donuts – rachel leff

We traveled along the coast of Maine earlier this month, a trip we had toyed with taking for some time. My husband wanted to go to Acadia National Park. I wanted to eat some lobster rolls and check out some restaurants in Portland and Camden. I hadn’t been to Maine in probably 15 years; my husband had never been. Seemed like it was about time to go. We drove up to Bar Harbor, with an initial stop in Portland, then worked our way back down, through Camden, back to Portland, and to some of the beaches south of Portland on our way back home.

Pre-trip research into where to eat in Portland resulted in a long list of contenders. I could hardly believe how many amazing-sounding places had blossomed in this port town in the 15 or so years since I had been there last. And in addition to this robust food scene, it’s a major beer town, too. I couldn’t help but think of that other Portland, thousands of miles west.

Becky’s Diner

390 Commercial Street

We first stopped in Portland just for an early dinner, intent on making it up to Acadia National Park for the following morning, and knowing we’d be back for a longer stay at the end of our trip. The plan had been to try Eventide Oyster Co. or The Honey Paw, which stand side by side on Middle Street (and are owned by the same team), but the lines for each were prohibitively long. We’d also considered Portland Lobster Co., but it was packed, with a line snaking outside on Commercial Street, amidst throngs of tourists on a busy holiday weekend. Pass.

Driving along Commercial Street, away from the tourist shops and through a part of town that reminds you Portland is still an active commercial port city, we passed the very charming-looking Becky’s Diner. Seemed like our kind of place. I had come across the name on a list of best lobster rolls in the city, so we pulled into the lot, put in our name at the counter, and waited a little bit for a booth. (I have since realized that the diner has been featured in a lot of places: Road Food, Eater, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives…and more.)

Becky’s Diner is bright and friendly, without frills or pretension. It’s been open since 1991, serving dinner since 1993. As we walked to our booth, we passed tables where diners of all ages tucked into dishes ranging from burgers to pancakes to a very tempting twin lobster special.

I got the lobster roll, a portrait of simplicity and tradition: plain cold lobster meat on a toasted bun with a side of drawn butter. We also got some clam cakes and a very satisfying seafood chowder, which was served in a chipped Becky’s Diner mug, thick and creamy and filled with haddock and whole scallops. Heaven.

As we paid, we (or rather, my daughter) couldn’t resist the cookies in the case by the register. Off we went, a bag with a huge cookie shaped like a lobster topped with red frosting in hand.

Central Provisions

414 Fore Street

Upon our return to Portland, we had a lot of places we wanted to try. But a limited amount of time—much more limited than we had initially intended—meant we could really only get one great meal, and a lunch at that. We decided on Central Provisions. They don’t take reservations, but we arrived early in the lunch service. We got seated right away at a table for three in the front window, and a line started to form right after us. Phew.

Central Provisions is a warm space with wood tones and brick walls, and a bar that overlooks part of the kitchen. Downstairs is a full bar and more seating. The menu is eclectic: seasonal (heirloom tomatoes and crab), playful (foie gras parfait, which is a dessert that pairs foie with custard and fruit gelée), classic (bone marrow toast, seared foie gras), wide-ranging (spicy raw beef salad), and homey (cole slaw, cheeseburger). We ordered chop salad (bacon, pickle, iceberg lettuce, and ranch dressing), fried cauliflower (with ras el hanout, chickpeas, feta, and herbs), baja fish sandwich (with avocado aioli, red onion, and lettuce), and a bacon cheeseburger. (Not the most adventurous choices on the menu, but we have to accommodate the tastes of a four year old, after all.)

The cauliflower was the standout. Its flavors—ras el hanout, mint, apple, feta—balanced each other playfully, creating a dish at once earthy and fresh, crisp and creamy. It was a lovely meal from a menu that springs from a team clearly committed to dynamic flavors.

The Holy Donut

7 Exchange Street & 194 Park Avenue

At this Portland donut shop, a veritable culinary tourist attraction, the special ingredient is mashed Maine potatoes. We stopped in at the Exchange Street location on a Saturday morning and took our place in the long line. Holy Donuts has a charming story, growing from one woman making a dozen handmade donuts a day to be sold at Coffee by Design (a community-minded coffee roaster with a quartet of coffee shops as well as a certified B corporation—look it up, it’s very cool) in 2011 to three stores, almost 80 employees, and 2 million donuts a year—still all handmade—in March 2017, and still run by that same woman!

We went a little crazy and got six donuts: pomegranate, Maine apple, dark chocolate sea salt, maple bacon, toasted coconut, and sweet potato ginger glazed. Madness. We dug into the apple and pomegranate. They were moist and denser than most donuts, yet not heavy. They were less sweet than the garden variety as well. They were very good, but we would have struggled to finish two between the three of us, let alone six! So that box of donuts stayed with us for a few days….

To be honest, I’ve always admired donuts for their looks more than the way they taste. They can be so pretty and festive. The donuts here were simply gorgeous.

HiFi Donuts

30 City Center

Not terribly far from the Exchange Street location of Holy Donut is HiFi Donuts, a relative newcomer (they opened in May of 2017) to the Portland donut scene. As a differentiating factor, they feature biere donuts, which are made with beer and sourdough starter, which imparts a floral sourdough taste that tempers the sweetness. In addition to a biere specimen (not pictured), we also tried a HiFi French cruller, a honey dip, and a Simpsons—essentially a honey dip with glorious pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles…I’d classify that one as vibrant and beautiful for sure. That one was for the kid, and she enjoyed it. The cruller was light and custardy and the honey dip was a lovely specimen, though admittedly a pedestrian choice.

Unlike their juggernaut neighbor, they also offer sandwiches. The breakfast menu consists of variations of breakfast sandwiches, like bacon or masala sausage with egg and cheese, and the lunch menu, sandwiches like peri peri fried chicken (an item I saw on quite a few Maine menus…) and eggplant panini.

Bard Coffee

185 Middle Street

Exceptional coffee in an airy, open, bustling coffee shop. There are probably dozens of wonderful coffee shops in Portland. I went to Bard, loved it, and went back for more.

Philadelphia is such a great food city. It’s the fifth most populous city in the U.S., which for some reason I find surprising even after hearing it…and confirming it…several times. Perhaps because it has sometimes been overshadowed by near-ish neighbors NYC and DC. Despite its relative proximity to these culinary juggernauts, the food scene in Philly just keeps getting hotter and hotter.

We recently took our second trip to Philly as a family. It was only for two nights, but we still got to try a lot of great places. Here’s a brief rundown of what we ate, along with a brief synopsis of some of the very lovely food we had last year.

CHeU Fishtown

1416 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia

When we got to CHeU Fishtown, our waiter summed up their menu as Asian-Jewish fusion. The CHeU website spells out their approach to food:

“What do we, two dudes from Philly, know about ‘authentic’ Asian cuisine? Nothing. Lucky for us, that’s not what CHeU Noodle Bar & Bing Bing Dim Sum are all about. We cook what we like to eat — it’s personal, no matter what we put in front of you. Our food is often informed by tradition, but it’s never defined by it. All that we require of you is a willing mind and a willing stomach. We might not be ‘authentic.’ But we do keep it real. – Ben & Shawn”

I love these types of “fusion” foods—foods that liberally and lovingly share different influences and cultures. To me, it’s a unique expression of American food. That said, such combinations don’t always work. Sometimes it can be hard to get your head around certain flavor combinations. I had some moments like that at CHeU Fishtown.

We got the brisket ramen with kim chi and a big old matzo ball. Asian-Jewish fusion. This one was a little hard to process taste-wise. I’m not sure if it totally worked for me, but I love the idea, and the components were good, especially the matzo ball.

Duck in red curry with kasha and gribenes (usually crispy chicken skin, though likely duck skin in this case—I didn’t think to ask at the time). Again, great components of the dish, but not sure I fully understand the kasha and red curry combo.

Beef and kim chi dumplings. These were pretty straightforward and good, but they were neither traditional nor particularly genre-bending.

The menu. Not a great shot, but hopefully you can make out some of the dishes, and the way they playfully mix and match flavors and cultures. My thoughts above on the dishes we ate may seem like I was underwhelmed, but I did really like what this place was all about. And all three of their locations are wildly popular, so what do I know?

Federal Donuts

1632 Sansom St.

Federal Donuts is one of Michael Solomonov’s many Philly eateries (he’s also behind Zahav, Abe Fisher, Dizengoff [see below], Goldie, and Rooster Soup Co). Oh, heavenly donuts! I do not have a sweet tooth, but these donuts—blissful…and gorgeous, don’t you think? Clockwise from top left: cinnamon brown sugar, chocolate caramel banana, strawberry lavender, and snow cap (coconut). Some come hot out of the oven—be sure to get at least one hot one.

Federal Donuts also serves fried chicken with a choice of dry seasonings or glazes. Here with za’atar. The skin is almost preposterously crispy, and the meat is as tender and juicy as can be. A half order (breast, leg, and thigh) comes with one honey donut.

Dizengoff

1625 Sansom Street

Another Solomonov restaurant, just across the street from Federal Donuts (in fact, Abe Fisher, Rooster Soup Co., and Goldie are also all on Sansom, just a stone’s throw from each other). This is a hummus place, with a location in Miami and a spot in Manhattan’s Chelsea Market. The hummus here is creamy and amazing, and the toppings really sing. We got fennel and almonds, as well as a side order of the meat of the day, which was chicken with apricots. Check out their social media for the daily offering. The pepper walnut hummus was really good too, though in smaller doses.

Far left: fennel almond hummus; middle, top to bottom: chicken with apricots, beets with a pickle, and pepper walnut hummus; and right, amazing pita.

Stargazy

1838 E. Passyunk Ave

An East End-style “pie and mash shop” on Passyunk. Primarily a lunch place, we got there in the late afternoon and there were no more pies left (sad face), just a sausage roll. The mash comes with parsley liquor, a fresh and slightly tangy note in an otherwise very savory plate. What we had tasted really good, and we imagine the meat pies are amazing. Next time, we’ll go for lunch. They also serve jellied and stewed eels as well as sweet pies.

Saté Kampar

1837 E. Passyunk Ave

This Malaysian place on East Passyunk is popular, hip, and, most importantly, delicious. Well known for their saté, they offer a handful of choices of meat marinated in one of two ways (essentially sweet or salty), then skewered on a stick and cooked over coconut shell charcoal, served with peanut sauce. The flavor is so unique, nothing like the garden-variety Thai restaurant saté we all know well.

We also had the rendang daging, or beef rendang. Of course we ordered it, since it’s basically one of the greatest dishes ever. This iteration was deeply satisfying, rich and packed with flavor, with subtle heat, spice, and sweetness, although chewier than ideal. We also got the achat, essentially pickled carrots and cucumbers with peanut sauce. While the dish was fine, there was way too much of it and I would only recommend it if a large party was going to share it, with each person just having a small portion. Unfortunately, they did not have the nasi lemak bungkus (coconut rice stuffed with crispy anchovies and more, wrapped up in a banana leaf) that night. I heard they’re amazing. Next time. Oh, and I’d also try the ayam kurma, a coconut-based chicken and potato curry.

Sate Kampar is BYOB, but they have a tea and coffee bar with a wide range of drinks—in fact, it takes up half the menu, with images of the many permutations of coffee, tea, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and sugar. The drinks are made in full view and many involve some showmanship.

El Compadre

1149 S. 9th Street

El Compadre is simply lovely. A small space on a busy street in the Italian Market neighborhood. They are known for their barbacoa, a slow-cooked lamb dish. This place is a new iteration of the former South Philly Barbacoa, which won national attention for its succulent rendition of its namesake dish.

The current place is cheerful and cozy, with warmly colored walls, vibrant art work, and bright table cloths. It gets very, very crowded and the set up can make for close quarters, but it remains festive, and the staff is attentive and very warm. I believe the barbacoa is only available on the weekend. Definitely check before going.

When you walk in, you’ll line up by the stand where the meat is chopped up for your order. You order by weight, half kilo (just over a pound), kilo, etc. We got a kilo of mostly lamb, some pork. We sat down with our meat and were brought lamb consommé with chickpeas, rice, and flecks of chile pepper. The order of meat also includes tortillas, onions, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and nopales, as well as a few salsas. The lamb is mild and meltingly tender, and the toppings let you dress up the meat as desired. You can also order tacos and tortas, but I wholeheartedly suggest getting the meat with the sides and making your own. This place is not to be missed.

Our Last Trip, February 2017

Our last trip to Philly included meals at Zahav, the award-winning Israeli restaurant that put Michael Solomonov on the map, so to speak; John’s Roast Pork, a classic place for a classic Philly sandwich of roast pork, greens, and aged provolone, and a winner of a James Beard America’s Classics Award; and V Street, which serves vegan takes on international street foods, a sister restaurant of Vedge. All three are still going strong and definitely worth a stop. If you want to go to Zahav, you’ll need to make a reservation well beforehand…or line up before they open. They have seats at the bar as well as at a long bar that looks right into the kitchen. We got there about 20 minutes before opening on a Sunday and scored seats.

Tag: donuts

Maine: Some Notes on What We Ate, Part 1, Portland