![\"central_provisions\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/central_provisions.jpg\")
<\/a>Some small plate menus can make you nostalgic for the good old days before the world got so precious. Not this one. Central Provisions jump starts the trend with excitement.<\/p>\nBut first, the drinks. Generally, we gravitate to the wine, and the list here has diversity and strength. Our server, however, persuades us to try a libation from a cocktail menu based on pre-Prohibition recipes.<\/p>\n
My Absinthe Frappe ($10) more than meets the mark\u2013the gomme syrup, and probably also the \u201ceffort\u201d listed as an ingredient, make it velvety smooth. Haven\u2019t had a drink this good since the pink squirrel.<\/p>\n
A Manhattan ($10), made with rye whiskey, Boker\u2019s bitters, and Cocchi Vermouth di Torina that lends a subtle smokiness to the mix, pleases my partner. Yeah, we are in<\/em>.<\/p>\n Our charming server, Tara, wisely suggests we order two items at a time (as they come out quickly) to avoid being overwhelmed. She also dazzles us with suggestions for pairings. Her first is beet salad ($9) and sea-bass ceviche ($9). The beets\u2013red, golden, and candy cane\u2013are roasted to perfection and served over a bed of Swiss chard, with lemon vinaigrette and droplets of avocado pur\u00e9e. Delicate, slender slices of fish garnished with cilantro and a piri piri sauce appear almost translucent and disappear all too quickly.<\/p>\n Next, we match fried Maine oysters ($9) with the spicy fried Maine potatoes ($5). The spuds, a heap of thinly sliced rounds with a helping of Heinz, are, as promised, spicy. Very. The three oysters, lovely to behold,\u00a0 placed in their shells on a delicious cilantro aioli, get some kick from a garnish of house-made kimchee. We order a ramekin of the aioli to temper the potatoes\u2019 heat, and it works wonderfully.<\/p>\n The \u201cfried\u201d course is nicely complemented by Old Rasputin ($5), a rich chocolate-like stout.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t resist the foie gras ($15\/22). The intense flavors of the rich, delicate liver are brilliantly balanced with a rose-hip pur\u00e9e, a sprinkling of millet granola, and candied buddha\u2019s hand\u2013a lemony fruit. Ecstasy. Six grilled shrimp a la plancha ($12) with herb olive oil sing back-up to yet another meaty, spicy tapa.<\/p>\n We savor aperitifs\u2013Lillet Blanc and Campari on the rocks with a splash of soda (each $7)\u2013with our final dish. Salted caramel mousse ($6) with hints of coffee and cocoa is creamy but has a graininess deriving from goat whey, a by-product of the house-made goat cheese.<\/p>\n This is one sweet place. Don\u2019t miss it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Central Provisions, 414 Fore St., Portland. Daily 11 a.m.-midnight, 805-1085, central-provisions.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summerguide 2014 Wharf Street Wonderful Perfect plates meet clever cocktails at this instant legend. Review by Diane Hudson Some small plate menus can make you nostalgic for the good old days before the world got so precious. Not this one. Central Provisions jump starts the trend with excitement. But first, the drinks. Generally, we gravitate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9766,"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":[83],"class_list":["post-9762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-summerguide-2014"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9762","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=9762"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9782,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9762\/revisions\/9782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}