As soon as we walked in, that unmistakable sweet smell of success wafted through the room on this Restaurant Week night when Sur-Lie was seriously aglow with diners looking very pleased to be there.
We chose Sur Lie as our one pick from the restaurant week roster because most on the list had been visited frequently before; others like Lio (not on the list) I hope to return to again after a lackluster first visit. Some of the newer restaurants in town were not represented.
I’ve always liked Sur-Lie, and its prix fixe menu at $35 was a 4-course affair with lots of tantalizing dishes. From the regular menu my favorite is the sweet-pea humus, which wasn’t offered on the special prix fixe.
Center: salmon; top, clockwise: the bar, black-eyed peas, oysters, empanadas
We began with a spread of pastrami cured smoked salmon, which was instantly pleasing as we spread it on a generous heap of super-thin crisps. The richly textured mixture was flattered even more with drifts of pickled red onion, everything-bagel spice and flecks of cured egg. Another appetizer was filling and luscious: an empanada stuffed with curried sweet potato and green onions with a vibrant cashew-flavored dipping sauce.
Sur-Lie’s dining bar with veteran restaurant week diners
Our favorite, if not a sleeper, however, was an enticing starter of black-eyed peas escabeche, with fire roasted peppers, crispy red onions, parsley and lavash to scoop up this wondrous bean salad.
As the progeny of the small-plate crush of restaurants led by Central Provisions, chef Emil Rivera has carved out his own respectable niche as an able proponent of this style of cooking—tantalizing tapas preparations that are highly flavorful and inventive. In fact he—and Sur-Lie—don’t get the recognition they deserve with all the attendant hype that other restaurants garner so easily in the Drifters Wife category. Other spots like Lolita should be more highly touted regularly. And shouldn’t Fred Eliot of Scales be on a list of best chefs in the overwrought James Beard Award world?
A perfect Negroni made with Vermut
Back to the pleasures of Sur-Lie we enjoyed the fried oysters set in a crisp batter encasing the creamiest filling of oysters–served over little gem lettuce topped with bacon dust and a spicy dipping mayo that worked just fine. Rivera’s sense of taste as he composes a dish is astounding.
House-made lavash to accompany the black-beans
I was less impressed, though. with one of our main courses–tender slices of milk braised pork loin with roasted apples and lemon scent potatoes. It was a fine dish but one that didn’t ascend to brilliance. But the captain’s cut cod did, floating in a cloud of celeriac puree, salsa verde and garlic chips.
We ate at the bar and were well served there by the bartender/waiter who worked his crowded space seemlessly. I had a fine Negroni made with a red vermouth called Vermut, which is Catalan for vermouth, and offered an herbaceous scent that made this Negroni one of the most enjoyable in recent memory.
Two entrees: Captain’s cut cod set in a celeriac puree and milk-braised pork with apples
By the time dessert rolled around I mistakenly didn’t take photographs of our two desserts because we gobbled them up so fast: a lemon posset, a sweet-tart-acidic concoction that was utterly delightful with its almond cookie crumble over a blue-berry-rosemary compote. The second dessert was called Sur Lie Dango. These were little mochi balls made of steamed rice cakes emerging as gelatinous marble-sized balls swathed in a crisp sauce of coconut nectar, rice crunch and mango sorbet.
If it took restaurant week to get us to return to Sur-Lie and marvel in the obvious pleasures of dining there, then the event accomplished just what it was supposed to do.
Sur-Lie, 11 Free St., Portland, ME , 207-956-7350 www. sur-lie.com
Rating: Excellent all the way with beautifully devised tapas and inventive larger plate under the expert guidance of chef Emil Rivera
Service: Very attentive and professional
Tables: In a charming dining dining room flanked by the open kitchen and the lively bar used as much for dining as it is for cocktails
$$$: Moderately expensive
Parking: On Street or across the street in a fee-based parking lot
