If you're ever in Portland...

...please have at least one meal in The Front Room. Don and I ate there for a second time this past Saturday after going to the a matinee performance at Good Theater (more on them in a moment). We dashed across the street around 5:15 and within half an hour there was a line out the door. Why is this place so busy? Amazing, creative food is the answer. We had Celery Root Soup (a bisque, really), Fried Anchovies and Grilled Sardines with Mushroom Tapenade Crostini (these were from the specials menu which took our waitress almost five minutes to recite). We followed up with Braised Beef Shortrib and even though we were both full I had to honor the fact that they actually had a pastry chef who had created something I'd never heard of, a Chocolate Chamomille Tart. So we ordered it. It was amazing. I am in the process of harassing their pastry chef for the recipe.

Here's a picture of Chef Harding, who was not cooking that night (it's an open-air kitchen so you can see EVERYTHING) unless he has shaved his head because some tall, bald guy was cooking when we were there.



The real reason we were there was to see Ruthless! the musical, put on by Good Theater.My dear friend Steve Underwood is the co-founder of this company, and his tall and lanky performance in drag was the highlight of this very funny show for me. Good Theater consistently puts on shows that either makes their audience laugh or just makes them feel good--they are well worth the trip (two hours each way for us) if you want an excuse to get to Portland for the day or the weekend. And don't forget to eat at the Front Room, which is right across the street!