1. Fore Street [Portland, ME]
2. J's Oyster [Portland, ME].
Portland, Maine
The World Tour starts at Portland, Maine, the "Foodiest Small Town in America" by Bon Appetit magazine [2009]. I know the World Tour is seemingly far off, though, I got a lot of food-by bike destinations to select. So this starts the food research.
The first question that comes to mind, and of course is subjective, "what food is the state of Maine known for?" [And can it be discovered in Portland?] My own thoughts on Maine cuisine would be seafood. Although, I'd classify that as a protein. Meaning you can get that type of protein anywhere. At least from a naive perspective on seafood sourcing. Freshness, like being caught that day, would make it a cuisine ingredient factor. I have fond memories of New England. I'd often get souvenirs with its iconic lobster. So definitely lobster. New England clam chowder is also familiar to me. Besides that, I am curious to get a better feel for Maine's culinary pantry, and any of it's unique sourced food from the land. So a lot of reading ahead of me. An easy start is Visit Maine.
As I read, a ranking fact of three ingredients pops up often; lobster, potatoes, and wild blueberries. I am thinking these facts are maybe good for trivia, but how about the food experience. I know that I am at a disadvantage compared to a local. I need a way to transcend into the food experience. At least start communicating on what my intended perception should be. That simply means, what should I visualize it to be.
I stumble across a gallery of cookbooks. Fresh from Maine maybe connects most to my expectations. As I read each cookbook's byline, it dawns on me that a cookbook might be a good way to sort out what food experience Maine has to offer. This particular cookbook link also has a posted list of restaurants.
Since one objective of food-by bike is the food experience at a savory restaurant. I'll need to determine what the locals are saying about Portland's restaurants. I know you have to read reviews with some subjectivity. Meaning we all have different likes and dislikes. I like most refer to online social ranking systems, such as Yelp. It's at least a start.
One would think that the number of reviews would somehow relate to it being a popular destination. And that its number of stars would weigh in on its quality (at least for that person's expectations). Once again, Yelp (and other online reviews) is a good start for me. So after some fuzzy foodie logic I narrow the restaurants down to the Fore Street [American (new)] and J's Oyster [seafood]. These so far might get my vote for this food-by bike World Tour, although, that is still preliminary.
How about locally grown, and sustainable foods? To seek out local sourcing how about Portland Farmers' Market. My foodie curiosity today got me thinking about how best to capture the depth of Maine's food experience. That is, some of my own culinary self-discovery. This food-by bike World Tour across Maine (at least part of it) will also need food as sustenance. Pedaling from Point A to Point B will demand break points with the eating of a packed meal. Unlike a MRE, my culinary intuition got me thinking about my foodie home; the Japanese bento with ingredients from Maine bought at the Farmer's Market. So let's eat good.
That might be good for when I am actually doing the World Tour, but what about now? I got it. I'll food-by bike locally to maybe find a Maine influenced savory restaurant. I know that I won't find one boasting imported from Maine. Not sure one even exists. Ethnic restaurants are more like Italian, French, etc. I've heard of California, and even New York influenced restaurants. But not sure I've heard about one from Maine. Well, at least seafood restaurants are plentiful here.
World Tour Mileage... 128.2 miles out of 23,710 total miles.
[Portland, ME to Portsmouth, ME 59.7 miles
Portsmouth, ME to Boston, MA 68.5 miles]
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