'Wonderful' Food At Enio's; Artemisia Shows Promise

At "tiny, out-of-the-way" Enio's in South Portland, the food is "wonderful," writes Nancy Heiser in her 3 1/2 star review of in the Maine Sunday Telegram. Owners Bob and Laura Butler have turned created a "cozy Italian cafe, where "you aren't paying for what you don't get — namely, a full bar, lots of elbow room, cushy seats and hovering service."

Just when one thinks bruschetta is getting a little too predictable, here comes a perfect taste and texture combination of salty meat (Broadbent ham), creamy buffalo milk cheese and a healthy tangle of tangy pickled fennel ($6). Share only if you must.

The new dinner service at Portland's longstanding Artemisia Cafe in the West End, "offers a reprieve from the surge of Portland's trendy eateries commandeered by hipster chefs out to make a splash," according to John Golden of the Portland Press Herald's blog, The Golden Dish blog.

As for the menu, it's an odd juxtaposition of cuisines, vaguely fusion Mediterranean, meaning a little bit of this and that. ... two of us ordered the diced beet salad served in a melange of shaved fennel, olives, avocado and parsley and sat in an orange-pistachio dressing that was delicious, even if the color was oddly green. The third starter was a classically prepared dish of mussels. These were well conceived in coconut milk, serrano peppers, garlic, basil and lime.

In Saturday's monsoon rains, John Golden takes off for a "food spree" up the midcoast, beginning with "a great home-style breakfast at a diner that maintains its stalwart greasy-spoon rough-and-tumble personna," The Brunswick Diner." There he finds chipped beef on toast that is an "outstanding example" of what he discovers in a "shockingly blunt Wikipedia entry" was dubbed "shit on a shingle" in the military. At the end of his travels, he rewards himself with a entirely different kind of meal, locavore lunch at hottie newcomer Salt Water Farm at Union Hall in Rockport, the latest venture from Annemarie Ahearn, who owns the Lincolnville farm and cooking school of the same name.The food is "the epitome of divine taste and style," including an "extraordinary" parsnip soup.

Talk about precious high-style, Salt Water Farm embodies it to the hilt. Housed in the restored Union Hall in Rockport, on a dramatic promontory overlooking Penobscot Bay, the setting looks like a glittering Martha Stewart stage set — an asylum of essential pleasures for the culinary cognoscenti who don't flinch at $30 tidbits for breakfast or lunch.

In addition to all the great places to eat along the coast, Maine is notable for having fine restaurants in out-of-the-way places, such as the Oxford Inn in Fryeburg, where Travelin' Mainers George and Linda Smith find an "unforgettable" dinner and breakfast. Instead of the ocean, the scenery is mountains and farmland. "Yes, this is the place that grows the potatoes that have made Cold River vodka an international hit."

The large portions of halibut — crispy outside and moist inside — were paired with pieces of lobster in a sauce, deep-fried and salted leeks and accompanied by an escarole and crispy corn polenta. The halibut was topped with porcini dust. It was like opening a present stuffed with surprises every bite.

· Wonderful Food Awaits At Popular Enio's Eatery [MST]
· Artemisia Cafe: A Reprieve On Pleasant Street [TGD]
· ">SOS On MD Weekend And Other Food Forays [TGD]
· Oxford House Inn Is A New Favorite Getaway [KJ]