EAT

This small US city in Maine packs a seriously big culinary punch, with seasoned farm-to-table restaurants sitting alongside daring newcomers, all inspired by the fertile East Coast backcountry and the Atlantic’s rich waters

WORDS: ZOEY GOTO

Clockwise from above: The Old Port and Harbor Fish Market at sunrise; bluefin tuna, sea urchin, marinated roe and quail egg yoke at Mr Tuna; Portland Head, Maine’s oldest lighthouse, is in Cape Elizabeth; a bloody mary at Hot Suppa; Downtown Portland

IMAGES: AWL IMAGES; STARCHEFS; LAUREN GAMP; HOT SUPPA; MAINE OFFICE OF TOURISM

“Oyster farming used to be really male dominated,” says Amy Gaiero. “But that’s starting to change. I’m noticing more women out here working on the water.” The morning air is still so crisp that her words produce a cloud of mist over the shiny aluminium barge as we chug towards Nauti Sisters Sea Farm: a small but mighty micro-oyster venture where Amy and her sisters Alicia and Chelsea cultivate shellfish destined for Portland’s white-tablecloth restaurants.

Fresh out of college, Amy isn’t your typical marine farmer: she’s young, female, sporting on-trend outdoorsy gear and —ironically —is allergic to shellfish. Yet, reeled in by the promise of harvesting low-impact, hyperlocal food, the plucky fisherwoman has found her unlikely calling in life. Downing anchor at Nauti Sisters’ offshore sea farm, a grid of 24 floating racks, Amy hauls up a dripping oyster cage, expertly shucks one open and ceremoniously baptises it with a splash of cucumber-melon infused vinegar, poured from her handy hip flask.

I down it in one slurp: the meat briny, faintly sweet and rudely plump, thanks to East Coast oysters beefing up for winter. “Eastern oysters are unique, as they go into hibernation because the Atlantic Ocean gets so cold. While this means they take longer to mature —between 18 months and three years —they’re much tastier as a result,” the seafarer enthuses, as we glide back through Casco Bay to shore, shrieking seagulls hovering above like white kites in the sky. Passionate small-batch farmers like Amy are bountiful in Portland, the cultural hub of Maine set on the island-strewn New England coast. For a US city, it’s a relatively small one. Eastbourne in the UK has more residents, for example. Yet when it comes to gastronomy, Portland very much holds its own against the likes of Boston and Philadelphia. A winning formula of working waterfronts, a tight-knit community of farmers and a crop of creative chefs have all provided fertile ground for Portland’s thriving food scene to take root.