Birthday Celebration at Fore Street

Before I get into this blog post, I wanted thank you all for the kind birthday wishes!  I felt so loved on Friday with all of the supportive and sweet comments on my 30 by 30 list.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

For my birthday, Bret took me up to Portland for a wonderful birthday weekend.  We stayed at the Chadwick Bed and Breakfast.  Bret's sister got us a gift certificate for this place for an engagement gift and we thought this weekend was the perfect weekend to use it.  When we arrived, I was happy to discover that Bret had a beautiful present waiting for me in our room!

After relaxing for a bit, we headed downtown to do some shopping at a few of our favorite Portland spots - Dean's Sweets, Shipyard Brewing Company, Stonewall Kitchen and LeRoux Kitchen.  We got lots of goodies at each place and some of these ingredients will be making an appearance in our kitchen soon!  After dropping off our purchases in the car, we still had an hour and a half to kill before our dinner reservation at Fore Street.  We decided to see if we could grab a spot in Fore Street's bar and lounge area before dinner and we were surprisingly able to score some comfortable seats in the lounge with no trouble at all!

Since it was a celebration, I decided to start with a cold glass of Prosecco while Bret opted for a warmer Cotes du Rhone.

Since we had some time to kill and were hungry, we decided to order an appetizer to go with our wine.  I've heard multiple rave reviews for their mussels and I really wanted to order them.  Since Bret isn't the biggest fan of shellfish, I hesitated but he ordered the wood-roasted mussels and actually ate his share of them!  The mussels were so plump and juicy and the white wine and shallot sauce added so much flavor.

Even though we've been low-carb this month, we couldn't resist and split a piece of bread from the bread basket to sop up the white wine sauce.  The bread comes straight from Standard Baking Co. downstairs and it was light and soft in the middle with a nice thick chewy crust on the outside.

By the time we finished up our mussels and ordered a second glass of wine (malbec for me and merlot for Bret), our table was ready and we were directed to our table.  I absolutely loved the exposed brick and open warehouse aesthetic of Fore Street and the huge open kitchen was full of activity.

Since we already ordered our appetizer, we went straight for our entrees.  I ordered the half Peking duck, which had a wonderfully crispy skin and tender meat.  This came with a side of glazed carrots and wilted greens.  The portions were huge and I couldn't do more than eat a quarter of it (although Bret eagerly helped me by digging into the drumstick).

Bret ordered a rabbit dish, which also had a huge serving of rabbit meat, along with the most delicious raviolis filled with foie gras, sage and porcinis.  These raviolis were so decadent and I was lucky that Bret was generous enough to share!

We also ordered a side dish of cider-braised turnips.  Bret and I are both big fans of turnips and I loved this preparation.  I know that I will totally attempt to recreate this side dish in my kitchen this winter!

Although I barely made a dent in my duck, I did make room for dessert.  There were a lot of great options to choose from and Bret let me choose.  I went with the tangy goat cheese cheesecake topped with spiced cranberries and candied orange peel with a not-too-sweet burnt orange sauce.  This dessert was so decadent and so rich.  I couldn't help but groan with pleasure at my first bite.

We had such a lovely warm meal at Fore Street and the restaurant lived well up to its reputation as one of the best dining destinations in Portland.  This hearty meal kept us warm as the temperatures quickly dropped outside.  Since we go to Portland several times a year, I hope to visit Fore Street again in warmer temperatures to check out their seasonal menus.

Fore Street is located at 288 Fore Street, Portland, Maine.