Grace - Portland, Maine

Dramatic is the word that best describes the interior of Grace.

Whereas at many restaurants the bar is an afterthought - a staging area where diners wait for their table - at Grace, the large, circular bar is the focal point of the restaurant.

The effort made to incorporate elements of the historic church is readily apparent (check out Meredith Goad's article for a more extensive description of the renovations). By far, this restaurant has the most interesting ambiance of any Portland-area eatery. Request a table upstairs for a quieter dinner, and a birds eye view of the open kitchen, diners and bar patrons below.

The wine list at Grace features many recognizable bottles from California - priced with only a modest mark up from what you would pay retail. At the suggestion of our waitress, I ordered a glass of the Carmel Road Pinot Noir ($7) - a non-offensive, though unmemorable wine served in a stemless glass. My husband chose his favorite beer - Allagash White ($4) - on draft.

The Lobster Tacos - part of the bar menu at Grace -are not only a bargain at $5 (market price) for two, they are delicious! Soft corn shells contained a plentiful portion of lobster, cilantro, cabbage and red onion. Also part of the bar menu - and worth a taste - are the Truffled Deviled Eggs ($4) - with flavors of truffles, dijon mustard and mayonnaise filling a soft boiled egg.

The Chilled Avocado Soup with Peekytoe Crab Salad ($12) was refreshing, though I wouldn't order it again. Perhaps it was the addition of coconut - or maybe the avocado used wasn't ripe enough - but this soup lacked any "wow" factor. The same could be said of the loaf of house made oatmeal bread, though the presentation was nice - on a cutting board wrapped in a napkin.

I chose the Smoked Duck ($27) for my entree, while my husband opted for the Pan Seared Goat Cheese Gnocchi ($19). Other Entrees included cod, chicken, lamb and steak. The gnocchi dish consisted of soft pillows of goat cheese, beets and beet greens set in a vegetable consomme. Though the combination of flavors was interesting, my husband was not overly impressed with the dish. The amount of consomme made the entree more of a soup than he expected and the "gnocchi" quickly broke apart in the broth when he tried to fork or spoon them.

My duck was set upon a bed of quinoa and served with a hibiscus ginger jelly that overpowered the fowl. Without the jelly, the duck lacked its typical savoriness; I had to cover it in salt to give it flavor. The meat was tough and not cooked to my specification. I often find that quinoa is served with duck to absorb pan juices - unfortunately there weren't any in this dish to moisten the dry grain.

Sides can be ordered a la carte. We chose the Green Beans with Slivered Almonds ($5); fingerling potatoes and beets were the other options offered the evening we dined. The beans were fresh and cooked al dente.


For dessert we selected the Cinnamon and Chocolate Mousse Cake ($6) which I thoroughly enjoyed, though my husband thought the taste of cinnamon was overpowering (only order this if you really like cinnamon!).

The waitstaff appeared relatively relaxed for opening weekend, and were familiar with the menu items and wine list. Unfortunately, the kitchen was pushing plates out too quickly, so the pace of the meal was hurried, particularly given the price point. Hopefully this will be corrected once they get past the opening week.

Bottom line: We'll likely return to Grace with friends for the hip atmosphere, bar snacks and drinks. I would give them time to fine-tune their menu before trying dinner.