Grazing is a great way to experience several restaurants in one fell swoop, torching your testbeds into fiery submission as you go from one to the other for splendid dining. This was the course I followed starting on Friday evening. What ensued was the progression of two dining establishments to create the evening meal in which the new world met the old and a weekend to follow with multiple ports of call in the offing.
Sur-Lie presents an inventive but very approachable modern-day menu of small plates done with utter creativity and style. The second stop was Back Bay Grill, where more traditional techniques and fare—done superbly—offered great counterpoint.
The respective bar rooms for dining at Sur Lie and Back Bay Grill
First order of business was to order a drink made by Sur-Lie’s great bartender, Sam Babcock. I proceeded to have my favorite dish at Sur Lie– the sweet pea hummus. It’s presented in a big white bowl that contains the brightest puree, almost blindingly green from the freshness of the peas rendered into a luxuriously silken dip. Chef Emil Rivera—whose cooking gets better and better to be, at times, absolutely wonderful– floats the flavors of lemon and mint that capture the sublime texture and flavor of the sabayon, which tops the hummus like whipped cream on a sundae.
Sur-Lie’s sweet pea hummus
The great surprise is how good the strips of lavash breads are in which to scoop up this heavenly puree. These are deep fried and have the addictive crunch of the best sun chips.
And those chips served with it are fabulous
It’s a soothingly great starter, which was only to be outdone by the evening’s special of salmon with an unlikely mating of watermelon. The melon was compressed and set on the plate dappled with salmon crudo moistened in olive oil, black garlic, and pignoli and balsamic. With forkfuls of this sweet-salt pairing, the dish was a wondrous surprise to enjoy the magic of summertime dining.
Salmon crudo over watermelon
Just as I thought of my next dish to order my cell phone rang with Adrian Stratton, Back Bay’s inimitable General Manager, on the phone saying that a spot opened up ( as I had requested earlier) at the bar. I left Sur-Lie and entered Back Bay’s typically energetic scene, with just about every spot filled in this long-running establishment that continues to delight faithfully.
Bartender Evie Ladd tended to my food and drink beautifully as she always does, helping to set the tone for a wonderful evening.
More peas, this time with a silken, velvety snow pea vichyssoise. For a main course the roulade of chicken leg—a variation of a dish that is featured at the restaurant often—offered savory bites that were extraordinary. The leg meat was filleted and stuffed with a soft, rich forcemeat of chicken sausage all set in a classic brown sauce with sautéed green beans and the smoothest potato puree.
At Back Bay Grill, vichyssoise of snow peas; roulade of chicken
Going from the avant-garde sublimities of Sur-Lie to the rarefied techniques of Back Bay created an evening of memorable, exciting dining. But the weekend was young and heady culinary adventure awaited.
Saturday was a picture perfect summer day to take a trip to a lobster pound on the Mid Coast. Through various Facebook posts from cookbook author Nancy Harmon Jenkins who extolled the greatness of her favorite place for a lobster roll, I set out to see for myself just how good her recommendation was: McLoon’s Lobster Shack is in the far reaches of South Thomaston, on Spruce Head Island reached by causeway.
McLoon’s has stunning views overlooking Seal Harbor
It’s on Island Road off of Route 73, which connects the Saint George villages to Rockland. There are two other lobster joints on this strip: Miller’s Lobster and Waterman’s Beach–two great places for lobster in the rough with gorgeous waterfront settings in an around Muscongus Bay; McLoon’s is set on Seal Cove, a working lobster wharf that’s as real as Maine’s working waterfront gets.
Picnic tables with umbrellas practically hang on the water’s edge. The menu is basically lobster, clams and crabmeat in various guises. It’s an old family business, one that has a presence at the Portland Fish Pier and whose proprietors reside in Cape Elizabeth. Their shiny new BMW X1 in the McLoon’s parking lot shows that business is good.
McLoon’s iconic lobster roll
The lobster roll is classic. Big chunks of tail and claw meat are stuffed into a well grilled bun. The roll is slathered with mayonnaise and the lobster on top. Melted butter is poured over this. It’s served with excellent Cole slaw and a bag of chips. I also tried the lobster stew, another classic preparation done simply. The soup is lobster broth made by simmering the raw shells with aromatics. It’s mixed with heavy cream and just a light touch of snipped chives and tarragon. It’s an iconic lobster stew. All this lobster (in roll and soup) cost nearly $35 with a glass of homemade lemonade.
McLoon’s perfect lobster stew
It was a beautiful day on the coast and dinner didn’t occur until late in the evening when I stopped into a jam packed Petite Jacqueline. Saturday is the only time when Chef Fred Eliot prepares his classic magret de canard, which is the breast meat from the Moulard duck–a far richer species than the White Pekin or Muscovy that’s generally used.
A full house Saturday night at Petite Jacqueline
Eliot cooks it until the breast is still pink inside, rendering it succulently tender. To start, however, I dipped into Eliot’s presentation of frog’s legs. These little joints are breaded and quickly pan fried and set over a captivating, thoroughly herbaceous blend of pureed parsley and garlic. The only way to eat these is by hand, dipping the little drummies into the wonderful sauce.
Frog’s legs at Petite Jacqueline
The duck was cut into thick slices subtly seasoned and soft to the touch but served relatively plain with sautéed leeks in a splendid pan sauce.
Duck perfection: magret de canard at Petite Jacqueline
At all these dinners I refrained from dessert, even the sweet lemony donuts at Sur Lie, Back Bay’s luscious ice cream with caramel and Petite Jacqueline’s wonderful éclairs. You’ve got to draw the line somewhere in our little world of fabulous Maine dining.
Five star dining–in town and at the shore:
McLoon’s Lobster Shack, 315 Island Road, South Thomaston, ME www.mcloonslobstershack.com
Sur-Lie, 11 Free Street, Portland, ME www.sur-lie.com
Back Bay Grill, 65 Portland St., Portland, ME www.backbaygrill.com
Petite Jacqueline, 190 State St., Portland, ME www.bistropj.com
