Drifter’s Wife

Originally Published in Portland Press Herald around 2010 from past premiere of blog, Food for Thought, C 2002 or Thereabouts

December 16, 2021 / / Restaurants

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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Drifters Wife Part Two: Comparing the Old and the New in the Realm of Living Large in the Restaurant City of the Year

August 11, 2018 / / Uncategorized

Some restaurants get all the attention while others—just as good or even better—miss the boat as if slurping on the sidelines. Do these winners have great PR/marketing teams or are there substantive reasons why a star shines more brightly than others in the same galaxy?

Now that Portland has been named the best restaurant city of the year by Bon Appetit’s roving critic Andrew Knowlton, their coveted picks leave me scratching my head with Drifters Wife–so highly regarded–leading the pack.  In fact, the day before it was announced of Portland’s new status as urban dining royalty, I went to Drifters for dinner for the first time since it moved from their old space into the former Roustabout digs.

I had a lovely meal.  But was it rave-worthy?  Yes and no or maybe too subtle to count as blockbuster fare.  Perhaps it’s how a friend of mine summed it up on Drifter’s goodness.  He said, “My first meal there in the new space was a big disappointment; the next two were superb.  But it just might be it’s hit or miss when you expect the best. Or at least the next level!”

 

The big-windowed painted black bar room  works when the lighting is right

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The Drifters Wife: Spin Factor? or Portland’s Most Precious Dining Spot for Gastronomes?

October 7, 2016 / / Restaurants

Initially, the discreet charms of the Drifters Wife—so highly touted in media reports –eluded me on my first visit for dinner last week.  Still, I sensed that the food could be very good, enticed by such starters as potatoes in mackerel aioli or mustard greens in lemon and clothbound cheddar.  That and chef Ben Jackson is nothing less than a miracle worker to be able to produce such sophisticated dishes â la minute in a miniscule kitchen:  To wit–two induction burners barely bigger than a YMCA-room hot plate and a mini convection oven, which chef Jackson admitted to me is not all that satisfying to use.  And that’s the rub.  I’d love to experience what this chef could do in a proper kitchen.  Still, what’s there is a tapestry of exotic small plates (a few brilliantly devised) unlike the more complex, broader dishes created by small-plate citadels Sur-Lie, Lolita or Central Provisions.

Drifters Wife, Washington Avenue, Portland

Drifters Wife, Washington Avenue, Portland

The menu is not large, but I’m thrilled that I chose the radicchio salad as a starter. Jackson dresses these bitter leaves with an earthy, sweet bacon vinaigrette  that was wholly satisfying (more on this later).

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The Brunch Report: Transcendent at Terlingua, a Tantalizing Smoked Beef Brisket over Sweet Potato Hash

April 11, 2016 / / Restaurants

Whether brunch energizes you or creates the perfect scenario for an afternoon nap, one thing is certain:  It has to be thoroughly satisfying.  And these days what goes beyond the norm of eggs Benedict gets my vote for culinary rapture. That happened this past Sunday at Terlingua, now a mainstay   along the bustling restaurant mecca also anchored by  Roustabout across the street and  the newly opened Drifter’s Wife.

A hale and hearty scene at Terlingua's well- attended Sunday brunch

A hale and hearty scene at Terlingua’s well- attended Sunday brunch

I chose Terlingua for my brunch destination because after scanning many restaurant sites and their online menus, one dish stood out: smoked brisket hash with sweet potatoes and eggs.

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Woodford Food and Beverage: Three visits in three days and still counting–It’s a winner

January 22, 2016 / / Restaurants

Portland is, after all, a very small city but one whose cause and effect stir the pot when anything new or different comes along.  Our dining scene is a prime example.  As soon as a new restaurant opens, the local pundits pounce hard and fast to get their words out there immediately, and diners follow suit to flood these new eateries enthusiastically.   I include myself in the crowd, though I hope what I have to report and posit are meaningful.  That said, the newly opened—and at this writing the restaurant is just days old—Woodford Food and Beverage—has made the obligatory splash.  (See my earlier Preview write up).

The WFB dining room bar on opening night; lower right, the corner banquette

The WFB dining room bar on opening night; lower right, the corner banquette

It’s the first new restaurant on the scene in 2016 but not far behind two other bright new stars, Terlingua and Roustabout.  The latter two have carved out a niche along Washington Avenue. And there’s more coming on the avenue, too, with Maine and Loire expanding its reach (Drifter’s Wife, a wine bar) and a café and chocolate bar, A Lively Palate.

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