TUSCAN HOLIDAY Grissini adds zest, romance, and warmth to the Kennebunks. reviewed by Diane Hudson Dec 07 Lingering over multiple courses at Grissini Italian Bistro is the kind of relaxed seduction that brings out the best of a starry December night. Enticed by the...

Sonnets from the Portuguese The new Local 188: Bohemian joie de vivre, Catalonian gusto. reviews by Diane Hudson Nov 2007 Bigger is resoundingly better, especially where popular eateries serving lusty Catalonian cuisine are concerned. Pulsing with energy and filled...

reviewed by Diane Hudson Oct. 2007 “Wood-fired pizza in the West End! Why didn’t I think of that?” Bonobo–not your typical animal, not your typical pizza place. Named for the much-researched and beloved peace-loving member of the ape family, this new stop on the...

reviewed by Diane Hudson July/Aug 2007 We’re hooked on Stripers, the starry waterside restaurant at the Breakwater Inn and Spa in Kennebunkport. Seated at an elegant table overlooking the mouth of the Kennebunk River, we watch all the yachts, lobster boats, Secret...

reviewed by Diane Hudson SummerGuide 2007 A transformed Walter’s wows tourists and Old Port denizens. Sometimes you forget to visit the restaurants you walk by almost daily. They seem so invisible, or something that “others” (like tourists) frequent. And then someone...

reviewed by Diane Hudson October 2006 When you’re stricken with a maki attack, we know where you can go to satisfy a major yen for sushi: Miyako, upstairs on Main Street in Freeport. On our recent visit, we savored a very good, traditional miso soup ($1.75 bowl) and...

reviewed by Diane Hudson September 2006 You can dine like a rajah at Hi Bombay! at 1 Pleasant Street. Eager to get into the spirit of things, we sailed into Nizam’s Choice ($5.95), a mixed platter offering Vegetable Pakora (fried in chick pea batter); Gobi Pakora...

reviewed by Diane Hudson July/Aug 2006 You wouldn’t expect to find a four-star restaurant with delicate flavors, stunning presentation, an enormously creative menu, and a shimmer of nostalgia tucked into the desultory retail pur-ga-tory that includes Bedderest and The...

Reviewed By Diane Hudson June 2006 A favorite summer outing for us has long been a day trip to the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, de-scribed by Francis Henry Taylor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as “the most beautiful little museum in the world.” But where to...

reviewed by Diane Hudson May 2006 When young people leave the nightclubs in Saigon–our family has never called it Ho Chi Minh City– the whole city smells like pho," says Lien Luong, 37, cook at Thanh Thanh 2, a Viet-namese restaurant on Forest Avenue in Portland....

reviewed by Diane Hudson April 2006 Artemisia, like its namesake, 17-century painter Artemisia Gentileschi, the first women member of Florence’s fabled Academy of Design and the inspiration for the controversial film Arte-misia and Susan Vree-land’s The Passion of...

reviewed by Diane Hudson Feb 2006 Harding Lee Smith, former executive chef at Mims and sous chef at Back Bay Grill, is packing the house nightly at The Front Room on the crest of Munjoy Hill, conveniently opposite theater events at St. Lawrence Arts and Community...