Food & Wine Tour Blog Portland, Maine: Food City
July 25th, 2008
I’m fortunate enough to go to Portland several times a year on the way to my family’s cabin in western Maine. We typically go to Gilbert’s Chowder House for lunch, hop across the street (Commercial St.) to the Standard Bakery for dessert and a loaf of crusty heaven to take with us back to the cabin (assuming it makes it this far.) This time we were told to check out another bakery in Portland and although I don’t think the quality can compete with Standard, it’s the type of “foodie” shop that really only exists in food cities. The “Eat Local” sticker on the door really got me thinking about how much of a food city Portland really is. And how I wish my hometown, Washington DC could and would follow suit.
What is a “food city”? It’s more than just a town with a lot of good restaurants. It’s about the people, the artisan shops, and the local resources. Mainers are not into high-fashion. But they are into good food. Of course you cannot talk about Maine without mentioning the lobster ($5.97 a pound at our local seafood market … jealous?) but Portland also has breweries, bakeries, and a host of farms all supporting its foodie demands. American food cities are starting to resist the grocery store mentality and return to the days where you got your meat from a butcher, bread from a baker, cheese from a creamery and so on. It’s a delicious way to live.