Deep down in its warped well of vocabulary wisdom the Urban Dictionary defines foodie as “a douchebag who likes food.” If that’s the case then Portland’s streets are teeming with them, and the general wisdom is for us locals to stay away from our most formidable dining haunts until the turistas all leave in the next 30 to 60 days. In fact, one local savant confided that he won’t step foot into a place like the revered Central Provisions until the masses go home. Indeed, it may be that of all the new restaurants in our dining world, the one that lives up so supremely to its accolades is the venerable Central Provisions.
The serious look of diners at Central Provisions seated at the dining bar facing the open kitchen; lower right, chef Chris Gould
I wasn’t planning to visit there until the fall, but destiny prevailed as a parking spot opened up a few doors away while cruising down Fore Street during the lunch hour earlier this week. I took this as my cue to enter this bastion of gastronomy for a bite of lunch.
Central Provisions is hardly a grab bag sort of place, even at lunch, and I entered a room that was packed with serious diners eagerly awaiting the next small plate to arrive. I ordered one of their house-made sodas and studied the menu. I also watched the line chefs busily putting together a slew of sandwich orders, with the line scheduler calling out such amusing directions as “cheeseburger without the cheese and tomato.”
The scene at an earlier visit 6 months ago; lower right chef Rob Evans
Chef and proprietor Chris Gould belongs to that class of young chefs who’ve given Maine its well-deserved reputation as a culinarian’s nirvana. Such other shining lights as Justin Walker (Earth) Cara Stadler (Bao Bao), Damien Sansonetti (Piccolo), Lawrence Klang (Tempo Dulu) Chris Long and Shelby Stevens (Natalie’s), Matt Ginn (Evo), Emil Rivera (Sur-Lie) and a few others carry the banner that proclaims our national ranking. They follow on the heels of those who keep the greater torch aglow. Names like Sam Hayward, Larry Matthews, Steve Corry, Fred Eliot, Brian Hill, Guy Hernandez, et al.
Yet at both visits this week at lunch and dinner, I was surprised to see many familiar faces and friends in the dining room; it wasn’t just tourists after all. What was common was to watch the intensity of those dining so seriously here. I’ve seen that look before at the much-admired Hugo’s before and after Rob Evan’s reign.
Sous chef Graham Botto; housemade raspberry-cranberry shrub; diners at lunch
At lunch many of the dinner menu items for which this restaurant is known are available such as the wondrous bread and butter or the various crudos and the popular spiced potatoes.
Uni
To start a small bowl filled with gazpacho was as refreshing as it was divinely different. Diced heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, tomato juice, and seasonings spiked with hay-smoked oil and nasturtium crème fraiche all packed quite the flavor wallop.
Heirloom tomato gazpacho
A diner sitting next to me raved about the lobster fritters and that’s what I ordered as my main course. These were comprised of diced lobster meat with corn and bacon, coated in batter and deep fried with a bracing saffron aioli for dipping. Within its very crisp and crunchy outer shell the filling remained creamy within, though I thought the fritters could have benefited from a few seconds less in the fryolater. Still of all the options for a fine sit-down lunch in the city, C-P was an exciting place to enjoy the midday meal.
Lobster fritters
At dinner the next night that same passion filled the rooms upstairs and below at the bar. The thing about small-plate menus is that one tends to order too much food. In this case excess was a rite of passage.
In total I segued through 6 dishes beginning with the Thai pork salad. Crisp wands of fried pork as crunchy as cracklings sat amidst a bed of well-dressed greens. It was a yin-yang of flavor and texture that tingled beautifully. These dishes are all about consistency and presentation and in a little bowl simply described as beans and peas presented these vegetables blanched to perfection and dressed in a creamy, sweet wand of yuzu, miso and sesame. These were two delicately wrought dishes and I needed something more robust. This easily arrived in my favorite dish of the evening, the baba ghanoush, which was a brilliant devise of confit of local hake and charred eggplant puree with crostini of sourdough bread to hold it all together.
Charred eggplant hummus (baba Ghanoush) with hake confit
Thai pork salad and peas and beans
The two fish courses that followed were pure luxury. The Bluefin chu toro crudo, which is cut from the best part of the tuna belly into thick slices sashimi style, were as lusciously fresh and rich as the finest beef tenderloin. With pickled ginger, tamari and wasabi this was simplicity incarnate.
Bluefin toro
Ending with a hot dish of seared wild black bass a la plancha, a festive and generous dish of white fish seared fast and furiously to retain moistness and flakiness. Spread alongside was the sweet-sour fig agrodolce and batons of king oyster mushrooms, all of which was so right.
Wild black bass
Interestingly the few items that grace the dessert menu are much simpler in stature than the savory courses, and I’ve often wondered why the choices are not more in the bravura style of a pastry chef’s showcase.
The key lime tart has been on the menu since day one and done in all the forthright simplicity of this classic American sweet. This evening besides the peach turnover laced with local Jersey cream, the raspberry crumble bar was highly recommended by my server.
Raspberry crumble bar
It’s certainly the kitchen’s riff on a bar cookie. After all, this dining room is essentially a thoroughly American bistro serving small plates set with the flare of fusion nuances from the Orient and Europe. And a dessert like a simple but luscious bar cookie with a rich swatch of pastry cream was just the right way to conclude the excitement that always is found at Portland’s esteemed Central Provisions.
Central Provisions, 414 Fore Street, Portland, Maine. 207-805-1085 www.central-provisions.com
Rating: 5 irrefutable stars
Ambiance: foodie hipster, authentic timber and brick
Tables: dining bar and banquettes in dining room; downstairs bar serving food and drink (same menu)
Noise: lively
$$$: expensive in a range of small plates from $6 to $24
