Before “foodie” was a thing. DAVID’S davidsrestaurant.com DAVID’S OPUS TEN davidsopus10.com PORTLAND SOUTH PORTLAND DAVID’S 388 davids388.com O c t o b e r 2 0 1 8 5 9 flashier places. It’s a small city with a net- work of chefs, interdependent and inter- connected. Fred Eliot, who used to cook at Petit Jacqueline, is now running the kitch- en at Scales, and wherever he goes, I will follow him. Masa Miyake of Miyake and Pai Men Miyake, Steve Corry of 555 and Petite Jacqueline, and David Levi of Vin- land all have very different visions, but they are equally rooted in Maine ingredi- ents and classic cooking techniques. And Dana Street is the seasoned magician of lo- cal seafood. A s I learned from living in north Brooklyn, it’s the nature of a thriving, healthy city to change and evolve. Restauranting is a tough busi- ness, and new places come and go as, do hotspots. Three years ago, Restaurant Row was arguably on Middle Street: Even- tide, Duckfat, Hugo’s, and the Honey Paw. Three years before that, in my mem- ory anyway, Restaurant Row was Longfel- low Square: Pai Men Miyake, Petit Jacque- line, Boda, Hot Suppa, and Local 188. For- est Avenue had a moment about a year ago, when a flurry of new places added to the luster of the tried-and-true ones. Central Provisions had its red-hot moment in the sun, crowded every night with out-of-town- ers and cruise-ship passengers. What matters to me in a restaurant, though, lies beneath the dazzling surface of trend and novelty—namely consistency, in- tegrity, and longevity, along with food that genuinely satisfies. So many of the good older places are all still going strong, and they’re all as good as ever—Portland’s solid go-to neighborhood joints. Salvage serves fantastic barbecue and sides. You almost al- ways have to wait for a table at Empire, but it’s worth it, because their dumplings and noodles are insanely good. Micucci, Otto, and Bonobo have been making great pizza for years. Holy Donut is my chosen place of worship, though it hardly needs any more attention, and Emilitsa is a paradise of modern Greek cuisine. Asmara serves Ethiopian food that’s as good as any I’ve ev- er had anywhere. I could, and will, go on: Lolita, the Blue Spoon, and Union have never let me down. When I’m feeling raw and blue, I can al- ways count on the chicken tacos with a side of bacon at the Front Room to cheer me up. The Parisian-feeling outdoor ca-