-dab in the quietude of Freedom, Maine is a renovated grist mill that serves as home base for a famed restaurant accessible only by lottery. How can you get your hands on one of these coveted tickets? Reservations at thelostkitchen are open just once a year in April, and only obtainable via a postcard lottery (seriously, an actual paper postcard).⁠ ⁠ So what makes a dining experience so superior it requires an email reservation? Upon arriving, patrons cross a footbridge over the rushing water of Sandy Stream and are greeted with a drink to sip while entering the mill. The simple counter separating the kitchen from the dining space includes a meal that unfolds over five hours based on what owner Erin French and her team found that looks good that day.⁠ ⁠ There’s also an intangible energy at play during the experience—from the elegance of the pristine-yet-unfussy space, the way ingredients are honored, and perhaps most of all, French’s irresistible authenticity while preparing the d...