Brunch? Lunch? Delicious Bites at Central Provisions in Portland Maine

We had had an early start to this rainy Sunday and as it was approaching 10:30, we started to talk about lunch plans.  There are so many places you can go to here in the Old Port area.  One place on our list was Central Provisions. They opened at 11AM so it would be more like brunch for most people although we do tend to have early lunches when we are at home and not travelling. 

We showed up a few minutes after 11 and the place was packed always a good sign.  We were luckily able to grab the last two seats that  they had at the bar. Well really it is the open air kitchen where you get to see all the dishes be prepared. 

The menu was tapas style which is found at many of the restaurants here.  First the cocktails.

I started with a white Negroni. This was made with silver tequila.  It was so refreshing. A very good palate cleanser.  

And now the food. 

So.many good things. They also had a Pork and Pea salad as one of the specials. This was definitely the star attraction. 

Thin sliced serrano ham atop freshly shelled snap peas, local radishes, braised peaches and thin sliced red onion.  The dressing was a vinegrette made with apricot and bourbon.   All.kinds of flavors and textures happening here.  Salty, crunchy, sweet and a little burn from the bourbon.  So good we had to order a second salad.  

We also tried the smoked halibut dip served with crunchy artisan bread. 

The fish was lightly smoked so you could still taste it.  Sometime a smoked fish dip focuses on the smoke and not the star.  There was also a bit of lemon to contrast the richness. 

We also tried the cheddar cheese curds. 

I have had lots of cheese curds before - but usually deep fried.  These had been tossed with orange peel, garlic and thyme.  And much like the fish dip and it's subtle smokeiness, the flavors here didn't overwhelm the cheese.  The accentuated it.  Such a clever way to use cheese curds. We will try this at home. 

We also tried the Carmelized Bocodillo sandwich.  I had never heard of type of sandwich before. Was it just a fancy grilled cheese?   It was so much more.  

We added the serrano ham which I highly recommend. The saltiness really broughtbthe sandwich together and contrasted with the membrillo.  I was not familiar with this   I found out it is a quince paste and slightly sweet. On the bottom of the plate was saba.  I had not heard of this either.  This is very much like a grape jelly but more like a sauce.  That was great for dipping the edges of the crunchy bread.  So well grilled and not greasy.