Tag: Hugo’s

Portland: Food & More

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PORTLAND—FOOD AND MORE

Like Julius Caesar’s army, the Chief Penguin and I travel on our stomachs.  Despite what it may seem, we did do more in Portland than eat. But, knowing the restaurants mid-coast are not as varied or inventive, we took advantage of Portland’s wonderful foodie scene.

DINING

Hugo’s

Hugo’s Cucumber

The food at Hugo’s is sophisticated and creative.   We’ve now eaten here several years in a row on our first night in Portland and this visit was no exception.  We began with tuna crudo and then proceeded to a charcuterie board; cucumber with falafel nibs; roasted cauliflower bathed in a smear of hot sauce; and spaghetti chittara; ending with two desserts—chocolate several ways and mini cubes of rhubarb accompanied by mousse and locust leaf sorbet, etc.  All dishes were on the small side and we shared everything.  We hadn’t ordered the cucumber, but when they brought it instead of the cauliflower we did order, they comped us the cucumber.  

Duckfat

We were inspired to try some place different for lunch, figuring if there were a line out the door we’d go elsewhere.  But Lady Luck was with us as we were seated at the bar immediately upon arriving, just ahead of the noon rush!  Duckfat is most casual with seating on high stools at the bar and low stools at counters around the perimeter.  

It is known for its Belgian fries so of course we had to sample them.  Probably the best fries I’ve ever tasted and even better with the Thai chili dipping sauce! From there we moved on to the duck and charred cabbage salad; a board of charcuterie and salmon, Tasso ham, pimento cheese, homemade pickles, loma, and buttered brown bread; and also a wedge salad (actually two large wedges) decorated with slivers of tomato and radish slices in a rich blue cheese dressing.  The last was to offset those fries. Paired with a glass of summery rose, it all made for the perfect lunch!  

Chaval

Chaval is the sister restaurant to Piccolo which we’ve also enjoyed.  This was our second meal at Chaval and with a slight chance of rain, they had closed their garden in favor of inside seating. The menu is a mix of small plates and entrees such as steak frites.  Having enjoyed our Duckfat lunch, we ordered more lightly—warm olives, broccolini with bacon and bits of orange, a young beet salad, Iberia ham croquettes, and the Alsace chicken breast entree with morels and spinach in a light cream sauce, which we shared.  Everything was delicious!

Broccolini with bacon and citrus triangles

While out and about, we also checked out a natural foods store, stopped in to Le Roux Kitchenware for mugs and paring knives, and bought pancetta and good canned tuna at Micucci Grocery, a new find on India Street.  All sorts of Italian dry goods from jars of peppers and pickles to panettone, and many pasta shapes, plus cheeses and sliced meats.  

ART

We like the Portland Museum of Art.  They do an excellent job presenting their collection and engaging visitors with exhibits that focus on lesser-known aspects of arts and crafts.   The currently featured exhibit is called In the Vanguard:  Haystack Mountain School of Crafts 1950-1969.  It brings together works by sculptors, painters, and fabric artists that were groundbreaking and signaled new directions in artistic creation for that time.

Celibacy, 1968, wool macrame by Walter Nottingham

Also on display is Open-Ended, an exhibit of new museum acquisitions that I particularly enjoyed. What makes it special is the commentary about why a piece was purchased and its significance or connection to the rest of the collection.

BOOKSTORES

And for me, time spent in Portland would not be complete without time in their independent bookstores. We didn’t get to Print this year (our time here was shorter than usual), but we browsed in Sherman’s (one of their several locations, this one on Exchange Street) and in Longfellow Books at Monument Square.   I made several purchases in each store, adding to my growing stack of summer reading!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is of the board at Duckfat.

Maine Time: Pausing in Portland

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PORTLAND INTERLUDE

As is our wont, our annual trip to Maine included about 36 hours in Portland.  Portland is red brick and squawking gulls (Florida seagulls don’t seem to squawk, at least I haven’t heard them).  It’s also home to a branch of the ubiquitous Sherman’s (books lowercase, gifty items uppercase), the seriously good Longfellow Books, and a plethora of good to great restaurants.  It’s a real foodie’s town.  And in our short time there, we managed to squeeze in a tasty lunch at the Garden Café, two superb dinners, and an atmospheric, but somewhat disappointing, lobster roll lunch in the Old Port.  

We like to stay at the Portland Regency Hotel in the historic Armory building.  It’s conveniently located close to the touristy Old Port yet also easily walkable to the center of town and to the Portland Art Museum.  Like all of the hotels this season, it’s pricey—summer is when Portland makes real money.

On our way to dinner one night, we stopped in at said art museum (turned out it’s free from 4:00 to 8:00 pm on Fridays) and found the exhibit of the photography of Clarence White most interesting.  Self taught, White gained attention at the beginning of the 20thcentury for his soft focus photos of women and children and was later commissioned to do illustrations for a number of books and for advertising.  He also was one of the first individuals to teach photography in a university setting, at Columbia and also elsewhere.

WHERE WE ATE

Garden Café

This is the Regency hotel’s outdoor dining spot, and when the weather is perfect, which it was on Thursday, it was just right for lunch.  The menu includes the usual coastal fare of fish and chips, chowder, and lobster rolls, but you can also order a quesadilla with chicken or one from their appetizing selection of salads.  Service is leisurely, but who wants to hurry on a beautiful day!

Hugo’s

Hugo’s is a seriously good restaurant and the dinner we enjoyed here was exquisite.  The menu is divided into three sections:  appetizers, to share, and mains.  We ordered mostly from the appetizers section with the addition of one entrée and shared everything.  The cold smoked halibut with almond milk and ramps was different and delectable, the tuna tartare luscious, and the orcchiette with lamb bacon and spinach an inspired and hearty combination.

As a main, we sampled the roasted scallops with mole, probably the best scallops I’ve ever eaten!  Seating is in booths or stools at the bar and the wait staff are all very friendly and welcoming.  For those who may be hesitant about this refined food, the staff will put them at ease.

Chaval

This Spanish style casual place in the west end is celebrating its first anniversary this week. We have dined at Piccolo, its sister Italian restaurant in the Old Port, several times and found it so wonderful, we felt we needed to try Chaval.  Chaval too is marvelous.  There is pleasant indoor seating, but we opted for the walled-in patio out back and were charmed by the bold painted flowers on the building wall.

The menu has a number of tapas dishes on the To Start section of the menu along with Stuck in the Middle and Forks and Knives.  We like small plates and so tried the fried cauliflower, patatas bravas (the Chief Penguin pronounced these the best ever!), deviled eggs with shrimp and caviar, and a special of the night, duck rillettes.  

These were several bites each and thus, we then went on to lettuce and nuts (a salad with walnuts and cabrales blue cheese) and a beautifully presented plate of shrimp a la plancha.  To end, we succumbed to an order of churros.   Another wonderful meal!

READING UPDATE

#8  Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

This historical novel has so many different strands at work that it’s difficult to know what aspects to pinpoint.  It’s a story about a father-daughter relationship, albeit one that exist in bursts with 12-year old Anna recounting a memorable outing with her father, followed by his disappearance, and then her resignation at knowing his fate.  It’s also about the divers who worked at the Brooklyn Naval Yard during WWII and how Anna becomes the first female diver.  And there’s the shadowy background of the mob—the corrupt underworld of nightclubs and shady yet tantalizingly seductive men like Dexter Styles.  Egan brings all this together in a compelling, richly detailed, dark tale that kept this reader wondering how it would all come together and whether any of these characters, Anna, her hapless mother, or her rootless aunt Brianne, would find ease and stability.

For the record, more than fifteen publications included this work on their lists of the top books of 2017. (~JWFarrington)

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).  Header photo is back side of restaurant Chaval.