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The dining hall at the historic Auburn Colony in South Harpswell overflowed with members on a Wednesday evening in July. A breeze off Casco Bay ruffled the sheer white curtains. There was an energy in the air, a buzz of anticipation.
It was the first dinner of the season, an event that hearkens back to the colony’s earliest years. Since its founding in 1876, the colony has featured a communal dining experience. The day the dining hall opens is always a celebration — the first time cottage owners, long-term renters and associate members gather to celebrate summer.
But July 15 was not just a nod to the past, to the old traditions of the summer enclaves that once dotted Maine’s coast. It was also a premiere: the first evening meal served at the colony by its new chef, Rachelle Boucher.
Boucher brings substantial experience, along with a fascinating set of credentials, to the position. She has worked in delis and bars, kitchens and country clubs. She has held corporate jobs, catered, cooked at conventions. She has owned and operated businesses. But she reached the pinnacle of her professional success as a private chef, a job that exceeded her wildest expectations.
“My life was changed when I sat down in 1977 in that darkened movie theater,” Boucher said of the first time she saw “Star Wars.”
It was changed again years later when, while she was teaching culinary classes at a school outside San Francisco, she was approached about a position as a private chef.
“Next thing I know, I’m sitting in George’s house in his beautiful study with all the incredible ‘Star Wars’ stuff and thinking, ‘How did this happen?'”
Boucher worked for George Lucas for four years during the time he was creating “The Phantom Menace” — the 1999 blockbuster that was the first in a series of prequels to the original films.
While Lucas was private and his tastes were simple — Boucher cooked roast chicken for her tryout meal — his friends and associates gave her ample opportunity to show off her skills.
Boucher said the best part of her time with the Lucas family was the night Martin Scorsese came to watch the first round of edits for “The Phantom Menace.”
Scorsese asked her to explain every course and would stop the conversation to compliment a dish.
“You can see that in their movies,” she said. “Where George is definitely more about the myth … Marty is about that human, raw experience.”
Boucher has seen “Goodfellas” 100 times and even named a dish after the epicurean director. Scorsese salmon is “this beautiful almond-crusted and herbed salmon with tarragon” that she expects to prepare for a plated dinner at the colony this season.
Boucher was born in Bangor and her family is from Lewiston, across the Androscoggin River from the place where the Auburn Colony originated. She even spent summers in Harpswell at a family property on Gun Point.
Her family moved to Pennsylvania, but it was San Francisco where her culinary career took off and where she met husband and partner Robert Roth. The couple got married among the California redwoods, with the Lucas family as surprise guests at the wedding.
Boucher will prepare 15 meals this season, including Sunday brunches, Wednesday evening buffets, and Friday night dinners featuring sit-down service and fancy dress.
This past Wednesday’s supper included chicken picatta with pappardelle, cavatappi pasta with house-made red sauce based on Marcella Hazan’s classic butter-enriched recipe, and pan-charred zucchini steaks with roasted red peppers and basil.
Friday’s diners were treated to a themed “yacht rock and nautical nosh” with a cocktail hour and a choice of maple mustard-glazed ribs, crispy seared salmon with orange and cherry salsa, and grilled skewers of in-season vegetables drizzled with balsamic glaze. (Boucher always offers vegan and gluten-free options.)
In a testament to the excitement generated by the new chef’s first meal, the Wednesday meal exceeded expectations, with at least 20 more people arriving than had reserved tables.
Boucher refired the stove to meet demand, while her small staff searched the upstairs of the building for extra chairs and tables to accommodate the overflow.
After dinner, Auburn Colony President Ben Schuler spoke briefly, recognizing Boucher and her team and expressing appreciation for “the Herculean efforts” of her predecessor, Sue Brown, who managed the dining program after the pandemic and kept meals coming despite the lack of a consistent chef.
Schuler brought up a well-known saying in the colony, one attributed to lifetime member Mary Frances Yancy, who died in 2012. The Yancy family has owned Cottage 1 since the 1920s.
“Without the dining hall, this would just be 10 houses too close together,” Yancy said. Schuler agreed.
“The dining hall is the heart of it,” he said to applause.
That fits right into Boucher’s take on her days working for rock stars, sports figures and film industry icons.
“You might think, like, ‘private chef, ooh — it’s all truffles and uni,'” she said. “No, not at all. It’s what people want. It’s meeting people where their heart is.”
Brunch and Wednesday meals are $37.80 per person, while Friday dinners are $70.20 per person. Prices include sales tax.
A limited number of associate memberships are available at tinyurl.com/auburncolony for a discounted price of $100 per person based on the shortened 2026 season. Associate memberships include access to the dining hall, as well as certain events and facilities.
