{"id":11753,"date":"2016-07-21T18:24:50","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T22:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=11753"},"modified":"2016-07-21T18:24:50","modified_gmt":"2016-07-21T22:24:50","slug":"longfellow-serenade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/longfellow-serenade\/","title":{"rendered":"Longfellow Serenade"},"content":{"rendered":"

July\/August 2016 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

The rise and rise of Longfellow Square.<\/h3>\n

\"Longfellow-Serenade-JA16\"<\/h3>\n

By Dan Kany<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Because Portland is a port, it is a tidal city. And what are tides, if not currents that ebb and flow? Over the years we\u2019ve watched as Congress Street has gone boom and bust and back again. Art venues seem to blossom in herds before they become unheard. But new venues take seed and over time, despite the roughness of the rhythms, it is clear that Maine\u2019s first city is a truly fertile ground. Because of this, we sometimes see emptied spaces not as shuttered failures but as fallow fields.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And that is why, when I see the empty space of \u201cThe Frame Shop\u201d on State Street, I see another foothold for upward ascent. While the neighborhood is anchored with some reliably fixed points, its open spaces have consistently made the area at the edge of the arts district hipper, friendlier, and better. A recent request for a re-zoning permit tells us the former shop may be transformed into a restaurant. Word on the grapevine? The Otto<\/strong> empire is looking to expand. <\/span><\/p>\n

Just a few doors down, the papered-up windows of Petite Jacqueline will soon house the pizza chain\u2019s sister venture, Ocho Burrito,<\/strong> currently operating out of a tiny carry-out space on Congress Street. It seems Longfellow Square has been selected as the new headquarters for this unstoppable food power-couple. On paper, trading a French restaurant for a burrito joint might seem a southward stumble, but I doubt anyone who has tried the deliriously delicious Ocho or Otto would agree. With tidal logic, the notion of \u201ctrendy\u201d can imply a fleeting fancy, without rooted staying power. But Portland is not some capricious teenager of a town. It has long been an arts city and once it ascended the ranks of America\u2019s gastronomical stars, it was clear there would never be any going back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a glance around town at the city\u2019s perennial favorites, and you\u2019ll see Portland\u2019s success model is all about keeping it simple and doing what you do better than anyone expects. As Longfellow himself once said, \u201cThe talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame.\u201d This is the logic behind the craft beer movement, the farm-to-table movement, the Maine art scene, and favorite local fixed points like Beal\u2019s<\/strong> (ice cream), DuckFat <\/strong>(fries), and Nosh <\/strong>(burgers). Take a Longfellow staple. Pai Men Miyake<\/strong> doesn\u2019t pretend to make authentic Japanese-style ramen, which is artfully subtle and infinitely light. Instead, try their paitan ramen, unapologetically rich and indulgent.\u00a0 <\/span>If you want a level field comparison, try their Brussels sprouts\u2013every normal kid\u2019s anathema, right? Deep-fried to a crispy perfection and then dressed with a flavor explosion led by fish sauce and mint, these Brussels sprouts transcend expectation. <\/span><\/p>\n

The square is anchored by Franklin Simmons\u2019 heroically scaled Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument, unveiled in 1888. While seated in an ornate indoor armchair with lion-carved armrests, Maine\u2019s most famous poet is depicted wearing an overcoat, a quirk that seems to invite Longfellow\u2019s annual holiday adornments of scarves, wrapped presents, and so on. <\/span><\/p>\n

The square\u2019s literary flavor is quietly held intact by LFK<\/strong>, a bar that occupies the old Cunningham Books shop. Within, books and old typewriters abound among the dark wood spaces. True to local spirit, the craft beer choices are impressively deep, and the food surpasses expectations, whether standards like mac and cheese and burgers or hearty and creative vegetarian fare.<\/span><\/p>\n

Across Congress Street, the vast hole where Joe\u2019s Smoke Shop used to be is rising toward its new life as an eight-story apartment building. This will only increase the happening bustle in and around the square. The 70-year-old Joe\u2019s, moreover, is being resurrected in the new building as Joe\u2019s Super Variety.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Featuring several thriving design and antiques stores and a pair of hipster-styled coffee shops, the West End side of Congress Street just off Longfellow Square is flourishing as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the noted and popular restaurants like Local 188 <\/strong>(tapas and paella), Boda<\/strong> (contemporary Thai), King of the Roll<\/strong> (Japanese), Hot Suppa <\/strong>(hearty Southern cafe fare) comprise a major draw, the actively beating heart of the neighborhood is One Longfellow Square<\/strong>, a non-profit 225-seat performance venue that varies its offerings between acoustic music, jazz, film, dance, contemporary music, and comedy. Just as OLS sits on the Arts District corner of Longfellow Square, its community-oriented artiness knits it to Portland\u2019s deep vein of casually dressed and yet mindfully creative culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is Longfellow Square in danger of becoming overrun with trendy pretenders? I wouldn\u2019t bet on it. I don\u2019t think the Treasure Chest, that wizened shop of naughtiness, or the dive-y and unpretentious Blackstones are going anywhere anytime soon. I rather think the neighborhood is more like Longfellow himself, the old Bowdoin professor who not only gave us popular poems like the \u201cSong of Hiawatha\u201d and \u201cThe Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,\u201d but who was also the first American to translate Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy<\/em>. The neighborhood itself seems to be reflecting the spirit of Longfellow\u2019s savvy advice: \u201cBuild today, then strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure. Shall tomorrow find its place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July\/August 2016
\nThe rise and rise of Longfellow Square.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-11753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-julyaugust-2016"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11753"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11758,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11753\/revisions\/11758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}