At the end of our August visit to Nova Scotia, we took the fast CAT ferry from Yarmouth to Portland, Maine – a smooth 5 ½ hour trip across the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. We’d been drawn to the exciting Portland food scene that has lately been spotlighted in the press with a beam as bright as the Portland Head lighthouse.

The hip young artisans that feed the Portland renaissance were written up in the August issue of Food and Wine. The New York Times devoted a full page to 36 Hours in Portland on July 31. Locally, the Hour referenced Portland’s “heavy mix” of restaurants in a July 31 article by Alexander Soule about restaurants dominating the storefronts in SoNo. Everybody is talking about Portland!

A new generation of food and beverage innovators has created a collection of high concept yet down to earth eating and drinking opportunities including cutting edge restaurants, award winning breweries, nationally recognized bakeries, and imaginative food trucks that have fueled a tourism boom in this historic port city.

We took an afternoon stroll around town visiting the Cabot Farmers Annex, the famous Harbor Fish Market, and window shopping on Commerce Street and along the wharfs. Then it was off to the Munjoy Hill neighborhood in East Portland where beautifully restored Victorian mansions line the waterfront, surrounding an established neighborhood close enough to the harbor to enjoy a refreshing sea breeze.

Chef Hernandez in the open kitchen at Lolita

Our destination was the stylish and intimate restaurant Lolita Vinoteca + Asador where Chef Guy Hernandez creates remarkable Mediterranean cuisine that sometimes speaks with a Down East accent. The restaurant has a carefully chosen wine list, artisanal charcuterie, farmstead cheeses, and tapas in addition to small, medium and large plates – one more irresistible that the other. After ten days of fresh Nova Scotia seafood, we were eager for some Mediterranean cooking from their wood-fired oven .

A couple of tapas from the Monday night special (a single oyster with boozy ice and crispy potatoes with aioli) and half glasses of Portuguese Vinho Verde and rosé got us started. From an intriguingly named menu category of Toasts, Pots, and Snacks, we chose four on the (untrue) assurance that

Toasts, Pots and Snacks

they were small: Tuna Confit with olives and tomato on wood-grilled sourdough; Chicken Liver Mousse, rich and silky; Sardine Purée, tasting of an herbal sea; and Marcona almonds with sage and sea salt. All delicious, but too much.

A palate-cleansing salad of local greens with sprigs of parsley and dill had a few leaves of just-picked peppery arugula to kick it up and a light refreshing lemon vinaigrette. It was the most distinctive, memorable, and remarkable salad of the whole trip – maybe the whole summer. I’m a little wary of hum-drum restaurant green salads, but this one restored my faith.

Torchio with Nduja and Peas

The main courses (already full, we ate them anyway) were pasta-based: Rigatoncini with local mushrooms, thyme, a dolop of cream, and a sprinkle cheese was rich and satisfying; Torchio (torch shaped) with Nduja (a hot and spicy finely ground uncured sausage) and crunchy-sweet fresh peas had an irresistible complex flavor.

Sadly, with no room for dessert, we had to pass on the short-crusted Strawberry Galette, Cream Puffs with chocolate caramel mousse, and the Warm Milk + House Baked Cookies.

Portland has a great reputation for bakeries – some featuring bread, others specializing in sweets. The next morning I popped around the corner from our hotel to The Holy Donut, a donaphile’s pilgrimage site famous for adding mashed Maine potatoes to their donut dough. The spuds give the donuts a dense, rich texture – more substantial than a typical raised donut, but not as structured as a cake donut.

Holy Donuts

Still full from dinner, I could only sample four flavors (pictured above). The moist, unglazed old-fashioned donut has a hint of potato flavor. It can also can be had with a dusting of cinnamon sugar. Sweet potato is a little sweeter with a characteristic pale yellow/orange color and finished with a ginger glaze. Blueberry, with chunks of berry and a vibrant fresh berry taste, is coated with an almost garish but delicious blueberry glaze. Other flavors I wanted to try are: Maple-Bacon, Fresh Lemon, Pomegranate, Dark Chocolate with sea salt (the best seller, but not a morning donut for me), and Bacon-cheddar filled.

Breads at Standard Baking

After the donuts, realizing that the excessive eating had to stop, but still wanting to grab as much Portland goodness as we could, we organized a picnic to eat on the drive home. The menu started with a visit to the landmark Standard Baking Company for an organic Rustica loaf. Then it was back to the Cabot store, which carries the full line of Cabot Cheeses along with many other specialties. A small block of sharp New England cheddar and a locally bottled root beer rounded out the menu.

A few hours down the road, we tore off hunks of bread to eat with slices of cheddar and celebrated, our tour of Nova Scotia and Maine with a simple and satisfying roadside repast.