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The elegance and distinctiveness of Chef Erik Desjarlais' Evangeline menu has attracted the attention of critics and diners alike since the day the restaurant opened in April 2008.
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By Norman & Stephanie Vanamee
Photograph by Robin Blair Riley
Summer 2009
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From "Perfect Weekend - Portland, Maine"
Erik and Krista Desjarlais, the chef-owners of Evangeline and Bresca.
Where to Eat
Portland�s latest boom began in the mid-�90s when a handful of chefs abandoned familiar Maine menu items (clam chowder, lobster rolls, and steamers) and took a fresh approach to regional cuisine. At the vanguard was Sam Hayward, who converted an Old Port factory building into a cavernous dining room with an open kitchen and began serving simple preparations of seasonal local fare, such as Casco Bay mussels cooked in a wood-burning oven, and turnspit-roasted pork loin. Ubiquitous now but revolutionary at the time in Maine, the minimalist, let-the-ingredients-speak-for-themselves style at Fore Street (288 Fore St., 207-775-2717) received astonishingly good reviews from national publications and suddenly Portland became a culinary destination. Next came Hugo�s (88 Middle St., 207-774-8538), where Rob Evans adopted a more technique-driven approach: A recent menu included Atlantic flounder and Maine shrimp en croute. Then Steve Corry opened 555 (555 Congress St., 207-761-0555), a two-story restaurant with an attached cocktail lounge. The James Beard Foundation named Hayward Best Chef in the Northeast in 2004 � and Evans in 2009. In 2007, Corry was included in Food & Wine�s annual list of Best New Chefs.
Along with accolades, these restaurants have drawn epicureans from all over the Northeast � allowing a second, equally compelling wave of smaller, less-polished restaurants to flourish. Ranging in size from a spot with a few counter seats to a full dining room, these establishments are scattered in odd corners of the city and often reflect the passion of their owners. There�s Lisa Vaccaro and Abby Harmon�s Caiola�s, a snug neighborhood joint on Pine Street, and Paciarino, an Italian spot run by two recent arrivals from Milan. Bresca and Evangeline are two of the best in this category: They each got their start through an adventuresome chef, Krista Kern and Erik Desjarlais, respectively, who met and fell in love while eating at the other�s restaurant.
In a narrow, one-story Old Port building, Bresca (111 Middle St., 207-772-1004) has 20 seats, including four stools at a bar. The chef and owner Krista (now) Desjarlais works with a sous chef in a closet-size kitchen with just six burners, a Salamander broiler, and no walk-in fridge. Meals in the small dining room are intensely, sometimes awkwardly, intimate. Everybody hears everyone�s order. Service gets backed up. But right when things begin to feel tight, one of Krista�s brilliant, Mediterranean-themed dishes appears � say, braised black kale and pancetta topped with a trembling soft-boiled egg � and a gratified hush falls on the room.
�Portlanders are really supportive,� says Krista, who has worked at top kitchens in New York, Las Vegas, and Paris. �I always knew I wanted to open my own place. And I knew that this city had the kind of community that would support what I wanted to do.�
Her husband, Erik, was 26 when he descended on the Portland dining scene with a flurry of French technique and big ideas. In 2003, he opened his first restaurant, Bandol, which offered an ambitious, don�t-ask-for-any-substitutions menu heavy on organ meats. It won him rave reviews and a small devoted following, but not much commercial success. �The city wasn�t ready for the prix-fixe menu,� says Erik, who kept the place going for three years. After closing Bandol, he spent a year regrouping (and falling for Krista, whom he first met when she looked at his space as a possible location for Bresca) and then opened Evangeline (190 State St., 207/791-2800), a 38-seat bistro facing Longfellow Square. Here Erik focuses more on winning over customers than his own agenda. The result is a carefully measured push and pull. The menu includes crowd pleasers, such as chicken breast wrapped in bacon, but also left-fielders like flash-fried glass eels and crispy sweetbreads. �There weren�t a lot of brains being served in Portland when I started,� he says. �But people tried it, and now it�s our most popular dish.�
On Monday nights, Krista joins him at Evangeline where the pair prepares a three-course menu for $25. �Even though we run our own restaurants, we�re good in the kitchen together,� she says. �We can cook a whole night without having to say a word.�
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