{"id":17178,"date":"2019-11-27T16:08:25","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T21:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=17178"},"modified":"2020-05-06T16:23:20","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T20:23:20","slug":"pearl-diving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/pearl-diving\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearl Diving"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; width: 100%; height: 450px;\" src=\"\/\/e.issuu.com\/embed.html?backgroundColor=%23d2d2d2&amp;backgroundColorFullscreen=%23d2d2d2&amp;d=dec19_flipbook_for_web&amp;hideIssuuLogo=true&amp;pageNumber=40&amp;u=portlandmagazine\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Duck in to beat the cold in the Kennebunks.<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>December 2019<\/p>\n<p><em>By Colin W. Sargent<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"s1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-17159\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-pearl-t-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"DEC19 pearl t\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-pearl-t-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-pearl-t-200x120.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-pearl-t.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>R<\/span><span class=\"s1\">estaurateur <strong>Rebecca Charles<\/strong> is a legend in New York, known for Pearl Oyster Bar in Greenwich Village. But it\u2019s here in Maine where she\u2019s sunk everything <\/span><span class=\"s1\">into her labor of love, <strong>Pearl<\/strong>, near <strong>Gooch\u2019s Beach<\/strong>, where her family has summered for more than a century. Looking for sanctuary from the winter chill, we step in on an icy night. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">We\u2019re glad the enormous stone fireplace with the flames that reach to the stars is still here. A server attends to it nearly constantly, and it\u2019s welcome theater\u2014logs erupt with enormous pops as they grow bright, crackle, and send out a glow. Downstairs, \u201c<strong>Spat Oyster Cellar<\/strong>\u201d calls with the shell game, but we don\u2019t answer. The table near the fire is what we crave.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">We settle in with a Lillet Blanc Fizz ($9), glad to see that the long, rustic banquet table that dates to other iterations of 27 Western Avenue is here, but the bistro-style chairs don\u2019t quite convey the luxury this romantic spot deserves. We frankly miss the old booths. The bar seduces with light filtering through shelves and glassware. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Tonight, we\u2019re celebrating the holidays in twos. We start with two Market Oysters ($3 each), two Cocktail Shrimp ($3 each), two Fried Oysters with Pearl-made tartar sauce ($3.25 each), and two Salt-Crusted Shrimp ($3.25 each). The server tells us these luscious oysters are \u201cPemaquid Selects from the Damariscotta River.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The Golden, Red, and Candy Cane Beets ($12) are festive to behold, served with \u201cmixed lettuces, Roquefort Cheese, and a cider vinaigrette.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">We order two glasses of wine: one the luscious Goulayant Malbec ($10), the other Tortoise Creek Pinot Noir ($9). Our server lets us in on a great tip: If you order at least two glasses of wine, they\u2019ll open any bottle for you but charge you by the glass (even if the menu doesn\u2019t offer it by the glass). We\u2019ll certainly keep that in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">We dive into the Pan Roasted Halibut ($29) with parsnips, Brussels sprouts, carrots, bacon lardons, and a sprig of oregano. Heart-warming. The 11-ounce Grilled Ribeye ($34) is even better. Served with watercress, there\u2019s a bonfire of shoestring potatoes artistically piled up. What a sinful treat to share with a lover or friends.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The finale is Praline Parfait ($9) with mugs of bracing black coffee. We\u2019re ready to face the night air. Almost. Total dinner for two before tip: $154.48.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Pearl Kennebunk &amp; Spat Oyster Cellar. Wednesday\u2013Sunday, 5p.m. to close. Open New Year\u2019s Eve 6\u20139p.m. Closed January 6\u2013February 12, and February 24\u2013March 11, 2020. 204-0860.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A perfect escape from the cold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17160,"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":[11],"tags":[632,561,631,154,633],"class_list":["post-17178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-goochs-beach","tag-kennebunk","tag-pearl","tag-restaurant-review","tag-spat-oyster-cellar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17178","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=17178"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18636,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17178\/revisions\/18636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}