{"id":3639,"date":"2010-12-30T09:10:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-30T16:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=3639"},"modified":"2010-12-30T11:48:58","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T18:48:58","slug":"the-salt-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/the-salt-exchange\/","title":{"rendered":"The Salt Exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winterguide 2011<\/p>\n

By Diane Hudson<\/p>\n

Jacques Brel* ‘Likes’ This\u2026<\/strong><\/h1>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

*Theatricality is alive and well and living in the Old Port at The Salt Exchange.<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tonight, our stop is nothing short of fantastic. First, we slide into a precious parking space reserved for Salt Exchange diners only. \u201cNot bad!\u201d we say upon entering the paneled bar to consider a creative selection of cocktails, wines, and beers. My partner selects a robust, dark, slightly bitter brew, Long Trail Imperial Porter ($6), as we watch the snow dance through the windows. My pretty poison is a Cran-Mary Margarita ($10.75)\u2013cranberry puree, fresh rosemary, lime, Sauza Tequila, and Triple Sec tweaked with vanilla-bean-rosemary sugar and grounded by a salted rim. Who cares if it\u2019s blustery outside? The warm, exhilarating flavors hint of things to come.<\/p>\n

Next, we\u2019re whisked to a table vibrating with an artsy jubilance that convinces us fun is alive and well and living in the Paris of the Northeast. The bright paintings on display (owners Martha & Charlie Bryon exhibit local artists\u2019 work here, with shows changing every three months) contribute to the sense of dining as showtime.<\/p>\n

The small-plate (3 to 5 make a complete dinner) menu choices are sensational, imaginative, and affordably priced. The Hudson Valley Foie Gras Terrine ($17) has real wow factor, served with cherries, pistachios, and savory black pepper confections\u2013truly a memorable experience. Ditto for the skillfully crafted pork terrine ($5) served with whole-grain mustard and shaved beef tongue ($9) highlighted with a soy-caramel-ginger vinaigrette.<\/p>\n

All is prelude to the tender, tasty braised beef ($17), cooked to perfection with wild mushrooms, red wine, bacon, root vegetable puree, carrot, onion, and jus. This is intense richness, magnified by the arrival at the table of a sidecar of Old Vine Beaujolais. Together, the ingredients help diners to create a traditional chabrot<\/em>, a provincial French custom used to lengthen a soup or broth by pouring half a glass of wine over the dish.<\/p>\n

The pan-seared veal cutlet ($16) with pan sauce and capers draws robust cheers, with knockout flavors and tasty, attractive counterpoints of creamy spinach potato and local vegetables.<\/p>\n

Even our desserts dare to fascinate: Earl Grey tea-infused panna cotta with tangy berry compote ($8). A perfect finish to a palate-pleasing expedition.<\/p>\n

The Salt Exchange
\n245 Commercial Street, Portland
\nTuesday-Sunday, open lunch and dinner
\n347-5687, thesaltexchange.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winterguide 2011 By Diane Hudson Jacques Brel* ‘Likes’ This\u2026 *Theatricality is alive and well and living in the Old Port at The Salt Exchange. Tonight, our stop is nothing short of fantastic. First, we slide into a precious parking space reserved for Salt Exchange diners only. \u201cNot bad!\u201d we say upon entering the paneled bar […]<\/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-3639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3639","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=3639"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3748,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3639\/revisions\/3748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}