April 2018 | view this story as a .pdf

Dreaming Big

Portland’s tiniest wine bar/café blooms into an enchanting restaurant and bar on Washington Avenue.

By Claire Z. Cramer

When Peter and Orenda Hale opened the pocket-sized Drifters Wife wine bar inside their natural-wine shop Maine & Loire in 2016, Portlanders–and the national food press–were intrigued with the excellent wines and chef Ben Jackson’s imaginative food. In no time, it became hard to get a seat. A move in recent weeks to a larger space next door is great news for the shop, the Drifter, and for lucky diners.

The new space retains the intimate atmosphere of the old, thanks to the Hales’ fine-tuned design sense. Walls are graphite-gray, and the attractive abstract prints and sculptural potted plants have come along from next door. There’s a full bar now, with plenty of stools.

The wine list is concise, with six whites, six reds, three sparklers, and a rose. Everything is available by glass or bottle, a real bonus. To start, we choose a glass from France, the A. Chatenoud Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux ($10) and the A. Knauss Kerner/Silvaner blend from Germany ($11). Both have bright, clean citrus and floral notes that pair gloriously with a tasty nibble called simply “Egg” on the menu. A split, soft-cooked egg set on a swoosh of house-made mayo is topped with dabs of bright orange trout roe and garnished with house-made potato chips ($9). The egg, briney roe, creamy mayo, and white wine all sing together, with the chips adding crunchy punctuation.

The sourdough loaf served here, from Night Moves Bread + Pie of South Portland, is a tender brown bread of Maine grains ($4). It’s perfect for chasing the last bits of dressings and sauces throughout dinner. It’s served with “dulse butter,” a creamy spread containing dried, powdered–and non-fishy–dulse seaweed from Maine waters.

When our server tells us the cardoons here are greenhouse-grown locally for the restaurant, we pounce on a serving dressed with parmesan cheese, toasted bread crumbs, and boquerones ($14). The Mediterranean thistle artichoke, which has a hint of celery-like flavor, is served poached until tender and cut into slim stalks. Sharp cheese, toasty crunch, and the tang of the white anchovies nicely dress up the mild vegetable.

Another surprise is Maine-raised beef tongue ($15). Here it’s braised until tender like a tiny pot roast. Chef Jackson dazzles with contrasting flavors, from crazy but successful accompaniments to the slices of meat. There are sweet, silken pickled mussels, grilled toast spears, and a swirl of “barnacle butter.”

We go on to sample red wines. There’s a slightly smoky but very smooth Bodegas Ponce Spanish Tempranillo ($10), a dreamy Le Champ d’Orphee Braucol from Cotes du Tarn ($10), and a gorgeous Punta Crena Crovino from Liguria ($12). If the Hales put a bottle on their list, it’s a safe bet it’s a fine one. And house policy calls for diners to be offered a taste before committing to the glass.

A braised chicken leg quarter ($26) is a rustic masterpiece. The sauce on the tender bird is rich with red wine and just a jot of red-wine vinegar. It’s the perfect foil for the accompanying pieces of roasted carrot and the sweet, smooth turnip purée beneath. Never have Maine’s humble winter-storage vegetables been this irresistible.

The entire dinner is a testament to Jackson’s imagination and skill, with mostly locally grown and raised ingredients. We dab bread in the last of the sauce and leave nothing behind but the bones. 

To conclude, we share a fragrant, moist slice of Date Cake garnished with Meyer lemon mascarpone ($8) with a glass of Domaine St. Pierre dessert wine called Larmes du Paradis ($14).

Drifters Wife achieves a truly extraordinary synthesis of hospitality, kitchen magic, and service. n

Drifters Wife, serving dinner Tues. through Sat. from 5-10 p.m.  Bar opens at 4 p.m. 59 Washington Ave., Portland; 805-1336; drifterswife.com