Portland Food Heads

When I first heard that a restaurant called The Farmer's Table was set to open, seemingly out of nowhere in the old space taken up by Mim's on Commercial Street, I instantly thought of Bistro Sauce, a restaurant I used to frequent when I lived in Vermont. At Sauce, a list of every single ingredient and the farm it came from arrived alongside the menu, the food was perfect 100% of the time and the cooks were somehow able to sum up everything that "Vermont" means with a simple plate of rabbit, something I've rarely seen or done elsewhere.

And so I thought, finally, Portland will be getting it's very own Bistro Sauce. I don't yet have the data behind me to say whether or not that statement is true or false, but I certainly didn't feel that way after walking out of a lunch at The Farmer's Table last week.

The Farmer's Table is the brainchild of Jeff Landry, formerly of Eve's at the Garden in the Portland Harbor Hotel. Apparently Landry wanted to stretch out beyond the confines of the Mediterranean cuisine he was serving at Eve's to start a "farm-to-table, comfort food establishment" with the aid of his wife. Hence, The Farmer's Table.

The room itself is actually quite nice. Sun pours in through a wall of windows onto a comfortable and rather casual dining room. Through the bar is an open kitchen that can be viewed from just about any spot in the room. In fact, the bar itself is actually quite attractive. They've certainly "un-Mimified" the place, which I was a little worried about before stopping in.

I can't comment on dinner, but lunch at the Farmer's Table is very casual. The menu includes soups, salads, sandwiches and a few entree-style plates. My guess is that by focusing on a menu such as this, their intention is to bring in the "safe crowd" for lunch, as everything seemed pretty by-the-book to me.

I ordered the cider-braised pork sandwich, which was described as "locally raised pork braised in apple cider, pulled and tossed in our sweet & spicy bbq served with hand cut fries and house slaw." I wasn't really in the mood for a sandwich, but it's hard for me to say no to BBQ pork and nothing else on the menu really caught my eye, so it sounded pretty good to me.

And it was pretty good, but that's about it. In fact, I would've been totally satisfied if it didn't happen to cost $12, which is an absurd amount of money for french fries, coleslaw and pulled-pork on a bun. Sure, the pork had a lot of flavor, but to be quite honest there was nothing at all special about the sandwich, the fries were run-of-the-mill and the coleslaw was actually pretty lousy. Oh well; with a beer, just another $20, right?

No. It's just plain not right. I know the comparison isn't completely legitimate, but I can't help but think about the BBQ joints in North Carolina that Lynn and I hit every time we go to visit her folks, specifically a place called Little Richards. Same meal, much better, $4. Four Dollars! And don't even begin to think that just because it's cheaper means that they put less love into their pork, because that couldn't be farther from the truth.

All in all, I thought my meal at The Farmer's Table was decent, but hopefully it's the last time I ever pay $12 for a pulled-pork sandwich.

The Farmer's Table is located at 205 Commercial St. in Portland, ME.

~E~

Have you eaten at The Farmer's Table? Be sure to leave a comment about your experience!