As usual, when Susan and I have some spare time, we try to get to Portland to see her folks or partake in some other urban diversion.

Decided to try a restaurant called “Blue Spoon”, located on Munjoy Hill on the East Side. While they don’t have a website, you can get plenty of information about the spot on the Portland Food Map. (That’s a really great resource, but another blog at another time).

The atmosphere is very cool…Large windows overlooking the street, a small bar overlooking the kitchen, seats for 35 - 40 max. A very unpretentious urban setting with a menu to match.

For example, Susan and I shared the Chicken Koftas, spicy, ground chicken that is formed into a small patty and fried. There was a fresh coriander sauce on the side that cooled the spice nicely.

Susan had a red and gold beet salad with crushed hazelnuts, grated ricotta salata and finished with a drizzle of hazelnut oil. The hazelnuts were a very pleasant surprise and really made the beets sing.

I had a plain house salad…their plain salad included the usual mesclun greens and red onion, but they added fresh apple slices, goat cheese, almonds and a novel vinaigrette that really played nicely off the bitter greens.

Then the entreé…Susan had Rainbow Trout with a brown butter pine nut sauce, delecately cooked and seasoned wonderfully.  I had the Mussel and Linguica Stew, full of wild caught Maine Mussels, Maine Shrimp and of course, Linguica. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Linguica, imagine a cross  between Kielbasa and Pepperoni, so the spiciness of the Linguica worked perfectly with the seafood.

All in all, a great experience with the extras that separate a good restaurant from a great restaurant…Small plates for entreés, Vegan and Vegetarian plates, a comprehensive wine list and best of all, a decedent dessert list with some of the best coffee I’ve had at a restaurant.

This is going to be my favorite posting category.  We’ll have an opportunity to review some of the best restaurants in the midcoast region.

Of course, we’ll be focusing on the best local resturants . . . the ones that you can walk to while enjoying the Harbor.

Here’s a hint: You know it’s Spring when Christa and Davide are back in town. This year, they have just come back from spending the winter in Davide’s home city of Milan, and we’re all really excited to see what new tricks he picked up while back in his old stomping grounds.

You can see last year’s menu at http://www.portsofitaly.com/.