photo/Figgy DiBenedetto
Regards
547 Congress St., Portland
747-5940
regardsmaine.com
When a new restaurant opens to great fanfare, I tend to sit back and wait for the hoopla to simmer down before trying it. I remember all too well when my restaurant in the Hudson Valley got a wee write-up in the New York Times and the chaos that ensued. We weren’t ready for the mob of (often pretentious) self-described foodies, nor did we realize how we were pissing off our regulars. Spotlights are scary.
I’d been following Regardson social media since its conception and was puzzled by many of the dishes and ingredients I saw: Mushrooms and Scallop Garum, Rockweed and Ricotta Ice Cream, Montenegro Amaro Whip, Fermented Habanero Aguachile, Corn Husk Oil, Canchita, Cacahuetes, Ghost Pepper Salt. Say whaaa?
OK, maybe I was just embarrassed that I had to look up some of the terms, but the pictures of the dishes also had an austere quality that unnerved me. Only after visiting did this make sense.
Regards has been wrestling with austerity from the start. Chef Neil Zabriskie and his wife, co-owner and manager Kimberly Lund Zabriskie, opened in the dead of winter two years ago on a shoestring budget. Much of the build-out of their Congress Street space was done by Chef Neil, and Kimberly made the ceramic plates.
The same DIY approach is apparent on the menu. Damn near every single component is made in-house, down to the nixtamalization and grinding of the corn they mix to make masa, which is then fashioned into tortillas, which brings me to … taco night!
Yes, you read that right: Taco Night at Regards. It’s on Thursdays, not Tuesdays, and it’s atypical in other regards, too. For example, you won’t find any ground beef. You will find a Fried Oyster Taco ($9): crackling oysters atop a cap of butter lettuce and some sort of tasty emollient — a perfect two-biter. On our maiden visit, this was followed by a three-to-four-bite Scallop Taco ($10): two size large bivalves, perfectly seared yet raw inside, with a hit of spice from some XO aioli. Very decadent. Also, a freakin’ deal for that amount of scallop!
Straying slightly from the taco theme, we then tried the Tamale ($13). Its sweet and smokey tortilla cream was super corny (in the best sense of the word), refined yet primal, like sharing an excellent meal around a campfire. Next was Lubina Ceviche with leche de tigre and meyer kosho ($23). Google translated: Peruvian ceviche-style sea bass with a fermented citrus/chili sauce. Silky ribbons of the fish were laced in a funky, tangy, sweet, salty, spicy tangle that left our tongues shocked, confused, and desperate for another taste.
Returning to the theme of the evening, the Pescado Tacos (two for $16) were like nothing I’ve tasted before. A shattering tempura coating on a chunk of fluke was crowned with a chiffonade of cabbage, and at first bite I thought it was just a really good fish taco. Oh, but what lies beneath? A hefty dollop of the most unctuous surf-’n’-turf combo imaginable: squid ink (the truffle of the sea) and ash. It’s like your tastebuds just hit one of those deep, minor-key bass notes that scratches your eardrum, a la Close Encounters.
Lastly, we warmed back up with Regards’ signature dish, Arroz con Cangrejo ($26). Presented on the solid-black handmade plate was a perfect circle of crispy and chewy brown rice with sweet peekytoe crab and sections of husk cherries. And it came with instructions! A spoonful of sauce lay in the middle and our spoons played Hungry Hungry Hippos trying to get the perfect bite. They were all perfect. The whole dinner was.
Regards is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
