June 22, 2009 6:00 pm

Locavore Love: Portland's Fore Street Restaurant Won't Disappoint

Whether you are visiting Portland, Maine for a New England weekend get away, or you live near by, Fore Street Restaurant should definitely be on your itinerary. Out recently celebrating my father's birthday, I had the chance to eat at this tried and true culinary great. The James F. Beard Foundation's 2004 best chef, Sam Hayward, has designed a creative, sustainable and flavorful menu at Fore Street.

A cozy ambiance surrounds the interior of Fore Street Restaurant, which opened its doors back in 1996. The large main dinning area is set up so that diners, which are tucked away in wooden booths on a lower level, or raised in tables on an upper level, are able to view the incredible open kitchen. The main features to see are the restaurants three fire burning brick caves: a wood-burning oven, a grill and a turnspit. Fore Street's menu, which changes nightly, is supported by an army of local Maine farmers and cheese makers. Not to mention the fishermen and foragers who contribute to the fresh catches of the day. There is even a special glass temperature controlled room with barrels filled of fresh produce. Not only is the food excellent, but nearly everything on the menu is sustainably produced and locally sourced.

As you can imagine, all this locally sourced food makes for an elaborate, seasonal and complex menu. For appetizers they have four amazing salads to choose from, wood oven pizza; soup; a full chilled and raw sea food menu; grilled sweatbreads; and six different kinds of chilled meats and offal. I must say though, priced appropriately with only a few expected items jumping past the $10 mark!

While enjoying their fresh bread, I opted for the marinated artichoke and spinach salad to start. It was fantastic. A healthy portion, it came peppered with capers, Saracena olives, reggiano cheese, and light garlic vinaigrette. My father went with the Mill Cover, Damariscotta River and Pulpit Harbor oysters and claimed they were indeed a fresh bite.

The success of the starters, coupled with excellent service from the get-go, made the anticipation for my main meal difficult to bear. I ordered outside my comfort zone. I ordered the Whole Wild Atlantic Sea Bass. I must admit, I am not very good at de-boning a fish. Nor am I entirely comfortable looking at the eyeball of my fish. The waiter was nice enough to offer in advance to help with this process once my meal had been served. Phew! He cleared away the bones, skin and eyeball for me, leaving a fish stuffed with goodness. My fish was oozing couscous and shiitake mushrooms, with olives dripping off the sides. Perfection in a fresh catch roasted in a wood oven. Plentiful flavors hit my palate as I would bit into an olive, or find a mushroom hiding amongst the fluffy fish meat. It was inspired. I ate every last piece.

Our family friend went with the Atlantic Halibut Filet from Nova Scotia, which came with a rich herb risotto cake and lathered in an herb butter sauce. Yum. The Atlantic Scallops were tried. Yum. The Marinated Maine Farm Chicken tested. Undercooked. Had it had five more minutes in the wood grill I am sure it would have earned a "Yum" as well. We also split some excellent side orders of roasted cauliflower and garlic mashed organic Maine potatoes. Both earned a "Yum" if you ask me.

A birthday cake at home and some very full adults meant no dessert. But I am definitely going back to sample their collection of artisan cheeses. Not to mention their homemade chocolates, sorbets and sherbet. The only fault I can find with this place is that there are almost too many options.

We were there on a Wednesday night with an early reservation and the restaurant did not have a free seat the whole evening. Despite the restaurant holding several tables for walk-ins each night, I recommend you make your reservation well in advance.

—Nancy W. Gleason

Fore Street Restaurant
288 Fore Street
Portland, Maine 04101
207-775-2717

— Written by Nancy W. Gleason

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