{"id":233,"date":"2008-10-01T12:31:35","date_gmt":"2008-10-01T19:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=233"},"modified":"2010-02-19T11:46:21","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T18:46:21","slug":"the-grill-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/the-grill-room\/","title":{"rendered":"The Grill Room"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>reviewed by Diane Hudson Oct 2008<\/p>\n<p><strong>License to <em>Grill<\/em><\/strong><em><br \/>\nImagine\u2013an F. Parker Reidy\u2019s for the 21st century.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-234\" style=\"margin: 6px;\" title=\"grillroom3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/grillroom3.jpg\" alt=\"grillroom3\" width=\"200\" height=\"133\" \/>Discriminating diners in love with Chef Harding Smith\u2019s first venture, The Front Room, are now also lining up at his staggeringly successful new restaurant, The Grill Room.<\/p>\n<p>Set in the heart of the Old Port, the hot spot (a perfect coupling with a show at nearby Nickelodeon Cinema or Merrill Auditorium) features wood-grilled meats and fish\u2013think F. Parker Reidy\u2019s for the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p>Add to that a splendid variety of wood-fired pizza, and you have a surefire recipe for success.<\/p>\n<p>For appetizers, we savored the \u201cwedge,\u201d a crunchy almost-half-a-lettuce-head covered with creamy, chunky, blue cheese and tasty bacon bits\u2013a bargain at $6.<br \/>\nAnd, OMG, the fried oysters! A subtle coating brings out the deep, luxuriant flavor of this delicacy, enhanced by warm bacon, apple, and spinach, complemented with a honey vinaigrette and hollandaise ($10).<\/p>\n<p>Tender, crispy sweetbreads ($8) sport a zesty lemon butter sauce and capers, while wood-grilled escargot ($8) bask in garlic butter. The tuna tartar ($12), a knockout, is delicately seasoned to enhance its fresh flavor.<\/p>\n<p>Fries lovers, take note: For $3, you get an enormous platter of the tastiest fries anywhere; try them with a side of blue-cheese vinaigrette for dipping.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-235\" style=\"margin: 6px;\" title=\"grillroom2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/grillroom2.jpg\" alt=\"grillroom2\" width=\"200\" height=\"126\" \/>For an entr\u00e9e, I ordered the exquisitely cooked rack of lamb (5 handsome chops, $23). The lamb being plenty for sharing, my partner decided on the Pesto ($7) for his entr\u00e9e, a wood-fired pizza with goat cheese, mushrooms, and fresh basil pesto. Another winner.<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting the theme of generosity throughout, our desserts, creme brul\u00e9e ($6) and blackberry sorbet ($3.50), were twice the size you\u2019d expect, and satisfying.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps equally satisfying is watching the chef\/owner calmly working beside his staff in an exceedingly busy kitchen. Here is a man who has found his fort\u00e9 and offers an open invitation for all to celebrate with him. And we do.<\/p>\n<p>The Grill Room, 84 Exchange Street, Portland. Open Monday-Saturday, lunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dinner 5-10 p.m., bar menu available all day until 12:45 a.m. 774-BEEF (2333) or www.thefrontroomrestaurant.com\/grillmenu<\/p>\n<p><a onclick=\"return addthis_sendto()\" onmouseover=\"return addthis_open(this, '', '[URL]', '[TITLE]')\" onmouseout=\"addthis_close()\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250&amp;pub=portmag\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:0\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js?pub=portmag\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/about\/contact-us\">send us your comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>reviewed by Diane Hudson Oct 2008 License to Grill Imagine\u2013an F. Parker Reidy\u2019s for the 21st century. Discriminating diners in love with Chef Harding Smith\u2019s first venture, The Front Room, are now also lining up at his staggeringly successful new restaurant, The Grill Room. Set in the heart of the Old Port, the hot spot [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","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=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1885,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions\/1885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}