The most significant, obvious differences in the newly acquired Caiola’s are two-fold: Its long-running chef and owner, Abby Harmon, who has been considered one of Portland’s most creative chefs, has departed the scene—temporarily, probably—selling the restaurant to one of Portland’s most accomplished chefs, Damian Sansonetti and his wife, pastry chef Ilma Lopez , who are stepping into Caiola’s spotlight while maintaining their fabulous Piccolo.

Brunch specials of the old Caiola's: Clockwise: pancakes, Hot Brown, Bird's Nest, special French Toast

Brunch specials of the old Caiola’s: Clockwise: pancakes, Hot Brown, Bird’s Nest, special French Toast

What they do and how they do it will be closely watched.

I went to Caiola’s this past Sunday for brunch.  And my favorite brunch dish, Bird’s Nest—still on the regular menu–was brought out to me by Sansonetti himself.

Barely different: the New Bird's Nest

Barely different: the New Bird’s Nest with French fries

“I’ve been here since five-thirty this morning,” he said to me when I asked how the transition was going.

The dish had been tweaked slightly: the sausage gravy held more sausage but less sauce.  The sweet potato fries were replaced by perfect frites: great crunch and just the right amount of salt.

I looked on the menu for another old favorite, the extraordinary honey-glazed bacon to order as a side dish.  MIA.

Special to Caiola’s old brunch menus were the list of inventive specials in addition to the regular menu.  Each Sunday was an adventure of discovery with preparations beyond the norm.

The new Caiola’s brunch menu, according to Sansonetti, will change weekly without, for now, specific  specials.

I looked at a recent dinner menu under Sansonetti’s guidance and it held many of the dishes previously on the menu, with some differences here and there like an old movie remake.

Brunch plates from the past: duck eggs over beans; the perfect Bloody Mary (still the same at the new Caiola's) and Fried Chicken--yum!

Brunch plates from the past: duck eggs over beans; the perfect Bloody Mary (still the same at the new Caiola’s) and the yummiest Fried Chicken

It’s one thing to open a new restaurant and quite another to take over an already established dining haunt.  Consider the old East Ender and its new iteration: two different restaurants with the same marquee.

When the old is reborn, this or that tweaked, or a  favorite menu item disappears, it’s absolute heresy to  regulars.  But all things change eventually, and it’s exciting to think what such a talented chef as Sansonetti will do in his new kitchen.

I’ve been a long-standing regular at Caiola’s ever since they opened in 2005.  It was my neighborhood restaurant when I lived a few blocks away on Carroll Street.  It was a hangout where we often went two to three times a week as if it was the West End’s private dining club.  We also knew the staff well (some of whom are still there) and co-owner and Harmon’s life partner, Lisa Vaccaro, played hostess in those days before her carpentry and building business took off in later years.

Ricotta pie; inset--smoked chickpeas with cod loin and mussels; sausage and fennel meatballs agrodolce

Memorable dishes: Ricotta pie; inset–smoked chickpeas with cod loin and mussels; sausage and fennel meatballs agrodolce

Caiola’s was like no other restaurant in the city.  The food was wildly creative.  The fare was home cooking meets haute cuisine with Mediterranean nuances conceived with that special touch of Harmon’s Downeast heritage—a unique pastiche of flavors, often an astounding conjunction of culinary idioms that resoundingly struck complex chords of fine cooking.

One brunch dish that I remember vividly was called Lion’s Head, a take on a Chinese New Year specialty.  It held pork and ginger meatballs (for breakfast?) swathed in a creamy, spicy cabbage and a perfect egg dropped on top.  Talk about otherworldly, this one took the prize of scrumptiousness to the next level.

Green deviled eggs

Green deviled eggs

Another example of the restaurant’s unique offerings at brunch was an appetizer of deviled eggs, which were the color of deep forest green.  This was achieved by putting the hard-boiled whites into an infusion bath of spinach and basil to achieve the color.  The yolks were a creamy blitz spiked with ham bits.  These were astonishing eggs.

More recently, I went there for dinner last month, a few days before the sale, and the menu was pure Harmon.  Such dishes as smoked lamb belly bruschetta with seeded semolina, spiced eggplant and Calabrian chili ricotta were visionary; a favorite starter like Harmon’s savory pudding was served that night, too, with crabmeat as the main ingredient–the confluence of shellfish in a cream sauce baked into a bread pudding sustained every ingredient brilliantly. (Harmon’s savory bread puddings were created when she was the long-time chef at Street & Co.)

Smoked lamb bruschetta

Smoked lamb bruschetta

Crabmeat bread pudding

Crabmeat bread pudding

Fast forward to Damian Sansonetti’s Caiola’s and we should, in my opinion, have much to look forward to.  In my November 17, 2013 review for “Dine Out Maine” in the Portland Press Herald, I had this to say about the then-new chef in town:

“After many visits I’m impelled to proclaim that Piccolo is the best of the new breed of dining establishments to have opened here this year. It’s not chic or outwardly trendy, but, rather, it is seriously good.”

I cited these dishes as standouts: “. . . a felicitous fish course of olive oil-poached swordfish belly that was exceedingly delicate. A mesmeric pasta course – so light it nearly levitated off the plate – was gnocchi mixed with pork blood and braised pork belly, orange zest, red peppers and house-made lardo.”

And in commenting on the start of Piccolo’s Sunday dinner tasting menus I observed: “The range of dishes and the ease with which the kitchen could put out such a complex, extemporaneously prepared dinner could only have occurred from a chef who knows exactly what he’s doing.”

Some variations of Piccolo dishes one might expect at Caiola's: "broken" eggs; braised pork and pasta with lamb ragu

Some variations of Piccolo dishes one might expect at Caiola’s: “broken” eggs; braised pork and pasta with lamb ragu

So that and more are what we should expect from this highly talented chef as he imparts the old Caiola’s menu with new vim and vigor. But please, pretty please bring back the honey-glazed bacon at brunch.

Honey-glazed bacon

Honey-glazed bacon