| Street & Co | |
Appetizers: $5-9
Entrees: $15-25
33 Wharf St / Portland, ME 04101 / (207) 775-0887 |
|
|
|
We were taking a leisurely drive up the coast from Boston to Bingham
(Maine) to go white water rafting. Bingham is known for its natural
beauty, but not its restaurants. Since we are discriminating diners,
we wanted to have our dinner elsewhere. We were spending the afternoon
in Portland exploring the water front shops and galleries, and decided
to check out one of Portland's many restaurants. I did a bit of
research on the web about Portland's restaurants and had a couple
of places in mind, but the best resource in the hunt for a perfect
meal is the advice of the locals. I asked the sales lady in a local
pottery shop to recommend a casual place for dinner with great food.
Without a moment hesitation she said "Street and Company" and the
whole staff of the shop nodded approvingly. The name sounded like
a sandwich shop to me, and I inquired about the type of food they
served. She explained that it was a great seafood restaurant and
if we went immediately, we might get a table. It was 6:30 on a
Friday night and we headed up the cobble stone street to find Street & Co.
It turned out to be right around the block on a pedestrian street along with many other good looking restaurants. Street & Co had some tables set outside and as we approached, I caught a glimpse of great looking mussels and bread and I knew that we were in for a treat. Fortunately, there were still tables available and we only waited a few minutes. The host gave us a wine list to look over and invited us to come in to the comfortable lounge by the wine and oyster bar. The wine selection was very well organized from light to full bodied wines, and had many excellent choices from France and California at around $20/bottle. Since we had a drive ahead of us, we settled on a half bottle of Dry Creek Fume Blanc for $11. By that time our waiter arrived and led us into the dining room. Exposed brick walls, dried wild flowers, copper table tops and candles created a rustic and cozy ambiance. We were dressed very casually, but one would not feel out of place dressed up for a special occasion either. The menu was full of wonderful fish and seafood. Street & Co drew its inspiration from French and Italian cuisines and some dishes came over pasta. Our waiter came over to tell us about the specials. There were quite a few, but he did a great job describing them and answering our questions. I could not get the mussels I saw on the outside table out of my mind; we decided to share them for an appetizer. The sweet and tender mussels arrived in a skillet filled with broth, white wine, garlic, herbs, and butter. It was a simple but divine dish. The authentic crusty baguette disappeared quickly as we dipped it in the sauce, but our attentive and friendly waiter made sure to keep the bread basket full. The sauce was so fragrant and delicious that we finished it to the last drop with our shells and bread. It was the first time my brother had ever liked mussels. The specials sounded too good to pass up; we each chose one. Jason had seared tuna with olive tapenad. Since Jason is a newly converted sushi addict, he asked for it to be done rare. It was a wonderful piece of fish and rare was a perfect way to eat it-very tender and flavorful. It was topped with chunky and pungent chopped black olives and served with boiled red potatoes and green beans sautéed with wild mushrooms. Leo had a very generous portion of the seafood stew served right in the skillet. It was filled with mussels, clams, octopus, squid, chopped fish, and tomatoes in a broth and white wine sauce. The squid was the highlight of the dish. It had a wonderful texture - tender and not at all chewy. The chopped up fish tasted kind of like fish meatballs. The flavor was great, but the flakiness of the fish was lost. I think it would have been better left whole, but that was my only criticism of the dish. The sauce was great for dipping bread and the whole dish was heart warming and satisfying. I got grilled swordfish with garlic aioli. The swordfish was perfectly tender with woody grilled flavor; aioli added a nice creamy touch. The dish was served with rice pilaf and broccoli. I am not usually a fan of broccoli in restaurants since they often overcook it and it turns ugly green-brown and tastes mushy, but this broccoli was bright green, still slightly crisp, and perfectly seasoned - a real pleasure to eat. The restaurant had an open kitchen in between the dining rooms. I caught a glimpse of desserts when our waiter led us to our table. There was a great looking berry pie and pecan pie. I was dying to try them, but we were too full, it was getting late, and we had a 2 hour drive to Bingham in front of us. The room was too cozy and we did not want to leave, but as all good things this serendipitously delicious dinner came to an end. |