Restaurant Review Brattle Street. By Dennis Gilbert.

Selected Area Restaurants

Restaurants are listed as a courtesy In this section as space allows. To guarantee inclusion of your listing for the next year. call Portland Munthly Classifieds. 154 Middle Street.

Portland. Maine 04101. (207) 775·4339.

Alberta' •. 21 Pleasant Street, Portland. All the selections from Alberta's ever·changing menu are cooked to order over their mesquite charcoal grill. Steaks, seafood, and butterflied leg of lamb are accompanied by homemade soups, breads, and desserts, including "Death by Choco· late." Lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch. Major credit cards.

The Baker'. Table. 434 Fore Street, Portland. Relaxed' bistro beneath the Old Port Bakehouse offers diverse Euro· pean cooking-veal, fish, t9UrnedoS. homemade chowders, soups, stews, including bOuillabaisse, are available, a:; well as fresh breads and pastri~ from upstairs. Local artists exhibit occasionally. Major credit cards. 775-0303. The Blue Moon. 425 Fore Street, Portland. Portland's new jazz club restaurant features Ie jazz hot -live - nightly as well as an entertaining dinner menu. A strong addition to Portland's nightlife. 871-0663. Boone'l. Custom House Wharf, Portland. They've been serving an extraordinary range of seafood since 1898. Portland memorabilia and antiques are displayed in the heavy-bearned dining room, and there are nightly specials' in addition to the extensive menu. Lunch and dinner daily, all major credit cards. 774-5725.

Cafe Alway •. 47 Middle Street, Portland. One of Port· land's newest restaurants. Features strong, ambitious menu and a romantic atmosphere .. 774-9399.

Channel Crolling. 23 Frorit Street, South Port iand'. An elegant restaurant with an elegant view of Portland from its perch on the water. Teriaki sirloin is a favorite, as is "Fresh Catch," the very freshest fish available each day. Lunch and dinner. Sunday brunch, major credit cards. 799-5552.

Deli One. 106 Exchange Street, Portland. Spinach and sausage pie, pasta, omelets, deli sandwiches are among the international attractions in this cozy place. The soups and chowders are intriguing as well. A sunny patio when season permits. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sunday brunch. Art exhibits by local talent. MC,V. 772-7115.

Dock Fore. 336 Fore Street, Portland. Daily specials in this cozy Old Port setting include burgers, quiches, soups, chowders, fresh fish, steamers, and mussels. Lunch and

dinner. 772-8619.

The Madd Apple Cafe. 23 Forest Avenue, Portland. An intimate American bistro located in the Portland Perform· ing Arts Center. Offering a changing menu; specialties include Carolina Chopped Pork BBQ, Shrimp Remoulade, tournedos Marchand du Vin, and Bananas Foster. Lunch and dinner. Major credit cards. 774-9698.

Moose Crolling Dinnerhoule, coastal U.S. Route 1, Falmouth (3 miles north of Portland, minutes to L.L. Bean). Relaxed cabin atmosphere. Featuring fresh Maine seafood, aged Iowa beef; mesquite grilling. T eriyaki steak and grilled salmon "House Favorites." Lounge opens at 4 p.m. daily. Serving dinner at 5 p.m. Children's menu available. Visa, Mastercard, and American Express accepted. Reservations available for parties of 5 or more. 781-4771.

BRATTLE STREET

When my guest and I glided into Brattle Street, Portland's sole surviving French rescomponents of the atmosphere, have a responsibility to behave in concordance with the setting. More importantly, it taurant (once companion to a starry field that included L' Antibes, The Vinyard, Swan Dive, 34 Exchange, et. al.) on a recent Wednesday night, business was uncharacteristically slow (one reason, though a minor one I suspect, that the service was exceptionally good). The only other people in the dining room were a middle-aged couple celebrating their apparently long-standing affection for each other with an intimate dinner. Their presence added a dimension of warmth and buoyancy, one which my companion and I intended to establish in our own corner of the dining room. The third party which arrived, however, was dominated by a young woman who felt it her duty to catch her sidekicks up on the latest bestsellers at the cinema box office. If she had not been so enthusiastic, or if the dining room had been full, or if she had been relating something I really entertaining - for instance, the sordid affair she was having with her best friend's husband - neither of us would 'have minded. As it was, it was a distraction.

Now, according to my friend's the- BY DENNIS GILBERT ory, this criticism is off the mark, and let me be the first to admit that it is also unfair. It was a minor distraction, an accident of the evening. Yet it is useful insofar as it suggests that diners, as participants in the rite and as primary points out that when the many elements necessary to make a dining experience exceptional conspire to do so, the slightest intrusion of day-to-day reality is liable to break the spell. The ordinary and the good robustly weather whatever chilly drafts gust in as the door is opened. But the more ambitious you are, the more you are able to raise your customers' expectations. Brilliantly fulfilling them, the more vulnerable you are to those unforseeable disturbances. This is a very roundabout way of saying that the food at Brattle Street is very, very good. And I agree with 'my friend in the general spirit of the theory: the food's the thing. Our sampling of the Brattle Street menu began before we ordered with a plate of dainty canapes made with compound butters - roQuefort. roasted red peppers, chives - a Brattle Street trademark which craftily turns hungry people into famished ones. The tenor having been set. we be1!an in earnest. with a rich, dark game liver pate which created the desirable sensation of ice melting on the tongue as the flavors opened and expanded. We followed with a shrimp mousse and a seafood feuillete. The mousse, served with poached shrimp and an avocado sauce, Continued on page 39