Grace, Portland Maine

Every spring a wonderful thing arrives in our bank account that allows us to have a wonderful expensive dinner out. We call it our tax return dinner, and this year we found a wonderful place to splurge! Grace, in Portland Maine.

We started with drinks at the uniquely built center bar.  I had the yummy Holier Than Thou (HOLIER THAN THOU/ St. Germaine/ Grapefruit Juice/ Sparkling Wine) 




























and Shane had his usual Old Fashioned.  I really wish I got a picture of the bar - but there are some photos on their website at THIS link.  Grace really is a one of a kind and is built to resemble the symbol of the Trinity seen in the window below and various places throughout Grace.























Once comfortably ensconced at our nook of a seat,  we perused the generous yet somewhat complex menu with  another round of yummy cocktails and warm bread with molasses butter. Yes - soft molasses butter - it was genius and addictive.

 

The decisions for what to eat were easy for me (not a big meat eater) but more difficult for Frond.

I had the shaved asparagus salad which I will recreate at home at some point, followed by the sweet potato and ricotta gnocchi.

 YUM!

And no dinner would be complete with out a sampling of cheeses and the charcuterie plate. If I could go back and do it again I would have ordered more cheeses!

Ever since Frond drooled over a Anthony Bourdaine show serving bone marrow, I have wanted him to be able to order it. Grace was the first place we encountered it and I urged him to order it - he was not disappointed!

 Frond then had a bluefish dish with some of the yummiest most amazing sauce made out of blackened lime (a method of dehydrating) and other amazing ingredients.



















The meal would not have been complete without a helping of their local beets and goat cheese, but it did end up being almost too much. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs!

 
















We sure did clean the plates though! We can not wait to go back again! This time we will sit in the open seating area and eat nothing but local cheese and the charcuterie plates!

Highly recommend having a party here.