Our City… contrasts and their own architecture. In 2009, Portland was nationally recognized as “America’s Foodiest Small Town.” Locals witnessed the arrival of “a new category of culinary tourists who come specifically to experience the food,” says Don Lindgren of Rabelais, Portland’s renowned bookstore for food and wine, itself a food-lovers’ mecca. The city had an unusually large number of small, chef-owned restaurants serving elegant and not especially expensive food. Lobster shanties along the coast drew raves from around the world. Maine had more organic farmers per capita than any state in the nation and became a leader in the push for local, organic, and sustainable foods. Says Knowlton, “Portland didn’t jump on the bandwagon. It was the bandwagon.” Portland also witnessed an explosion of ethnic dining options beyond Italian and Chinese–including Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Greek, Indian, Mexican, and Korean, as well as some imaginative reinterpretations of traditional cuisines using local ingredients–at popular restaurants like Miyake, Emilitsa, Figa, Green Elephant, Boda, Tu Casa, and El Rayo. As for the next 25 years, Knowlton expects “more farm-to-table restaurants where the restaurant sits on its own farm”–a trend following the model set by places like Melissa Kelly’s Primo in Rockland. Lindgren thinks the spirit that sparked nose-to-tail meat-eating will inform fish consumption, encouraging better use of the bycatch and every part of the fish. He also anticipates the continuing decentralization of the restaurant scene, as fine chefs venture into lesser-known Portland neighborhoods and deeper into the state, “with more restaurants opening in spots where you never thought you’d see a really good place to eat.” Bartlett foresees increasing support for locally-produced foods and beverages as transportation costs continue to rise, as well as more green restaurants and other food purveyors pursuing alternative energy sources. Grotton hopes restaurants will serve smaller, less expensive portions. And with the growth of Portland’s international population–residents and tourists alike–he expects to see more ethnic restaurants, “so that anyone from almost anywhere will be able to find something familiar and pleasing to eat here. That’s restaurant nirvana.” n
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