Category: Maine

More Portland: Art & Food

JWF Leave a comment

ART

In 25 years, we had never been to the Portland Museum of Art before this visit.  This time we rectified that with a pleasant walk along Congress Street to the museum.  It’s an impressive complex of several buildings and we wandered through the special exhibit featuring Georgia O’Keefe and three other women artists who all worked for a time in New York.  I also liked seeing furnishings and paintings from their permanent collection including several by Frederic Church and Childe Hassam and others.  And I explored the historic home, also part of the museum, with its intriguing patterned carpets and wallpapers which appealed to me.   2016-07-14 12.54.15 2016-07-14 13.13.29

EATING

Restaurants in Portland run the gamut from seafood places galore to a number of ethnic options as well as more usual Italian and French fare.  Here’s a sampling which represents where we dined last week.

Gilbert’s Chowder House

Reliable for chowder, of course, as well as lobster rolls and fried haddock along with the requisite French fries and cole slaw.  Good, but not exceptional.

Petite Jacqueline

A French bistro in a large, airy space with big windows.  We enjoyed the special of the day, chicken fricassee over rice, fish en papillotte in a butter caper sauce, salads (beet and green), and a lovely shared creme brulee to top it off.  Raspberry and chocolate colored bar stools add a punch of color.

Sisters Gourmet Deli

We had lunch at this inviting café on Congress Street. You order at the counter and they call you up when it’s ready.  Nice assortment of wraps, sandwiches and salads. Chicken salad with almonds and grapes on greens passed muster as did the Santa Fe chicken salad.  2016-07-14 11.46.35

Piccolo

This newish tiny Italian place on Middle Street was able to squeeze us in for a 5:30 dinner.  The chef and others are alums of Daniel Bould’s restaurants in New York and they deliver the goods!  We sampled mostly from the small plate sections of the menu and were delighted with our choices:  heirloom tomato salad with coins of delicate mozzarella; squash blossoms stuffed with salt cod (baccala) which were simply delectable; crisp baby octopus presented in a small skillet; chickpea fritters; stubby pasta with lamb ragu tinged with mint and orange, and a dessert of strawberries and micro basil on a sweet round of cake.

Fore Street

Highly touted and the place that initiated farm to table in Portland, Fore Street is at the edge of the Old Port.  It’s in an old warehouse with rustic beams and several wood-fired ovens. Tables are at a premium so reservations should be made in advance unless you want to join the 5:00 pm line-up and find out at 5:30 how long the wait will be. You can do your waiting at the bar then!  Fortunately, I had made a reservation several weeks ago, granted for an early 5:45 seating, but far preferable to waiting in line.

The menu is extensive with lots of beef and pork, but also fish and chicken. We began with a lovely Jet Star tomato tart for me (luscious, warm, almost poached tomato slices on a rich croissant-like pastry and topped with an herb-flecked egg of goat cheese) and the sweet corn and mushroom salad for the Chief Penguin. He then had the roasted foie gras with accoutrements and I the spit-roasted half chicken. No small chicken either so he got a third of my portion. The chicken was slightly smoky on the outside and very tasty, and the foie gras a hit—how not to savor this delicacy!  Service was brisk almost to the point of being hurried. I’m thinking they want to turn their tables as many times as possible each night!  Instead of dessert, we opted to take home a small box of their house-made chocolates.

Note:  All photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

 

Out and About in Portland

JWF 5 Comments

Portland on Casco Bay is small, as cities go, and you are always within the sound of seagull’s honk, even in the center of town.   Portland is also Maine’s largest city and one that has gotten a lot of attention in recent years for its food and restaurant scene.   In the Old Port and the Arts District in particular, restaurants of all cuisines are nestled midst smart and stylish little shops selling everything from summer fashions to Swiss watches, toys, Himalayan salt blocks, Stonewall Kitchen jams and spreads, as well as Maine-made pottery and ceramics. In addition to a plethora of seafood options, you can find Indian, Japanese,  French, Mexican and Italian food and more.

In our walk around after arriving, we did a lot of just wandering and I took the opportunity to capture some of the more intriguing shop signs and windows and other street art.

IMG_9441 IMG_9440 IMG_9459 IMG_9456 IMG_9458IMG_9433

IMG_9454 IMG_9460 IMG_9494

 

Yesterday we did a power walk along Fore Street all the way up the hill to the Eastern Promenade, a beautiful green area at the end of the peninsula that is Portland. Stunning views of Casco Bay from Fort Allen Park and all along the promenade with a number of walking or biking trails for those who are serious.  IMG_9463

This is also the  location of Munjoy Hill, a now hip residential area.   After sitting on a bench (not this lovely porch, alas) and gazing at the bay, we walked to Congress Street and began our descent back toward downtown.

IMG_9467

Along the way, we stopped for cappuccinos and a shared ginger cookie at Hilltop Coffee, an inviting café  near Spoon where we enjoyed lunch last year.IMG_9478

Continuing on, we spied the Eastern Cemetery which had a sign offering a tour at 11:00 am. It being just about that time, we crossed the street and met the guide, part of an organization called Spirits Alive. This is Portland’s oldest cemetery and was in use for more than 200 years from the 1600’s until the 1880’s. More than 4,000 graves are here and the headstones tell a remarkable story of military heroes, veterans of wars up to and including the Civil War, and even a bank robber or two.

Our guide was knowledgeable and a strong advocate of Spirits Alive’s mission to research the gravestones and to preserve them in their original state as much as possible.  As you can see, it’s a lovely setting.  The red brick building was once a school and is now low income housing.  The monolith marks the Alden family plot and recognizes naval hero, James Alden, in particular.  The grave stones are mainly white marble, which doesn’t weather well over the long term, and slate which is gray and dark in color.

IMG_9480 IMG_9484 IMG_9483

 

After all that wandering about, we needed lunch.  What would a first full day in Maine be without a lobster roll?  Not good.  We returned to Gilbert’s, a very casual place on the waterfront, and home of a good roll.  Here’s my first one of the season!

IMG_9492

 

 

Maine Musings: Winding Down of Summer

JWF 2 Comments

 

We just ended a week of house guests as we wind down our Maine time. My sister and her husband were easy to have and together we visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, ate lobster as often as possible, and enjoyed another excursion to Pemaquid Point.

IMG_0657

 

We then welcomed our 3 year old granddaughter (and her wonderful parents) who provided nonstop commentary on what she and everyone around her was doing. That was when she wasn’t making up family stories about sticks, stones, and her dolls or involving her grandmother as playmate in various scenarios: going to the dentist, lying on the beach, being sick and requiring a trip to the hospital in an ambulance, making pancakes (clementines stood in for the pancake batter), and arranging a tea party. She and I did all of these things and we even read a few books together; for the one she especially liked, it was, “again, Grandma, again.”

We also made blueberry pancakes for breakfast (for real) and spent many hours in the children’s garden at the aforementioned botanic garden. A lively visit and a real gift of their precious time.

IMG_0689

What I’m Not Reading

Despite a recent article in the Wall St. Journal about the demise of the summer reading list, I still try to read tomes on vacation that I don’t attempt the rest of the year. This summer I have one of Trollope’s novels on my stack which I will start soon.

I also subscribe to a first editions book club and receive an autographed novel in the mail each month. I seldom read these books as soon as they arrive and over time I accumulate a small stack of them. I brought two with me to Maine. I have started both of them and abandoned both of them, probably for good. I anticipated being absorbed and even engrossed in them, but not so.

The first one is about a young woman who masquerades as a man and goes off to fight in the Civil War. She leaves her husband and their farm behind. The writing is spare and the images of war are graphic and bloody. The author keeps the reader at a distance and I didn’t stay engaged. Maybe not just the right time or mood for me, so perhaps I’ll return to it. It is Neverhome by Laird Hunt.

The second novel, Flying Shoes, by Lisa Howorth, is a first novel built around the re-opening of a murder case in the 1980’s that was the actual murder of the author’s brother. It’s set in Mississippi and has a sassy, what I would characterize as southern, tone. I found the narrator’s voice too flippant and saucy; hence it’s on my discard pile.

One of the liberating aspects of this stage of life is that I don’t need to finish every book I start. I sample fifty to a hundred pages and if I don’t like what I’ve read, I give myself permission to set it aside without guilt. Life is short and there are too many books I want to read to get bogged down in one that is not compelling or enjoyable in some way!

Maine Musings: Light and Color

JWF 1 Comment

We have moved to another house in Maine and are now enjoying views of the Sheepscot River. It’s a saltwater river and so we have some gentle tidal action exposing mud and rocks and seaweed, then covering them over again. A large family of ducks swam by yesterday and occasionally the thrum of a power boat punctuates the peaceful quiet. The neighbor’s dock is long and its struts are an appealing cross hatch of x’s and diamonds. At dusk they rise above the water and, as one person put it, look like bent knees. The other night’s sunset sky, pictured above, began as somewhat red and then intensified into slashes of mauve and magenta, like thick paint. In the early morning light, yellow predominates and all is calm.

 

IMG_0379

IMG_0372

 

 

IMG_6989

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I’m Reading: Family Portrait

I just finished Trompe L’Oeil by Nancy Reisman, a very satisfying novel on several levels. The characters are revealed as if painted on a canvas; painting; their responses to events and their feelings shift and are shaped and shaded and re-visited over time.

A tragic event in Rome opens the novel and changes life forever for the Murphy family. As readers we then follow the parents, Nora and James, and their children, Theo, Kate, Sarah and Delia, for several decades until the children become adults. Place matters enormously for each of them, be it the Rome of that family vacation or the Massachusetts shore, site of their beloved beach house.  Scattered throughout are chapters devoted to their homes interspersed with ones from the perspective of each family member individually.

Reisman also introduces real art, as in descriptions of paintings of Mary Magadelene by various artists, in separate chapters.  The description of who else is in the work, the colors used and the mood of the painting are used, I think, to reflect the feelings and emotions of particular characters. I found this an intriguing literary device and, overall, quite successful.

Like great art, this novel takes time, time to read and time to contemplate, as Reisman slowly builds up layers of life events and their impact on each member of the family.  She cares about these people and explores how they respond to the tragedies and vicissitudes life throws at them.  It is a beautifully crafted piece of work.

For an illuminating interview with the author about the creation of this novel, check out this link: http://fictionwritersreview.com/interview/solitude-and-possibility-an-interview-with-nancy-reisman/

 

[Photos copyright JWFarrington]