Boston to Portland; Augusta to Quebec - Summer 2019

Thought I'd relate some of the best tastes experienced from this great summer in New England, south to north...

Taranta is a wonderful southern Italian/Peruvian bistro on Hanover St. in Boston's North End.

Peruvian inspired spicy meatballs, seasoned with aji amarillo and huacatay, with a panca pepper pomodoro sauce. Really not spicy, but full-flavored and a wonderful geographical cultural mix of flavors.

Artisan made fusilli from Campania, baked in parchment paper with a sauce of onions, pancetta Abruzzese, roasted tomatoes and smoked sweet peppers. Unlike anything I've had before, so different than the normal North End fare.

Butterscotch-y tiramisu, not unlike a Spanish flan.

Up through a tip of New Hampshire and into Maine, Weathervane in Kittery on Rte. 1 dishes up the best native shrimp imaginable.

For no fuss, no muss at the home cottage--the Maine Lobster Outlet in York does cooked crustaceans efficiently. These are 2-pound monsters with tons of meat.



More to come...

Taranta
210 Hanover St.
Boston, MA
(617) 720-0052

Weathervane Seafood Restaurant
306 US-1
Kittery, ME
(207) 439-0330

Maine Lobster Outlet
360 US-1
York, ME
(207) 363-9899

To continue...

Our summer home base at York Beach has always been solid but very restricted when it comes to cuisine. If it isn't lobster, steamed clams, fried clams, haddock, sweet corn or wild Maine blueberries, it was generally touch-and-go to venture outside that envelope. Until the Central Restaurant in York.

The balsamic and toasted hazelnuts really made this one.

Trying to find a pertinent place in the city of Portland, in virtually every search engine--and with LTH JoelF's blessing--we came upon the small plates of Central Provisions.

Brought in by Asmallgood Foods in Rockport, ME--housemade prosciutto, sourdough, peach mostarda & bread-and-butter pickles


The absolute best bite of the trip. With sushi rice, charred bok choy, kewpie and sunomono pickles, this stellar slice of finned heaven had a Japanese/Korean bent and a flavor all its own.

Next best bite, this crispy-skinned, then soft tactile morsel with apple, brown butter and Marcona almonds made me desire more, and then more....


Central Restaurant & Bar
127 Long Sands Road
York, ME
(207) 351-8363

Central Provisions
414 Fore Street
Portland, ME
(207) 805-1085

One mo' thing...

After making my yearly stop in downtown York Beach, ME, for some salt water taffy to bring home, I sat and had a killer 'hamburg' club sandwich, and it wasn't until I wolfed it down did I realize...are those extinct here? Haven't seen one on a menu in many a moon.

The pic of the hamburger club is stock (since I hadn't been thinking of shooting it beforehand) but it scratched all the itches for me!



The Goldenrod
2 Railroad Ave.
York Beach, ME
(207) 363-2621

I miss these type of hamburger club sandwiches from the east coast, I don't see them very much here in the midwest.

Jay and I nearly crossed paths, we were a couple towns north, and kept going north while he went south. If he's amenable to changing the title to include all of Maine, I'll post most of the rest of my trip here, and my last two days under Quebec.

I had been in a Boston burb since Sunday eating suburban mediocre food (and a nice team meal at Legal Seafood), and met SueF just outside the airport midday Friday and we attempted to get to Maine like a bat out of hell, only to get snarled in Boston construction traffic.

If there's a theme to our dining this trip, it's locovore small plates. Not every night, but quite a few, and we had really tasty stuff everywhere we went. You think Maine, you think just a steamed creature from the sea, but there's a lot going on up there.

Portland's Old Port is very touristy (expensive parking), but also very foodie, there's a lot of great food there, and we got seduced by the idea of "brown butter lobster roll" at Eventide Oyster Company (even though neither of us were in the mood for raw oysters). We'd been snacking all afternoon (including some nibbles at a Portland chocolatier), and had a light dinner: their lobster and fried oyster rolls are a little smaller than a standard hotdog bun, and not very bountiful, but delicious, with expertly selected garnishes including pickled onions and chiles. The lobster did not disappoint, the oyster mixed steamed bun with fried crunch with juicy mollusc, and the shishitos with black vinegar and bonito flakes hit that salty-spicy-funky note. I had a local cider whose name is now forgotten (but was very good). Seated at the bar, it was a joy to watch them shuck oysters and clams, and the chef right in front of us building the dishes, including a gorgeous tuna crudo with local blueberries.

We stopped just before dinner to snag a couple rye chocolate chip cookies from Standard Baking Co., behind and beneath Fore Street. Eaten over the next couple days, we found rye works surprisingly well with chocolate. And after dinner wandering the streets of Old Port, we found Holy Donuts, and had a delicious sea-salt chocolate glazed.


Brown Butter Lobster Roll


Fried Oyster Roll


Shishito with Bonito


Standard Baking Co. goodies

Eventide Oyster Co.
86 Middle St, Portland, ME 04101
http://eventideoysterco.com
(207) 774-8538

Standard Baking Co.
75 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101
http://standardbakingco.com
(207) 773-2112

Holy Donut
7 Exchange St, Portland, ME 04101
http://theholydonut.com
(207) 775-7776

Surely, Joel, pile on with your great bites...

It was funny--I was in Portland waiting to pick up my younger daughter at the airport, and saw some Facebook posts from Joel from Portland & Augusta, so I said wherethehellareya? Just missed he & his wife by a day. Too bad, it would've been like the meeting of Smith & Wesson!

We were texting back & forth with some of these very pics attached, but then realized he was heading north to Acadia then into 'Kee-bec', and we were going in the opposite direction, back to the cottage in York for a last weekend before reality set in on the trip home.

The areas of northern New England, the Maritimes & Quebec are a totally different world, in cuisine & attitude. My cousin's husband had shot a moose up in Newfoundland last fall, and it was a big one because he brought back almost 400 lbs of meat, and had it flash-frozen. He's an expert at food safety and health, as well as using every part of the animal, so there's a fair amount of respect for nature and its creatures.

We noshed on his famous moose chili for a couple days--it was stupendous, with him using ground and tenderloin shards--and knowing I like food he told me how the woman running the cabin he stayed prepared the moose heart, braising it in wine & shallots with stuffing on the side. I was salivating.

I wasn't sure about the edibility of moose, thinking it could be either too fatty or too lean. I didn't see it on any menus anywhere, although we did see a pair of moose (probably mom and calf from the size differential and lack of antlers) cross Highway 201 about 60 miles from the Canadian border.

Our second day we wandered through small towns, including Augusta (the capitol and state museum were closed for the entire 3-day Labor Day weekend), Camden (where we spotted a copy of GWiv's Low and Slow v1), and moving on to Belfast, an Irish-settled town that still has a working shipyard. Eater had highly recommended a place called Perrenial, a moderately-long walk from our B&B (more on that in a moment) with an outstanding collection of local ciders including Portersfield Aronia (my fave from my flight), and a small selection of small plates. We had a charcuterie plate with locally-made turkish-style lamb sausage, finnochino and sopressata, and three local cheeses including a cider-washed gouda, a goat, and a tomme. Following that we had a "patatas desperadoes" (much like a patatas bravas) with more of the lamb sausage (crisped this time). The service was fantastic, the ciders outstanding, the food good but you probably want to go there for the libations, not the chow.


Cider Flight partly consumed


Cheese and Charcuterie


Patatas Desperadoes

Still a little hungry, we followed that up with a crab cake and fried pickles at the Harborwalk/Front Street Pub (looks like two restaurants, isn't). The crab cake was very thin, good crispy coating. Pickles also appropriately crispy.

We almost stopped at Laan Xang, a Lao-Thai restaurant. If they had anything that looked like local seafood on the menu, we'd have jumped, but although it had a few interesting-sounding dishes, it wasn't Maine-enough for us.

That night we stayed at The Nightfall Inn, a house converted to a B&B just a couple blocks from the footbridge across the river that forms the harbor. The couple that hosts were wonderful, and make great food (brownies and cookies were there in the evening, oatcake with freshly-made apple butter, homemade yogurt, frittata for breakfast). If you're on your way to or from Acadia National Park, keep this place in mind.

Perrennial Cider Bar and Farm Kitchen
84 Main St, Belfast, ME 04915
perennialciderbar.com
(207) 808-1083

Harborwalk / Front Street Pub
37 Front St, Belfast, ME 04915
frontstreetpub.com
(207) 338-0488

Laan-Xang Cafe
19 Main St, Belfast, ME 04915
laanxangcafe.com
(207) 338-6338

The Nightfall Inn
31 Searsport Ave, Belfast, ME 04915
thenightfallinn.com
(207) 231-2317

Continuing downeast, we spent the day hiking Sears Island (ate an apple from a feral tree, would have been a good cider source) and Acadia National Park (a lot of driving actually). We dined in Bar Harbor. Too exhausted to do much exploration, we sat down at the first place we encountered, Testa's.

The blueberry lemonade was delicious, but they need the fat straws like the boba tea places -- the tiny Maine blueberries kept getting stuck in the straw. I don't remember what wine SueF ordered.


I ordered the traditional Lobster Dinner -- perhaps not the cheapest in the Bar Harbor region at $27, perhaps not the best (the guidebooks said to go to the seaside shacks for those), but presentation counts too, and this bug is gorgeous. I don't know what they did to the corn, but it was one of the tastiest ears of corn I've ever had.


SueF ordered the lobster tacos: fried pieces of tail with a pineapple-blueberry pico de gallo, and chipotle crema. Awesome. They also offer the fried tails and the dipping sauce as an appetizer.




Testa's
Address: 53 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
https://www.testasbarharbor.com/
Phone: (207) 288-3327

Next step was to get from Bar Harbor to Bangor. Not very far... but it pretty much didn't stop raining for the next 24 hours. The hotel turning out to be pretty scuzzy didn't help either. Because of the weather, we ate across the street from the hotel at an Paddy Murphy's, and just ordered burgers. Cooked right (although who puts tomato and lettuce on a patty melt?), good service.

The next morning we had bagel and donut at Bagel Central. Decent, more of a NYC than a Montreal bagel, but more on that later. Nice friendly gathering place in the middle of town. And right next to The Briar Patch, a great bookstore mostly focusing on children's and YA books.

Paddy Murphy's
26 Main St, Bangor, ME 04401
https://paddymurphysbangor.com/
(207) 945-6800

Bagel Central
33 Central St, Bangor, ME 04401
https://www.bagelcentralbangor.com/default.aspx
(207) 947-1654

The next day included a long drive (out of the rain!) from Bangor to Quebec City. Sights included waterfalls, a pair of moose crossing the highway, and a trading post with lots of furs and hunting gear, but sadly no interesting jerky.

Quebec City was built to protect the St. Lawrence seaway, with a walled city high above the ports. The upper city, being a small area, is pricey and touristy; just outside of it (with a lot of stairs) are still-a-bit-touristy but more reasonably priced artisans and restaurants.

Dinner was al fresco at Écho Buvette. The menu isn't large, but it's imaginative.


Great local charcuterie and cheese plate (pro tip: always order the charcuterie if it features local stuff) including a venison terrine, chorizo and a great bleu.


SueF ordered the gnocchi with rabbit, probably one of the best bites of the trip. Note to self to eat more rabbit.


I ordered the "tomato tart with clams and shrimp" that I expected was a tart that included all three of those ingredients, but turned out to be surrounded by a very nice salad with chilled clams and shrimp -- a perfect summer meal.


Lastly, artichoke and pistachio spread. A very rich and tasty alternative to hummos.


Great service, nice little restaurant. This is a city we could have explored for a few days, certainly. The following day before departing, we had a great falafel and baklava, with fresh-made pita and lots of veg and pickles on top. Let's see if I can figure where that was...

Écho Buvette
67 Rue du Sault-au-Matelot, Québec, QC G1K 3X7, Canada
https://www.echobuvette.com/
+1 418-914-4393

From the photos on Google, I'm certain this is the place with the baklava and sandwiches:
Pastry Denis Tannous / Pâtisserie Denis Tannous
1061 Rue Saint-Jean, Québec, QC G1R 1S2, Canada
dessertsdenistannous.com
+1 418-914-7989

On to Montreal. I wish we'd gone straight there and spent a week, if the two dinners we had are any indication of how good things can be, plus the quality of the Atwater Market.

First night, we trusted Eater again and found Foxy, which spun out from Olive et Gourmando, a coffee-and-sandwich shop... but is neither. We knew we were in for a treat when the place smelled of wood smoke: everything is cooked on a wood-fired grill, or in a wood oven. We were lucky to be seated at the countertop by the oven, and got to watch the prep, feeding the fire, rolling out flatbreads and puffy pita, etc. I wish this was in my neighborhood, so I could nominate it as a GNR.


As usual, SueF started with a red wine ("LIGAME" on the receipt), I ordered the "dirty margarita" but I can't remember what was in it at all, except it was much less sweet than typical and had smoked salt on half the bowl of the glass (see below). Very nice.

For a starter we had the "Feta Maison" which included some of that fantastic fresh-baked pita, the feta whipped and served with peach, fennel, honey, and champagne vinegar. Just wonderful.

The pork belly includes cucumbers, chili, peanuts and creme fraiche, which sounds weird, but worked very nicely.



The star of the night was the gnocchi with chanterelles, corn, cheese and brown butter. Probably the best bite of the week. Not as pretty as it was tasty.


We didn't stuff ourselves, and treated ourselves to dessert. Their selection isn't huge, and settled on the chocolate bourbon cake with raspberries and pecans. This was good, just not "I've got to go back again" good.


After dinner, we hit Fairmount Bagel Bakery, reputed to be the original. More great smells. At 10PM this place was packed with people and floor-to-ceiling with packages of sesame bagels, their #1 seller. We picked up bagels and cream cheese for the next few days when we knew we wouldn't be getting hotel breakfasts.




Foxy
1638 Notre-Dame St W, Montreal, Quebec H3J 1M1, Canada
http://foxy.restaurant
+1 514-925-7007

Fairmount Bagel
74 Avenue Fairmount O, Montréal, QC H2T 2M2, Canada
https://fairmountbagel.com
+1 514-272-0667

The last day of real vacation (the rest of the trip was a wedding in the Berkshires), we walked all over Montreal, only had a snack for lunch, in prep for Joe Beef. We parked a couple blocks away near the Atwater Market. Really nice place, lots of charcuterie and pates, good-looking produce, lots of cheese and wine. It may not hold a candle to Barcelona's Boqueria, but I could certainly cook a lot of great meals from here. As it was we picked up snacks for the road: cured landjager-like sausage, and nuts.

I meant to take more pictures, didn't think about it until we were on our way out


I was expecting more dark wood and really huge portions from what I'd seen when Anthony Bourdain was at Joe Beef, but the front room is sunny, and the actual food on the menu isn't deadly. Now we didn't order the steak for two or anything like that, but it was really on the mark in terms of value, serving sizes, service, etc. Order the bread service, it's only CA$3.50 and includes a very good pickle.

Menu -- there were two more blackboards just for wine


Starters: I had the razor clams billed as "couteau de mer", one of my favorites, hoping they were grilled. Instead it was a cold prep, very tasty but there's nothing like a grilled razor clam with just a bit of salt and olive oil.


SueF ordered the Steak Tartare with Preserved Tomatoes. Just a perfect tartare, even better with a bit of anchovy.


Mains were Duck Frites, just gorgeous slices of duck breast with the best frites I've ever had (sorry Edzo), and the Albufera sauce was a way to gild the lilies of the duck and the frites.


Rabbit two ways: saddle stuffed and confit leg with artichokes barigoule. Stellar dish (although the stuffed portion was a little dry).


And yes we had room for dessert, just barely: Marjolaine Classique, with layers of sponge, ganache, praline, and add buttermilk ice cream to it... I don't know how you cut a slice so thin without it falling apart. Every bite a delight.



And because no high-end restaurant is complete without something special in the bathroom,


Atwater Market
138 Atwater Ave, Montreal, Quebec H4C 2H6, Canada
http://www.marchespublics-mtl.com/marches/atwater/
+1 514-937-7754

Joe Beef
2491 Notre-Dame St W, Montreal, Quebec H3J 1N6, Canada
http://www.joebeef.ca/
+1 514-935-6504

You've done yourself proud, Joel. I trust your judgment and would've snarfed probably anything put in front of me at Joe Beef. And like you say, there are places all over Montreal with that French-inspired imagination.

Let's tag-team it again sometime!

I'd definitely go back again, either to Maine or Quebec, although Pacific Northwest is probably next on my bucket list (had a short biz trip to Vancouver once but otherwise Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Devil's Tower are my travel limits).

There are a few food regrets: Never got to a plate of poutine. I could have used another lobster roll (I only had a bite of Sue's). In general, we needed to slow that trip down: we drove 1200 miles in a 10-day loop, and two full days plus a lot of the travel time (Montreal to Otis, Otis to Boston) were focused on my nephew's wedding in the Berkshires.

The one other significant meal I didn't mentioned was getting taken out for Dim Sum on our last day in Boston. China Pearl is very old school: carts arrive as you're barely seated, outstanding har gow, sesame balls, a lot more steamed than fried things (although I saw them at other tables they didn't seem to get to us). I don't remember much of what we ate, but I'd definitely go again.

China Pearl
9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111
Phone: (617) 426-4338