Regular posts on food and dining will resume next week, but I nonetheless enjoyed a busy, satisfying week of food and drink traveling from New York, Boston and last stop, Portland.

But is the dining establishment having a few hiccups in this part of the world or is our food nation as glorious as ever? Perhaps there’s no appeal or reverence for haughty antics of some chefs and restaurateurs.  In particular I refer to a pivotal review in the New York Times (see review ) that didn’t give high marks to one of the great restaurants in the country, New York’s Per Se, where dinner for two can summarily cost $1,000.

New York’s fabled dining rooms: clockwise: 11 Madison Park; Le Cirque; 21 Club and La Grenouille

And in a recent Boston Globe article, however, on the region’s explosive dining scene, the writer worried about Metropolitan Boston’s ability to absorb the glut of restaurants that cater to a dining patronage in the millions.  Well, where does that put Portland, a tenth of the size of Boston, with the flush of its dining- out frenzy?

Portland seems to be handling our ever expanding restaurant growth well.  We’re essentially a captive audience who embrace and support any new restaurant if it’s good and noteworthy.  And it doesn’t hurt that we’re high on the radar of food fadists who flock to Portland as a dining destination.

Here’s a glimpse—and the dishes that I enjoyed– from Monday to Thursday of this week. It  started at one of New York’s classic northern Italian eateries, Ristorante Morini, which caters to a largely Upper East Side patronage. I enjoyed a perfect veal Milanese and composed beet salad.

Even my lunch on Amtrak’s Acela included a respectable wedge of cold cold salmon.  The aforementioned Boston put on a great show as well  at Coda and Boston Chops, especially the latter with chef Chris Comb’s highly creative menu.

Perhaps Portland was the finest in show—to wit, a wonderful dinner at Street & Co. and a light, but tantalizing supper at Sur-Lie before going to the movies and a late night snack at the Cumberland Club that included a classic wedge artfully made by Chef Joe.

Take a look at the fine dishes enjoyed during the week that was.

Nee York’s Ristorante Morini along the Madison Avenue Gold Cost of retailers and restaurants serves classic northern Italian fare

A desultory display of potatoes at New York’s Eataly without place of origin–just potatoes; cold poached salmon on the menu at Amtrak’s Acela First Class dining car

A delectable menu of creative dishes beyond steak at Boston Chops: oxtail fritters and braised beef cheeks with mini tortillas and pickled vegetables

At Portland’s Street & Co., clockwise: local scallops in a skillet; lobster bread pudding and pan roasted branzino on bean and vegetable hash

Wonderful array of small plates at Portland’s Sur-Lie: clockwise–pork belly donut; the bar crowd; amberjack crudo and poached-seared cod

A glorious wedge salad at Portland’s elegant Cumberland Club