Sunday we went from Farmington ares down to Portland, Settled in with our h osts, walked around the Back Cove trail, and then went to dinner at Street & Co in the Old Port district. Crowded but not extraordinarily noisy, nice rustic space. Service was fine, food was delicious. Betsy started with a "t aste" of bluefish pate with pickled onion on toast, while I had a small ser ving of salmorejo with Serrano ham and avocado- both very good.
They were out of the crab bread pudding, so I switched my order to grilled octopus with a rice pilaf with a tomato and red pepper sauce- good choice! I think octopus is the one protein that I just can never do as well at home as a good restaurant (though God knows plenty of places screw up the pulpo !). This was smoky, tender, meaty, and delicious.
I shared the octopus with Betsy, and she shared a great salad of local lett uce, spiced eggplant & boquerones.For mains we each choose broiled fidh- sc allops for herb, sole for me. Perfectly cooked, sizeable portions, with nic e sides of squash and tomato.
While wine lists in Maine are limited (few distributors), this had some dec ent choices. I went with the 2011 Pieropan "Calvarino" Soave Classico - $48 , so roughly 2X NY retail, I can live with that. Full with fine acids, cit rus fruit, salty mineral notes, some light almond hints. Well balanced, not especially profoumd, but a very good match with the food. B+
Betsy had a blueberry crumb dessert, as she was driving I had a glass of th e Warre "Otima" 20 year Tawny Port . Nutty, raisiny, fragrant and pleasing, just a little hot. Good. B
Very nice dinner, and not too pricey (3 courses each, bottle of wine, desse rt, dessert wine, tea for $200 including tip). Highly recommended
Monday I accompanied Betsy to Point Elizabeth where a board member of festi val was providing s nice buffet for musicians. Good stuff- chicken accented with curry, salads (I especially liked a grain salad with snap peas), and more. I sampled a couple of wines. The Ruffini Pinot Grigio was light anf q uite short, but there were no off flavors and it was innocuous if not inter esting. C+ The 2012 Pasqua Ripasso del Valpolicella had pleasant plum and b erry fruit, though to me it was unrecognizable as ripasso- quite light. If I ignore typicity it was a pleasant light red. B-/C+
Back at our temporary nest I opened the 2011 Faury St, Joseph. Medium acids , light tannins, dark berry with a little earth and smoke. A bit tight at f irst but tasty. On second day it was beginning to loosen up, but showing so me oxidative notes. I think I'll opt for drinking these over next couple ye ars, but enjoyable. B+
Last night we went to the Back Bay Grill. Nice space, nice service. Amuse w as duck rilletes on a potato chip with fine herbs, mustard, and a port reducti on- yum! Betsy started with yellowfoot chanterelles on toast (great shrooms , toast was tasty, but if chef asked my opinion I think a base like polenta that didn't require knife , while I had a Maine crab cake with arugula and aioli. We s some mixed greens with Stilton snd csndied walnuts, then she h ad pappardelle with lamb confit, pancetta, and leeks, while I enjoyed the sausage stuffed chicken leg with eggplant/ricotta agnolleti and squash. The re were also a couple of spoons of I think boysenberries with ice cream at finish (Betsy had both).
We split a half bottle of white Burg and then a glass of Sants Barbara Pino t Noir. The 2012 Matrot Meursault (375 ml, screwcapped) was quite good- mod erate acids, ripe pit and tropical fruits, a hint of hazelnut, Good length, drinking well, and a good wine list value st $42/half. B+ Betsy liked the glass of 2012 10 Span Pinot Noir a bit more than I did, a t ad sweet on the fruit front, but for $10 a generous glass I wasn't complain ing. Darker fruits, smoke, good acidic cut for SBarbara. B/B- Nice place.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.