Fore Street Restaurant

"A multi-award winning Portland institution since 1996, this high-ceilinged, brick-walled warehouse space overlooking the historic Old Port is known for its large, open kitchen and live-fire cooking. A bustling bar opens into the main dining room where, from tables on two levels, you can watch a team of chefs as they man a wood-burning oven, grill, and turnspit fire, open dozens of fresh local oysters, and reach into a glass-windowed vegetable humidor to pick locally farmed and foraged fruit, herbs, and vegetables. Not to be missed are the signature rope-cultured mussels cooked in garlic-almond butter and dry vermouth. You'd also be wise to order the juicy turnspit-roasted pork loin (or anything else that's cooked on the turnspit, wood oven, or wood grill). In July and August keep your eye out for sweet, tender soft-shelled lobster and a tomato and goat cheese tart. The house-made ice creams and a chocolate soufflé cake also have well-deserved followings." - Alexandra Hall

"The grand dame of Portland’s dining scene, Fore Street hasn’t lost a step since kicking off the city’s farm-to-table movement decades ago. Signature dishes such as the turnspit chicken benefit from seasonal sourcing and cooking on the grill or oven, both of which are wood-fired and proudly located at the center of this comfortable former warehouse overlooking Casco Bay. Nearby, owner Dana Street’s seafood-focused restaurants — boisterous Scales and intimate Street & Company — are slightly easier to get into but no less worthy of your dining budget." - Stasia Brewczynski

"Twenty years ago, Portland wasn’t the eating destination that it is today, but then Fore Street opened and that all changed. This was one of the first places in town to really focus on using local everything, and today, it’s still one of the city’s most popular restaurants. Eating here feels like you’re at a dinner party in a house you could never afford, with a large open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant and plenty of exposed wood to constantly remind you that you’re in Maine. All of the food is roasted or grilled over the large hearth that’s impossible to miss and will probably make you want to go camping afterward." - Alana Dao 2, Team Infatuation

"James Beard Award-winning chef Sam Hayward’s spacious restaurant, with its wide-open kitchen and wood-fired hearth, helped put Portland’s dining scene on the national map. Though farm-to-table has become the norm in the area, Hayward was the first in Portland to incorporate ingredients from local farmers, fishermen, and foragers. His rustic, seasonal menu changes daily." - Kate McCarty

"Make a reservation or arrive early to score one of the walk-in tables at Fore Street, the restaurant that launched Portland ’s culinary fame. Chef-partner Sam Hayward won Maine ’s first James Beard Best Chef Northeast award in 2004, and since then the accolades have continued—both for Hayward and for other young chefs in Portland. Located in a renovated former warehouse with big windows facing the waterfront, Fore Street is upscale casual, with a bi-level dining room accented by brick, wood, and exposed ductwork, and with an open kitchen that has a wood-burning oven, grill, and turnspit. The flavor is pure Maine : Hayward, a pioneer in farm-to-table, began working with local farmers, fishermen, and foragers decades before it became trendy. Although the menu changes daily, the signature items always available include house-made charcuterie, wood-oven-roasted Maine mussels, and wood-grilled hanger steak."