Portland, ME

We were so busy eating our way around Portland last weekend that I hardly took any pictures. Plus, it was cold out and I didn't want to take off my gloves to focus the lens.My apologies for the limited photos...but I will tell you about some great food we ate!

Our first meal was at Back Bay Grill on Friday evening; elegant, friendly and delicious. After breakfast Saturday at our hotel we bundled up and walked to the Portland Farmers’ Market, enjoyed the local food scene and tasted some Kombucha from Urban Farm Fermentory. It seemed as if every other vendor at the market was selling parsnips and we noticed every restaurant was featuring parsnip soup. When you are all about serving local food, there isn’t much else left in New England in late March! We continued walking, despite the cold wind, since we knew where we wanted to eat lunch but needed to work up an appetite. Our hotel recommended Paciarino for lunch. It was the perfect place for fresh pasta, salad, some wine and a break from the cold, grey day.

We loaded the car and set off for Duckfat. No one was very hungry but we kept hearing rave reviews about the french fries cooked in, what else, duckfat! The place was busy, the staff was friendly and the food was delicious! We chose the truffle ketchup and Thai chili mayonnaise to accompany our fries, decided against the parsnip soup, and tried several of their house salads. With full stomachs, we piled in the car and headed for home.