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After a lovely run around Back Cove yesterday morning, Amber and I got cleaned up and headed out to run some errands in advance of my upcoming business trip to London. Lunch was in order, and I suggested we try out The Merry Table, a brand new crêperie in The Old Port (across Wharf Street from Cake). Amber studied in Tours, France for a semester in college and fell in love with crêpes. One of her regrets in leaving New York state was that there was a crêperie in Saratoga Springs, her hometown, that she would have to leave behind. No more! Portland now has its own destination for these French equivalents of a sandwich wrap.

The space appears quite small at first, with a four seat booth on the left, the bar with stools that you can see in the photo above, and three or four small round two tops on the right when you walk in. The kitchen is visible beyond the bar. Upon further investigation there are a number of additional, larger tables to the right of the kitchen. This is not a large restaurant, but I have to think they could comfortably accommodate thirty or so. There are also a handful of al fresco tables available on Wharf Street when the sun is shining.

The bar serves a modest selection of wines and beer. I would have liked to see a few more adventurous Belgian ales, but perhaps that will come later. Their selection of crépes was quite diverse. Amber and I both went with ham varieties, as it was lunch time. She opted for the Jambon Fromage and I, the Jambon Brie. We started with a red pepper bisque to split, and Amber got a nutella sucré (a sweetened, dessert crêpe) to go after lunch. Both lunch crêpes were served with a small simple salad topped with an excellent homemade vinaigrette. The soup and crêpes were excellent. While these are the French version of a sandwich wrap, they are not hand food. A fork and knife was definitely necessary.

The only disappointment was the sucré. I did not taste it myself, but Amber said it tasted quite good. It was just that it was also served fork-and-knife style, which is a bit odd for a to-go crêpe. At the corner crêperies (there are even crêpe street vendors like you see with hot dogs here in America) in France, a sucré is served wrapped in paper so it is portable and can be eaten on the go. This, and a more adventurous beer selection, were our only suggestions for improvement. At nearly $30, this was a pricy lunch, but skipping the soup, beer, and dessert would have brought the cost down by half. I’m not sure that’s inexpensive enough to make a daily lunch destination, but it’s certainly reasonable enough to make this our Saturday lunch date of choice a couple times a month. Amber and I both highly recommend this for a nice break from the typical seafood and pub fare available for lunch.

Okay, so it wasn’t exactly “next on our list.” And yes, it took almost three months for us to actually stop in and try out Portland’s newest (is it even the newest at this point?) Greek restaurant. But last night Amber and I finally found ourselves looking for parking off Congress Street in hopes of getting a table at Emilitsa. Note to selves: do not attempt to park on Congress on First Friday. D’oh!

After finding somewhere to park only a block from Five Fifty-five, we marched toward the Hill a half-block and entered a modest, contemporary space with a small bar to the left and maybe 12 or 14 tables on the right. There is no sign (that I saw) outside Emilitsa, so know that its address is 547 Congress St. Also of interest, they take reservations—(207) 221-0245. We didn’t have one, and arrived about 7:20 PM on First Friday. We were told we could get a table by about 8:00 and took at seat at the bar. Somewhat surprisingly, we were seated at our table by 7:40. We were most of the way back toward the kitchen and noticed that there was one more large table around the corner, but this is a pretty small restaurant with a long, narrow galley sort of feel.
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Continuing our gastronomic exploration of Portland, Amber and I had dinner at The Front Room a couple weeks ago after my recent business trip to Kentucky. We’d heard some great things about Harding Lee Smith’s comfort food restaurant on Munjoy Hill and had to give it a try. The Front Room is just over the crest of the hill on Congress Street, a block or so past The Blue Spoon.

The sign out front is pretty unassuming, and the atmosphere inside matches. It’s a very relaxed decor, but there is a frenetic buzz. Those who like to converse softly in a dark corner booth might look elsewhere, but those looking for a hopping neighborhood hang out for foodies will enjoy. There is a small bar when you first walk in and approximately 15 tables. They don’t take reservations (like many of the restaurants in Portland), so you might be spending a little time at the bar. They have a decent selection of beers (including a couple nice Belgians) and a moderate wine list as well. At about 6:30 on a Friday night we got a table for two in 15 minutes. Not bad at all!

Amber and I each had a cup of the soup du jour, a carrot squash soup that was very good. We split the fried goat cheese (think fried mozzarella, only better) as well. It’s not on the menu on the website, but it wasn’t a special, either. Perhaps the website is a bit slow to update? Anyway, for dinner I selected the Casco Bay Scallops and Amber ordered a flank steak. My scallops were excellent. They were simple and not over-prepared like some restaurants tend to serve. I didn’t try Amber’s steak, but she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. For dessert we split a homemade ice cream sandwich on spiced chocolate chip cookies. Very tasty, but a little too much after a big dinner. I’m glad we shared!
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Amber and I headed to Bonobo for date night last Friday. We’d seen the restaurant as we walked from our car to Caiola’s a few months ago, and I’d read some good things about it online. We got to the restaurant a bit before 8:00 PM (we’d gone to the gym beforehand) and were able to seat ourselves immediately. The restaurant isn’t very large and our two-top was the only open table I saw, so we got a little bit lucky I think.

They were busy, but not swamped, so we had a waitress’s attention in fairly short order. The beer menu is a tad short for my tastes, but they did have a $7.00 bottle of Delirium Tremens, a few local selections, and some craft beers from away. Amber had a glass of red wine while I chose an IPA. We split a Caesar salad (sans anchovies) and their Gruyere pizza. I also asked for a slice of the pepperoni pizza just to see what a more traditional pie tasted like. Strangely, the slice came out first, followed by the salad a few minutes later. This is not a fine dining establishment, and I didn’t really specify whether the slice should be an appetizer or part of my main course, so I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised.

The pepperoni pizza was very good. As mentioned on MaineToday.com, the thin crust is excellent, and the wood firing imparts a nice chewiness. The slices of ‘roni were smaller than most pizza joints and the cheese did not overwhelm the pizza like at some other establishments. Amber liked the Caesar salad, but I found the dressing a touch too tart for my liking. The highlight, though, was the Gruyere pizza. Slices of roasted potato, spinach, and prosciutto (or was it pancetta?) with Gruyere and a garlic butter sauce made for an excellent, if non-traditional, taste experience. We were quite full with nearly half the pizza still left, so we had some leftovers for lunch on Saturday too. It re-heats quite nicely. Unfortunately, we didn’t have room to try any of the desserts.

For just over $40, including a drink each and tip, this was a great find for a casual weekend dinner. This little area of West End, with Caiola’s and Aurora Provisions, seems like quite a little hidden gem just off State Street. Within reasonable walking distance of the top-of-the-hill attractions such as the museums and galleries, I’d highly recommend stopping in for a slice (or a pie), especially if you can’t get a table at Caiola’s or one of the Congress Street places. The towny feel, the friendly if unpolished wait staff, and the excellent crust and unique toppings make this place well worth a visit.

I posted the announcement for Eco Appetito a few weeks ago. Instead of a Friday night date night this past week, Amber and I decided we’d head down to Cinque Terre on Sunday and sample some of their wonderful food, get some of the first taste’s of Peak’s new Maple Oat Ale, and support a good cause. We are oh so glad we did.

Parking was a bit hard to come by early Sunday afternoon, so we ended up in the parking garage on Fore Street and walked down the hill to Cinque Terre. There were already 15 or 20 people there when we arrived, but Amber and I were definitely among the earliest arrivals. The event details said that 150 tickets were available, and I’m not quite sure they sold out completely, but there were probably 125 guests or so throughout the afternoon. With all of the downstairs tables and most of the upstairs tables removed, it didn’t feel at all crowded.

The food, as expected, was excellent. Amber and I are still developing our seafood palettes, so we shied away from the Winterpoint oysters. The pesto, white bean, and parsnip soup shots (soup served in an espresso cup) were very good. Other passed appetizers included delicious wild mushroom fritters (with just a bit of bite to them), venison and mushroom with dijon mustard, and a white bean spread with roasted rabbit. The venison was some of the best I’ve ever had, and the rabbit was excellent as well. Upstairs, there was a ravioli and gnocchi station in one corner, a French press coffee station in another, and an artisan cheese station in a third.

The ravioli making was featured on a recent episode of 207 and included carrot, beet, and swiss chard. The ravioli and gnocchi were both excellent, though the consensus at our table was that the ravioli was the clear winner.

We met several interesting people at the event. Drew Dumsch, FBES’s Executive Director, chatted with Amber about ecology education (teacher talk) and some of the programs offered by the school. We spoke with the residential director’s fiancé for a while about his move out from Seattle, life in Maine, and the new Peak ale. The highlight, however, was sharing ravioli and conversation with local artist Elizabeth Fraser and her partner Maureen over several plates of ravioli and a few beers. Ms. Fraser painted a portrait of Spring Point Light that was auctioned off as part of the silent auction fundraiser. She also did paintings of Cinque Terre and Vignola as thank you gifts for the owners who donated their time, space, and staff to the event. We’ll definitely be checking out Elizabeth’s studio on Munjoy Hill during the May First Friday Art Walk and are considering commissioning a portrait of our pooch, Cindy Lu.

The plans for the second annual Eco Appetito are already underway, and I sincerely hope they’ll continue the event. It was great fun and well worth the cost of admission.