{"id":15949,"date":"2019-03-28T10:49:40","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T14:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=15949"},"modified":"2019-04-01T12:48:49","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T16:48:49","slug":"take-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/take-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Two"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"issuuembed\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px;\" data-configid=\"37604829\/68737134\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/e.issuu.com\/embed.js\" async=\"true\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>April 2019 | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/apr19-After-dark.pdf\">view full story as .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">They say <b>you can\u2019t go home again<\/b>. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">But what if <b>home<\/b> is a <b>go-to <\/b>bar from your <b>past<\/b>?<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>By Olivia Gunn Kotsishevskaya<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><b>Serial Dining<\/b><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">W<\/span><span class=\"s1\">ith new restaurants popping up monthly, there\u2019s no remaining faithful to our first loves. You can\u2019t be a monogamous patron in Portland. A lot of meals end up one-night stands, even if it was one of the best I\u2019ve had. There\u2019s always a new restaurant or bar to check out. There\u2019s always a new review or funky concoction over at <b>Hunt and Alpine<\/b> giving me the eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">It was only recently that I recognized it may be getting out of hand. I sent out a text to friends inciting a get-together. Feeling nostalgic, I wanted to reconnect with an old flame. <em>Meet at Gritty\u2019s around 5:30?<\/em> But no one was interested in an Old Port venture, at least not with me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">This all sent me down a remember-the-good-times rabbit hole. <em>Are we bar snobs? Can\u2019t fathom sharing a pint among the tourists? Do we only drink West End lavender-infused Manhattans now? (I\u2019ve never had a lavender-infused Manhattan.) What about <b>Bull Feeney\u2019s<\/b>?<\/em> \u201cOh, God. The last time we were at Bull Feeney\u2019s was for&#8230;brunch\u2014and only because we were Christmas shopping.\u201d And yet it\u2019s wonderful. How wonderful does a bar or restaurant have to be in a world where an attraction\u2019s 15 minutes of fame is being shaved down to 12 minutes? \u201cAsk Outliers,\u201d my friend said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">I climbed out of my rabbit hole, reminding myself there\u2019s no need to relive the 1 a.m. crawl out of <b>Rosie\u2019s<\/b>. Here are a few gems that have dropped off my radar for no valid reason, and some that were never on it. They deserve nothing less than a full-on, robust revisit in search of a deeper, more thoughtful experience. Take Two. And for good measure, I\u2019ve brought my skeptical friend.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Hello, Old Friend<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI went to <b>Gritty\u2019s<\/b> for lunch last week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cSee any tumbleweeds?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Harsh. Actually, I enjoyed one of the best haddock sandwiches I\u2019ve had in a long time. The Scottish Ale set me straight with a 6.2 percent ABV. Still unconvinced, my friend scoffs, \u201cthey haven\u2019t changed their beer list in like 25 years.\u201d All right, Bissell bro. Gritty\u2019s rolls out a new brew nearly every month. Have you tried the new Good Day IPA? Guess you\u2019re due for a visit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cWe used to go there all the time,\u201d Jessica, a life-long-thus-far Portlander, chimes in. \u201cThe Deering kids went to Gritty\u2019s. Falmouth and Yarmouth went to Bull Feeney\u2019s before the USM kids took over.\u201d Who needs change when any beer is new for a 21-year-old?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">I<\/span><span class=\"s1\">f you\u2019re in your early twenties, you\u2019ll find here what you\u2019re seeking at any bar: beer, friends, and music. Gritty\u2019s now hosts game night on Sundays for those craving some Mario Kart action. Open mic nights showcase local comedians and poets. Trivia nights are livened up with hosts from WCYY.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Maybe I\u2019ve outgrown Gritty\u2019s nightlife. I stopped celebrating Easter with two-day drinking binges a while ago. I have no interest in the Old Port mating rituals. Even so, there\u2019s still a seat for me at the bar. I\u2019m owning it full-heartedly\u2014I\u2019m a Gritty\u2019s lunch lady.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Let Me Upgrade You<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The first meal I had at <b>Walter\u2019s<\/b> was with my friend\u2019s mother. She took me to dinner to celebrate my engagement. The meal was excellent, the wine perfectly paired, and I think she even ordered us dessert. And then I never went back. Not because it wasn\u2019t delicious. It was only that I was 26 at the time, broke, and still trying to figure out how to order a glass of red.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Today, I consider Walter\u2019s perfect for a happy hour. A dinner for two is still out of my price range. As my friend says, \u201cBack Bay Grill is for doctors. Walter\u2019s is for lawyers.\u201d (She adds she saw Olympia Snowe there once\u2013not just a lawyer!) What about writers? That\u2019s where the bar comes in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">During regular hours, Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to close, try dishes from the bar menu\u2014as creative as chef Jeff Buerhaus\u2019s dinner menu. Consider the Cracklin Calamari with a \u201cbasil lemon cherry pepper aioli and candied jalape\u00f1os\u201d ($10) along with the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps ($8) and a cocktail.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>D\u00e9j\u00e0<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Vu<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">More and more I find myself rediscovering Portland, but it\u2019s never planned. A night with friends at <b>Novare Res<\/b>, where I hadn\u2019t been in at least two years, turned out to be one of those instances. After several rounds, friends filing in each time, the group stomped down to <b>Old Port Tavern<\/b> to play pool. The night ended with midnight tater tots at <b>Blue Rooster<\/b>. Classic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">K<\/span><span class=\"s1\">athleen Pierce, director of member experience for <b>HospitalityMaine<\/b>, knows it takes more than a top ten list to make it here. \u201cIn Portland\u2019s competitive restaurant landscape, there\u2019s a reason that stalwarts like <b>Five Fifty Five<\/b>, <b>David\u2019s<\/b>, and <b>DiMillo\u2019s<\/b> thrive,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re fluent in the latest trends but aren\u2019t slaves to food fashion. More importantly, these institutions lead with hospitality. That comforting feeling that you matter more than the latest Instagram influencer. That\u2019s how you keep regulars for decades.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">You won\u2019t be surprised by one of her favorite haunts\u2014a phoenix of the Old Port. \u201cI\u2019m heartened to see places like <b>Three Dollar Deweys<\/b> reopen with new energy and excitement. It\u2019s not trendy. It\u2019s homey and true. Plus, free popcorn and cold beer never go out of style.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">You could spend an entire weekend visiting some of the original Portlanders, those timeless, comforting hangouts. These spots welcome us back again and again, no matter the time apart. If we consider our attractions with a fresh eye, we\u2019ll be fresher ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With new restaurants popping up monthly, there\u2019s no remaining faithful to our first loves. You can\u2019t be a monogamous patron in Portland. A lot of meals end up one-night stands, even if it was one of the best I\u2019ve had. There\u2019s always a new restaurant or bar to check out. There\u2019s always a new review or funky concoction over at Hunt and Alpine giving me the eyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[314],"tags":[324,127,126],"class_list":["post-15949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-after-dark","tag-after-dark","tag-maine","tag-portland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15949","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=15949"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16093,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15949\/revisions\/16093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}