You can dine out every night of the week in Portland and confine yourself to the upper echelons of every new restaurant that has opened recently. This week alone two pivotal establishments have debuted: the sumptuous Tempo Dulu at the Danforth Inn and Evo, located at the base of the Hyatt Place Hotel on Fore Street. (The latter is not, however, a “hotel restaurant” as described in a recent post on a food site but rather merely a leased retail space at the streetside corner of the hotel that was transformed into a stunning two-level dining room.)
The dining room at 555 at last year’s Christmas dinner; a quiet corner table is a coveted spot in the dining room
Still the baubles of Portland’s increasingly frothy world of fine dining are on a magnanimous tear. More than ever, perhaps, mightn’t it behoove one to pay homage to the core posts of dining in the city, the ones that made our mini-metropolis into a national destination for foodie obsessives?
Besides Back Bay Grill and Fore Street, or the remembrance of Hugo’s under the brilliance of founding chef Rob Evans, the venerable Five Fifty-Five still holds splendid sway over a peripatetic world of local gastronomy. For over ten years co-proprietors and chef Steve and Michelle Corry have been serving extraordinary examples of the new American bistro cuisine, giving us meticulous examples of farm to table fare at a time when the much-used phrase was a freshly sprouted concept.
Earlier this week I took the occasion of my birthday to dine at Five-fifty Five, entering into the cool suavity of its sleek dining room where one can enjoy a perfectly rendered cocktail or choose from one of the best wine lists in the city to accompany remarkably prepared food.
The cool elegance of the dining room of Five Fifty-Five
Several chefs de cuisine have worked in the kitchen under Corry’s tutelage. For many years the inimitable Matt Gin (now at Evo) prevailed flawlessly, and the restaurant’s new chef de cuisine, Kyle Robinson, is showing a flare for dramatic presentation in his high-gear dishes.
Fine service has always been the standard at the restaurant, too, with a stellar waitstaff, many of whom have been there for years.
On that Tuesday night the restaurant was fairly full, including the neighboring table–an after-the-wedding dinner party with the bride still gloriously swathed in her bridal gown and veil; they all heartily dug into a procession of fine dishes.
We kept pace starting with a Pineland Farms beef tartare, served at the perfect chilled temperature and adorned with a center quip of a quail egg and enriched with a horseradish cream and caper dressing. There are other good examples of beef tartare around town, including the superb one at Back Bay Grill. This rendition was no less fine with its super tender chunks of beef and appropriate accoutrements.
A first course standout, beef tartare
My dish of carefully crafted peekytoe crab salad was another wonderful starter, finely adorned with braised artichokes, baby spinach, soy bean hummus and driblets of Greek yogurt that added invigorations of flavor.
Peekytoe crab salad
My guest was at first hesitant to order a main course of seared bay scallops, fearing that big round orbs would be too much. These, as it turned out, were just the right size and glistened and seared in the pan with an amazing lapping of fennel cream and wisps of grilled bok choy cloaked in a sparkling lemon puree.
Pan-seared scallops
I often choose chicken as a main course in restaurants. Perhaps it’s not a very adventurous choice, but to me the test of a good kitchen is its ability to prepare chicken well—and any part thereof. It was a local breast of chicken from Sumner Valley Farm and roasted in the pan and carved in the French style revealing tender, juicy breast meat set in a puree of English peas with baby carrots and morels in roasted chicken jus. It’s basically a simple dish but one in its simplicity that offered impeccable flavor.
Pan-roasted breast of chicken with pea puree and morels
The wedding party next to us was served strawberry cheesecake for dessert, and it looked stunning showing off the talents of Five Fifty-Five pastry try chef Karen Turner. We were not disappointed in the least with the same selection, a fitting finale in a cake so soft and creamy aloft with the seasonal flavors of local strawberries.
Local-strawberry cheesecake
Five Fifty-Five, 555 Congress St., Portland, ME; 2-7-761-0555; www.fivefifty-five.com
Rating: 5 stars
Ambiance: cool elegance
Tables: comfortable seating and spacious tables
Noise: subdued
Service: consistently excellent
$$$: Expensive, on average $75 per person with wine/cocktail and gratuity; multi-course tasting menu also available at $90
