At home with Chef Mark Allen:
When Le Soir Bistro chef/owner Mark Allen's parents spotted a spectacular piece of property for sale here three years ago, they decided to sell the family home in Carlisle and build a colossal Adirondack Mountain-style house with a wall of windows looking out at Lake Sunapee and its ski resort. It soon became the perfect place for their four grown sons and their families to gather.
Allen's father, a retired electronics executive, designed the extraordinary house and consulted with his celebrated son -- then chef of the dining room of the Ritz Carlton Hotel -- when planning the kitchen and wine cellar. Now that it is complete, Allen, 39, eagerly becomes its caretaker whenever his parents, John and Ann Catrambone, visit their second home on Marco Island, Fla.
Allen is actually his middle name -- he dropped "Catrambone" to form his professional name when he opened his first restaurant, Mark Allen Cafe, in Napa Valley in the 1990s. During the week, he lives in an apartment in Back Bay and drives north on his days off, Sunday and Monday. He's usually accompanied by Camie Stephens, 29, a pharmaceutical saleswoman who met Allen one year ago after doing repeat business in his restaurant in Newton Highlands.
"It was my favorite restaurant," she says. "I'd taken so many doctors there, that after 10 times I asked, `Who's the chef?' "
Soon, maitre d' Andrea Rossi played matchmaker, and after Allen became acquainted with Stephens for a short while, he wooed her by sending delectable samples -- including eight desserts -- to her table, where she dined with a friend.
Allen didn't have to try so hard: Stephens had once seen "this good-looking guy walking back and forth in jeans" during an off-hours stop at the restaurant, and she was curious. "He could have been the dishwasher," she recalls telling friends.
The "dishwasher" now cooks for Stephens at a fantasy house with a kitchen he helped design, and where they can pluck wine from one of nearly 1,000 bottles stored in the designer wine cellar complete with colorful Spanish tiles and framed posters of vineyards.
Although Allen says he cooks "casual" for the two of them, one recent dish was "peppercorn-encrusted grilled steak," accompanied by a fine wine. Though tempting, they didn't dare open the double magnum George de Latour private reserve cabernet sauvignon Allen once presented to his parents, or any of the other special wines that date as far back as the early 1900s.
Allen's favorite room in the house is, not surprisingly, the kitchen, which has a restaurant-quality Garland gas stove, granite countertops (duplicated in Le Soir Bistro's bar because he used the same contractor), fine oak cabinets, tumbled marble backsplash (used in the restaurant's private dining room downstairs), and plenty of counter space. "It's definitely a cook's kitchen," he says.
The stunning house has an open floor plan with high ceilings. It features a living room resembling a mountain resort lobby, with its plush Country French decor, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, and -- no cliche -- breathtaking views out the sliding glass doors. Tall turrets frame each end of the home, one above a dining area off the kitchen, another above the master bedroom.
Cherry hardwood floors spread throughout the first floor and carry onto a sprawling deck. A large cherry staircase with intricate wrought-iron railings winds down to the lower level. There, three large guest bedrooms with four-post double beds -- and unmatched views out enormous windows -- flank a large game room.
The exterior in front is stone and stained wood; the trim is forest green and the roof is slate of various earth tones. Out back, a gazebo containing a Jacuzzi overlooks the lake.
When the entire family visits for holidays, the home is abuzz with activity. And who cooks? "I'll do very little," concedes Allen, whose father loves that role.
Allen said his living situation will soon change; he's about to close on a condo near Kendall Square, Cambridge, but he'll still be just a drive away from the paradise at the Catrambone family home.