After battling addiction, depression and a difficult divorce that led to her losing her first restaurant, American chef Erin French rebuilt her career in her hometown of Freedom, Maine, turning a restored historic mill into one of the country's most sought-after dining destinations.
Her restaurant, The Lost Kitchen, now receives around 60,000 reservation postcards annually, according to a report by Condé Nast Traveller.
From her father's diner to her first restaurant
French's relationship with food began in her hometown of Freedom, where her father ran a diner. She started working there at the age of 12, learning the practical demands of a commercial kitchen and gradually taking on more responsibilities. Her early experience included working at the grill and preparing familiar diner food, long before she became known for seasonal menus and carefully presented dishes.Cooking became a way for French to connect with people, but turning that interest into a successful restaurant came with personal costs. At around 30, she opened her first version of The Lost Kitchen in Belfast, Maine, with her then-husband. The restaurant attracted customers, but her personal life was deteriorating. In a 2021 interview with CBS News, French described the anxiety, addiction and marital difficulties that accompanied that period.
The subsequent divorce led to the loss of the restaurant and, for a time, custody of her son.Her story of recovery became a central part of her memoir, 'Finding Freedom', published in 2021. French has explained that writing about her experiences was partly an effort to process what had happened and to reach people dealing with addiction, difficult relationships or other personal crises. The book recounts how she gradually began rebuilding her life after losing the business she had worked to establish.
Starting over in Freedom
After losing her first restaurant, French returned to Freedom and began cooking out of a battered Airstream trailer that she converted into a makeshift kitchen. She travelled around Maine, hosting pop-up dinners at farms, barns and orchards while trying to rebuild her career. In a 2024 interview with Condé Nast Traveler, she described how the experience helped her find her way back to her hometown and eventually to a new restaurant space.The opportunity came when she learnt that an old mill in Freedom was being renovated. French decided to take a chance on the building, despite concerns that a restaurant in a town with a population of around 700 would struggle to attract enough customers. The new Lost Kitchen opened in 2014 inside the restored 19th-century grist mill, giving her a permanent place to develop the style of cooking she had envisioned.Her approach was rooted in Maine's seasonal produce and relationships with local growers.
In a 2021 report, PBS NewsHour described how French worked with nearby farms and sourced fresh fish from the Maine coast. Rather than forcing a fixed menu, she allowed available ingredients to guide what she cooked. The restaurant's appeal extended beyond the food, with its rustic setting, open kitchen and emphasis on making diners feel at home.
How postcards became the route to a reservation
As word spread, demand for tables began to exceed what the small restaurant could accommodate.
French eventually settled on an unusual solution: accepting reservation requests by postcard rather than relying on online bookings. She told Condé Nast Traveler that the idea was partly an attempt to slow down the reservation process. What began as an experiment developed into a defining feature of the restaurant.The Washington Post reported in 2018 that the restaurant received more than 20,000 reservation requests annually, while CBS News reported in 2022 that it had received more than 50,000 postcards that year.
By 2024, French was telling Condé Nast Traveler that the total had reached approximately 60,000 postcards a year.The process is essentially a lottery. French and her team place the postcards in bins and randomly select them, then contact the people whose cards are drawn. There are around 500 tables available across the season, she told Condé Nast Traveler, meaning that sending a postcard does not guarantee a reservation.
The handwritten requests also carry personal stories from people hoping to experience the restaurant.French has said the messages can be moving, funny or deeply personal. In her 2026 ELLE interview, she said the restaurant keeps the cards, which have accumulated into hundreds of thousands over the years.
Keeping the restaurant small
The restaurant's rise has brought national attention, a television series and recognition from the culinary industry.
French has been a James Beard Award semifinalist four times, according to ELLE, and has published multiple cookbooks alongside her memoir, Finding Freedom. Yet she has resisted expanding The Lost Kitchen into a much larger operation.In the same interview, French said she was proud of keeping the restaurant small and remaining faithful to the space she had created. She also spoke about the demands of running a seasonal restaurant, describing the long summer working days and the importance of taking time off during winter to recover and decide whether to continue.Her latest cookbook, Seize the Supper, published on October 13, 2026, continues that interest in creating meaningful experiences around food. The book brings together menus designed around occasions and the atmosphere of sharing a meal, rather than focusing solely on individual recipes.