Portland natives seem to be able to define locations only as where things used to be. Forest Avenue Plaza is where Caravan Beads used to be, and before that it was where the A & P used to be.
Last week I went to the Dogfish Caf?. You know, where Merdeck’s used to be. In another league entirely from the former tenant, the casually decadent Dogfish Caf? is located across from the Greyhound Bus Station on Congress Street and the Burger King on St. John Street — across from where Union Station used to be.
The outside of the building is covered with aquatic-inspired graffiti art, and it’s surrounded by ample parking, a true rarity in downtown dining. The walls inside are a warm sage in eggshell sheen.
A lanky, incredibly hip looking young woman greeted us with a quirky smile and seated us at a table. The table itself was a blend of casual sandwich shop and fine dining. Brown paper served as a tablecloth, and each table was decorated with a bottle of fancy mineral water.
The menu offerings range from appetizers to salads and sandwiches. Upon closer inspection, however, the details of each item disclose the reasoning behind an $8.95 turkey club and $7.95 Tuscan salad. Is it worth it, though?
In my previous patronage of the Dogfish Caf?, I had pumpkin black bean soup and a Tuscan salad for lunch. To describe this soup is like trying to describe Old Spice to the olfactorily disabled. It was subtle, classic, comfortable.
And the salad…. I have never taken so long to eat a salad. It seemed as though each baby spinach leaf, every sprig of arugula was hand picked for my Tuscan salad. It was dotted with calamato olives, fresh mozzarella, prosciotto and pine nuts, the balsamic vinaigrette accentuating the flavors.
Although menu items like the salads and sandwiches are very tasty, it seems the real key to the Dogfish is its specials. Lunch and dinner specials are available Wednesday through Saturday and cooked up by owner Ted Arcand’s partner in the business Bruce Tiggott. Tiggott is in charge of the kitchen, while Arcand runs the front end of the operation. Arcand says his favorite menu item is “whatever Bruce is cooking up for a special that night.”
This visit was for dinner, so I opted for the meatloaf special ($10.50) and my friend John got the turkey club ($8.95). The club typically comes with homemade potato chips, but John substituted sweet potato fries. While we waited, John sipped a cup of coffee ($1.50) and I had a glass of aromatic Ray’s Cabernet ($6.50), the red wine special.
The sweet potato fries are definitely of note. I have come to the conclusion that no meal at the Dogfish is complete without them. Sweet, slender and with occasional encrustation of kosher salt, to put ketchup on these is blasphemy.
My meatloaf was moist but without excessive gravy. It was quite tasty, flanked by skins-on red bliss mashed potatoes and fresh cooked spinach.
John mumbled something between mouthfuls about how good his sandwich was on its fresh, slightly crunchy baguette.
For dessert we got the peanut butter pie suggested by the waitress. The pie was rich and sweet, with chocolate chips throughout and a chocolate cookie crumb crust. Between the two of us there was still no way we could finish it.
Another incredibly rich dessert that helps define the Dogfish is the chocolate volcano. This unsuspecting little nugget of cake is filled with near boiling chocolate sauce. The island of chocolate is surrounded by puddles of mango and raspberry syrup, fresh whipped cream and a few blueberries sprinkled about.
The Dogfish Caf? necessitates an ample amount of time to truly enjoy each flavor. They do have take-out, however, and they encourage patrons to take home a menu. The food here is a real treat, as is the atmosphere and the staff.
Arcand says that his goal is to cater to the “local yokels” and to create a rapport with the regular customers, which seems to be working so far — the Caf? is always busy, despite a lack of traditional advertising.
Elise Adams can be contacted at [email protected]