The story begins when Percy Talbot (Alison Elliott) is released from prison in Maine. With no home or famliy to speak of Percy, elects to stay in Maine and relocate to the small, waning, town of Gilead, whose remaining residents seem to have long since grown numb to the commanding countryside that encloses them.
"The Spitfire Grill," a startling story of a young woman's search for a new direction in her life, stars Alison Elliott, Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Will Patton and Kieran Mulroney, and is written and directed by Lee David Zlotoff.
Percy arrives in the middle of a winter's night under the watchful eyes of the skeptical citizens of Gilead. They immediately begin to speculate on her background, with word of her criminal past spreading quickly. Needing to find her a temporary place to stay, Sheriff Gary Walsh (Gailard Sartain) asks a favor of Hannah Ferguson (Ellen Burstyn), the indomitable owner of the Spitfire Grill -- let Percy stay in one of the rooms above her restaurant in return for her services as a waitress. With this stranger's questionable history, it seems like a risky proposition. But Hannah isn't getting any younger, and she could certainly use the extra help. After a terse introduction, Hannah agrees to the arrangement.
Soon after Percy begins working at the Grill, Hannah injures her leg and is temporarily unable to run the restaurant. Suspicious of Percy, and anxious to take control of the situation, Hannah's nephew Nahum Goddard (Will Patton), suggests that Percy should be sent on her way and that his wife, Shelby, can run the grill for the time being. Unimpressed by Shelby, and resentful of Nahum's meddling, Hannah insists Percy can manage the restaurant while she recuperates. Alas, cooking is not one of Percy's strong suits and within a day or two, the timid Shelby Goddard (Marcia Gay Harden) appears at the door of the grill.
Soon enough, the formidable team of Percy and Shelby have the Spitfire Grill back in good shape, and Hannah's leg heals enough to allow her to resume some of her duties.
As these three women forge a friendship unlike any they've ever experienced, deep secrets are slowly revealed. Among them are the circumstances of Percy's dark past, which led to her incarceration, as well as Hannah's mysterious visitor who regularly picks up a sack of canned goods, left out at night behind the grill. Percy also discovers why Hannah has been looking to sell the Spitfire Grill for so many years.
Although saddened at the prospect of losing the comfort and security she has found at the Spitfire, Percy suggests that Hannah advertise a nationwide contest, in which $100 and the most convincing essay on the attributes of Gilead will win the writer full ownership of the Spitfire Grill. Hannah decides it's worth a shot, and before she knows it, bushels of mail begin to pour in, each letter addressed: Care of The Spitfire Grill.
As the contest kicks into full-gear and entries start pouring in, polarized opinions emerge. When Hannah's money suddenly disappears and Percy is nowhere to be found, suspicions and accusations result, culminating in a series of dramatic events that bring the citizens of Gilead back together with a new sense of purpose.
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