New2Maine.com

This past weekend saw us try not one restaurant for the first time, but two. Amber left for New York to visit with her mother, leaving my mom and I to explore Joshua Chamberlain Days up in Brunswick (post, with pictures, coming soon) on Saturday. We ate at home Saturday night, but were looking for a nice brunch or lunch after church on Sunday before mom headed back to Connecticut. Swinging by the Front Room, we saw a line out the door and kept driving. We ended up at Chef et al. on Forest Ave., a spot we drive by frequently on our travels.

We were seated quickly in their very open, airy dining room. The room is divided by a step up from the entry, which has two or three small pedastal tables and a spot for live music, and the main dining area, which features several booths along the side and a bar in the back corner. The ceiling were quite high and had a bit of an industrial feel with exposed ductwork. Unfortunately, those ducts were blowing very cold air. It wasn’t quite uncomfortable, but it was distracting.

The brunch menu was pretty basic. Breakfast choices included eggs, cinnamon French toast (which looked great on the table next to ours), Belgian waffles, and an omelete. The lunch portion of the menu was a little more varied, offering several salad choices, a handful of soups, some appetizers, and a number of different sandwich choices. Uninspired by the breakfast choices (and realizing that lunch sounded better at 11:45 anyway), mom and I both ordered the House Brined Turkey sandwiches. Accompanied by fries, this menu item features turkey (obviously brined in-house), curry mayonaise, mango chutney, and red onion jam on a toasted bread. It was simply excellent. Mom and I agreed that we were a bit wary of red onion jam at first, but the sweetness of the chutney offset it perfectly. Both of us offered our sincerest compliments to the chef when he came around to say hello.

The service in Chef et al. is friendly and pretty attentive. The bill for a fairly simple lunch for two was quite reasonable, at only ~$25 including a beer for me (mom had a long drive ahead) and tip. The live accoustic music right behind our table was welcomed, and several patrons stopped to thank the musician for his folk and oldies offerings. Aside from the over-use of air conditioning, this was a great little spot, and I know Amber and I will be heading back to check out some of the offerings on their dinner menu. I hope their Forest Ave. location works for them; I’d like to see them stick around for a while.

My mother came up this past weekend, and we decided we should try to find something within walking distance for dinner since it was such a lovely evening on Friday. After weighing our somewhat slim options (we’re on Forest Ave. near Walton) we realized we’d still not checked out the Café at Pat’s, the now 7-day-a-week eatery perched atop the splendid Pat’s Meat Market on Stevens Ave. A quick call to 874-0706 garnered us a 6:30 reservation for three. After arriving I was not sure the reservations were entirely necessary. It was only about half full.

The atmosphere upstairs is great. There is a small bar in the back corner and something of a colonial feel to the dining area. Roughly 15 tables dot the room, and I believe there was some outdoor dining as well. We were seated promptly and looked over the lengthy wine list and somewhat disappointing beer list. The ladies decided on a riesling and I went for the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. A round of salads, a dish of lobster ravioli to share, two beef tenderloin specials, and the chicken saltimbocca were ordered when the waiter got back with our drinks. Unfortunately (and somewhat shockingly for 6:45 on a Friday), there was only one beef tenderloin left, so I opted for the flank steak instead.

The lobster ravioli arrived first and was passed around. The lobster was slightly too salty, and the ravoili were drowning in a vodka sauce. It was good but the chef could stand a lighter touch with the sauce ladle. The salads arrived some 10-15 minutes after the ravioli plate was cleared. All three were good, though my mother was critical of the amount of sea salt sprinkled over the caprese. Thus far Pat’s was about a B or B+. The food was good but had some room for improvement. The coursing was also a little too relaxed. It’s never a good sign when one of the couple dining next to you gets up to ask where dinner is.

We found the same problem. The salads were cleared and we waited. And then waited a little longer. When the entrees finally did arrive, they were quite good. My flank steak was much better than I’d hoped (though it tended more toward medium than medium rare). The tenderloin with red wine reduction was shared around the table and received nothing but good reviews. The saltimbocca was very tasty and not as heavy or greasy as some I’ve tried. Amber enjoyed it a great deal.

It was nearly 8:45 by the time our entrees were finished and cleared, and we opted to pass on dessert. At just under $150 (tax and tip included) for the three of us, including separate salads, a shared app, three entrees and four drinks total, Pat’s was moderately pricey, but not nearly as expensive as some other meals we’ve had in town. Our chief complaint was the pace of the meal. The food was worth coming back for; I hope that the service was just having an off night. Amber and I will certainly be taking a walk down that way again for dinner at some point, but we’re not in any hurry.

Amber and I were out and about in Portland last night and stopped in for a quick dinner at Dogfish Café on the corner of Congress and Saint John. We’ve heard some good things about it, but never actually stopped in before. We were greeted by a cozy, funky atmosphere. There were approximately 12 tables and a small bar inside, and a handful of al fresco tables when the weather is nice. Butcher paper stood in for table cloths and the art hanging on the walls this month was made from doll parts. It was kind of strange, but in a good way.

Specials for the evening included a meatball and sausage lasagna, which sounded good, if a bit heavy. The regular menu includes familiar favorites ranging from chili, crab cakes, and wings on the Starters list to various salads and wraps, to a fried haddock sandwich or a cheeseburger. The wine and beer list is above average and, given the number of corks lining the front windows, well used. Amber selected the curry chicken wrap, and I opted for a nice bacon cheeseburger (so much for eating healthy). 

The wrap was ordered with sweet potato fries as the side, and Amber thought both were excellent. My burger was very good too—not too big, but enough to fill me up. Homemade (I think) potato chips accompanied the burger and were excellent. A root beer for her and a Shipyard Export for me completed a tasty, inexpensive dinner for two (<$35, including tip). Fine dining (à la, some other Congress St. establishments) this is not, but the food is good, the staff is attentive, the atmosphere is fun and relaxed, and we’ll definitely be going again. This is a nice little neighborhood find and within easy biking distance for us to boot.

Renowned food blog The Ethicurean just posted a lovely review of some of Portland’s finer fare in a piece entitled Eating SOLE in Portland, Maine: Fore Street, Gilbert’s Chowder House, and Hugo’s. For the uninitiated, SOLE stands for “Sustainable, Organic, Local, and/or Ethical.” The folks who write for the blog are as concerned about food policy as they are about food taste (well, almost).

Blogger Ali spent the past weekend sampling the aforementioned establishments and came away with nothing but praise for all three. Well, she did lament the styrofoam service at Gilbert’s, but the food received rave reviews. Having only tried one of the three restaurants on her list, I found new inspiration to justify making reservations at Hugo’s.

Fore Street got top marks for its dessert, a bread pudding, its side of morels, and its impressive efforts to serve locally sourced foods. The casual atmosphere, the mix of patrons, and the view of the kitchen from all tables were also praised. She summed up her review stating Fore Street “was just that kind of place; comfortable, and all about honest, good food.” I agree.

Gilbert’s Chowder House, which I have not yet experienced (Amber and I are still working up to full-blown love of seafood), received low marks for sustainability, but high marks besides. The Maine shrimp were a highlight for Ali, and the Shipyard IPA (really, they have Fuggles on draft?) complemented it nicely. “In the end, it wasn’t fancy, but the truth is, sometimes chowder and fried seafood, served with a cold beer, is exactly what you want.”

The highest praise was, not unexpectedly, saved for Hugo’s, which continues to wow just about every reviewer that gets a table. Amber and I haven’t gotten around to eating there (sad, I know, given that we’ve now lived here for 51 weeks), but it continues to float near the top of our list. Our full-scale, price-be-damned dining has slowed of late, so I’m not sure when exactly we’ll get there, but when we do, I’m sure we’ll be as delighted as Ali. “The whole experience—the unlikely pairing of flavors, the ethereal aromas—was intoxicating.”

If you’ve not yet tried the food scene up here, you owe it to yourself to make the trip, especially while the weather is wonderful. Just call ahead for reservations, or plan to arrive very early. Fore Street and Hugo’s are both tough tables to get.

I stumbled upon another great (mostly) Maine blog today called Travels with Hilary. In it Hilary Nangle details her journeys as a freelance writer and lover of food and Maine. She’s also the author of three Maine-themed Avalon Travel Publishing Moon travel guides: Moon Maine, Moon Coastal Maine , and Moon Acadia National Park.

Amber and I have yet to see most of Maine, having concentrated too much I fear on the Portland area. Hilary has some great Maine travel destinations that you should definitely check out if you’re interested in exploring Maine. I think Amber and I need to get our bikes and head out to some of these spots.