Caiola’s

Originally “Food for Thought” was created as a food diary–a blog with daily entries about my personal focus on local food, farms and restaurants in Portland when the term locavore was new to the lexicon and blogging was a quirky endeavor. It first appeared online at Downeast Magazine in around 2001 and later commissioned by an enterprising editor at the Portland Press Herald where it ran for years until it morphed into the Golden Dish.

For better or worse, the space quickly became focused on restaurant reviews, a shaky moment for some or a stellar  time for others.

It was exciting to eat my way through Portland’s restaurant renaissance.  Suddenly it was no longer just Back Bay Grill and Fore Street as keepers of the flame but rather newcomers like Five Fifty Five, Bandol, Caiola’s, Hugo’s, Cinque Terre, Vignola and Duck Fat joined the group if only to make the old guard strive to be better.

Below are some photos from the past of dining in Portland, most around 2015-2016, as far back as my current Photoshop catalogue goes.

Five-fifty Five back in the day 2015 and much earlier in the early aughts

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Caiola’s regulars–especially those who live in the neighborhood and have made this for over a decade their long-time local haunt–are still packing the place nightly enjoying a menu that has some similarities to the old Caiola’s referring to chef and owner Abby Harmon’s cooking before the sale to Damian Sansonetti and his wife and partner, the pastry chef Illma Lopez who bought the restaurant early this summer.

caiola's front

One suspects that eventually there might be major changes to the restaurant: the menu, the décor and perhaps a name change.  After all, its new owners, two very accomplished chefs and restaurateurs, will want to put their own imprint on this vital West End establishment.

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Neighborhood restaurants have that innate appeal.

They don’t even have to be special, though it helps if they are. Though any restaurant along any street in Portland could be considered a neighborhood place, I define one as this: within the density of a residential neighborhood is the anomalous eatery nestled into the streetscape of row houses, apartment buildings and single family homes.  A perfect example of the genre is Lolita, a dining focal point of Munjoy Hill’s continuing gentrification.

A convivial crowd convenes nightly at Lolita

A convivial crowd convenes nightly at Lolita

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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.

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Of all the great brunches that I’ve featured in The Brunch report, my latest foray tipped the scales.  And if there were any contest at all The Winner Is . . .Caiola’s.  Perhaps it’s especially so with the kitchen being manned by its new sous chef, Matt Seitz, who took over Nick Ryder’s reign when he moved to Colorado late last year.  Of course chef supreme and co-owner Abby Harmon still leads the team with her inimitable flair for flavor and texture in each dish.

I’m hesitant to proclaim one restaurant’s superiority over the other.  Caiola’s, however, has consistently come up with different brunch specials every week, creating dishes that are novel and ultimately lip-smacking good, the sort of restorative food that you want for that first meal on a Sunday.

Brunch lineup: baked eggs with roasted tomatoes, ham and white bean stew' perfect bloody Mary and maple bacon added to the dish

Brunch lineup: baked eggs with roasted tomatoes, ham and white bean stew; perfect bloody Mary and maple bacon added to the dish

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If lack of wherewithal stirs unhappiness, then the effulgence of Sunday brunch is a fine remedy.  That and a glass of morning Sherry on the porch opens the door to countless revelries.  Portland abounds with choices and as you’ve read here I’ve given my opinion on many places.  But one that has slipped my sights is the East Ender.

The downstairs dining room and bar at East Ender

The downstairs dining room and bar at East Ender

My only regret is that chefs and owners Karl Deuben and Bill Leavey traded in their Small Axe food truck for the brick and mortar route; theirs was, to date, the best of the lot as far as food truck cuisine goes in Portland.

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What prompted my Sunday morning excursion to the Market Basket in Biddeford was that all of Hannaford’s stores stopped carrying a product that I’ve purchased there for years.  I immediately researched all of the likely stores that could conceivably carry it.  No luck at Shaw’s, Walmart (even the supercenter), IGA Pond Cove Market in Cape Elizabeth and Smaha’s in South Portland.

Sunday morning at The Market Basket in Biddeford

Sunday morning at Market Basket in Biddeford

The Market Basket is the only store in Maine to carry the almighty, if not elusive, Benecol.   It’s in the dairy case next to the butter and butter substitutes like Earth Balance and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and other locums of limited appeal. When I would do Google searches to find the product all that would come up was Beneful, the dog food!

Two types of Benecol at Biddeford

Two types of Benecol at Biddeford Market Basket

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Whatever your reasons for Sunday brunch, one thing is for certain: it has to be good.  Portland has boundless opportunities for the weekend brunch, but it still strikes me that the most reliably fabulous one is found at Caiola’s.  Oh, yes, I’ve sung their praises often, but there’s something about their brunch specials that are truly amazing.

Pulled pork eggs Benedict

Pulled pork eggs Benedict

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As the city of Portland grapples with the boom of new housing on the peninsula, one dividend is food and dining venues emerge as an outgrowth. The opening of Rosemont Market at West End Place, for example, serves the densely populated West End and its need to have food shops in the neighborhood.  As for dining, there’s only a few restaurants beyond Longfellow Square in the heart of the West End except for Caiola’s—still a long-time favorite for area locals—and Bonobo, the corner restaurant serving artisanal pizza.

In adjacent Bayside, that a place like Isa caught on so fast gives credence to an emergent neighborhood even though the grandness of Back Bay Grill a few doors away didn’t stem the tide when it entered this fringe environment decades ago. Plenty of vagrants and druggies still  roam the streets, but now they co-mingle with ever more Mercedes and Lexus SUVs looking to park and dine at Isa or Back Bay.

The charming dining room at Isa

The charming dining room at Isa

Isa and Back Bay are my neighborhood restaurants. Though I’ve yet  to venture  to Bubba’s Sulky Lounge or the notorious Ricky’s Tavern across the street.  Now there’s a true dive bar whose patrons were once labeled euphemistically by a city official “…as subjects seeking social service assets and resources in that area.”  Hipsters are not welcome.

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Neighborhood restaurants orbit in their own world.  Warm, cozy and familiar they tend to eschew trendiness and other social hysterias.  They’re everywhere around Greater Portland, for better or worse.  But the most revered remain Caiola’s in the West End; Hot Suppa, Local 188 and others around Longfellow Square; Lolita, the Front Room and Blue Spoon on Munjoy Hill.  These are some of the city’s standard bearers of dining in the hood.  Now you can add Abilene to the group.  Opened since June, it holds sway in the Woodford’s area.  The difference is that this part of Portland doesn’t attract foodie preeners or make way for the next Central Provisions. 

Caesar salad; the dining room at Abilene

Caesar salad; the dining room at Abilene

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