Good and sometimes great dining options are so readily available in Maine that you can really travel throughout the state and eat very well.

At least that’s been my experience so far. Granted I hardly ever go to the inland towns--though a friend of mine vows that Millinocket has a great restaurant downtown.

But the coast is what I know best. Just this week I was on Mt. Desert and had some wonderful meals and also happened upon great food finds.

The first was at Havana in Bar Harbor. That establishment has been there for a number of years and has a big following. The fare has a prominent Latin twist, borrowing from Cuban and South American cuisines. I had a great dinner there the other night. It began with coconut shrimp followed by a beef fillet with a crust of Cuban coffee and black pepper that was utterly succulent.

Another happy discovery was in Southwest Harbor, the restaurant XYZ, which was reviewed in this month’s issue of Maine Boats and Harbors. The restaurant is so named for the Mexican states Xalapa, Yucatan and Zacatecas.

When I read about the restaurant in the magazine I thought it was an unlikely spot for authentic Mexican cooking. As it turned out I loved it for its funky and awfully appealing charms. And the food was wonderful, offering true Mexican cooking beyond the trite world of tacos.

The proprietors and Chef Bob Hoyt and Janet Strong, obviously not Mexican, are nonetheless very knowledgeable about the cuisine from their extensive travels through Mexico.

In fact, XYZ is probably the only restaurant in Maine, if not New England, that serves genuine Mexican fare. We had such dishes as chilled cream of avocado soup, which I loved; a cocktail of shrimps and scallops in a tomato sauce; pork braised in a tomato based mole sauce; beef ribs in a luscious dark mole brown sauce steeped in spices; sautéed shrimp with chilies and garlic; and beef chili that really warmed the heart with big chunks of beef that you wrapped in steaming hot tacos. We were pretty full so the four of us shared one dessert, a frozen lime pie. The favorite dessert at XYZ is their XYZ Pie--a magnanimous concoction of coffee and butter crunch ice creams with layers of chocolate sauce and Kahlua.

Their Margheritas were extraordinary, though I had only one, since I was the designated driver taking us all back to Bar Harbor where we were staying with friends in their palatial seaside retreat.

After our stay in Bar Harbor we spent the night with friends in Winter Harbor. The village actually has a few good restaurants that I wanted to try, but our friends hoted a big dinner for us at home so we didn’t get the chance to try the local options.

I did get to go the next morning to the Winter Harbor Farmer’s Market that is held in the parking lot of Mama Boy’s Bistro, which has been taken over by the owners of Havana in Bar Harbor. I definitely want to try this restaurant another time.

Before we went to the market, however, we stopped for breakfast at Chase’s, which by the time winter settles in on this lonely Schoodic Peninsula coastal town is about the only establishment that remains open year round.

Chase’s is your basic old fashioned Maine coffee shop eatery. We were there for an unremarkable breakfast and I’ve been there for lunch as well. But it’s one of those hokey dining venues that’s fun to go to.

When we arrived at the farmer’s market I was surprised to encounter such a good one in this out of the way village. Though I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised since Winter Harbor has such an elite summer colony, and the surrounding towns have grown substantially over the years with McMansions tucked into the woods along the shore.

It’s a small market of vendors, but each and every item was splendid looking. Everything sold there—from vegetables to baked goods to meats and poultry—were from organic producers.

Since I often travel with a cooler in the car, I was able to buy a few perishables that would keep on my trip home the next day.

I purchased a chicken from the vendor of Mandala Farm in Gouldsboro. The chickens are pasture raised and my friends said they were wonderful.

There was also another vendor there called Smith’s Log Smokehouse from Monroe , selling salamis, cheeses, hams, salmon and poultry. I bought the smoked salmon and a smoked cheddar. The salmon has a heavy smoked taste and I haven’t tried the cheese yet.

The vegetable selections were wonderful at the market, too. I purchased baby zucchini, leeks, cabbage and cauliflower. I also bought the obligatory cartons of blueberries and raspberries. Though all these items can be found in most markets around the state, the selection here looked particularly good.

I thought it seemed sort of silly to be buying food and vegetables a day or so in advance in a market so far away from home and wind up lugging the bounty back. On the other hand, all this will be used in my dinner preparations tonight.

I’ll roast the chicken on the grill along with grilled leeks, squash and tiny baby cabbages and cauliflower.

I’ll use the berries in a cobbler or pudding. I’m tempted to “bake” the pudding on the grill. I’ve done this before. But it’s tricky, since the heat has to remain pretty constant. If it’s too hot the pudding could curdle and if the heat is too low, you wind up with a mess.

I love grill cooking, and I’ve done such preparations as corn bread, baked beans, whole hams, pastries and other unlikely ingredients. It’s tricky to do but the resulting flavors are extraordinary. I’m looking forward to all of it.

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