Bangor, ME, Cafe Nouveau

A wine tasting and dining adventure capped off our final night in Bangor. Susan, our brother-in-law Carl and I left their home in Orono, just a few miles north of Bangor, at about a quarter to six in the evening and drove into quiet (very quiet) downtown Bangor where we first stopped at the public library. Although Bangor is a small city it nevertheless has one fantastic library: a beautiful old building that has been lovingly preserved and greatly expanded. The interior is quite new and fully up-to-date with pretty much everything you’d expect form a new library these days: computers galore, in particular.

From the library we walked a couple of blocks up to Hammond Street to the Bangor Wine and Cheese shop for their monthly wine tasting. The shop is jammed pack with wines and cheeses of course, in addition to plenty of microbrews and various other food treats.

The tasting was comprised of six reds and six whites, each color having it’s own table, with one on one side of the shop and one on the other, separated by a table of palate cleansers, delicious breads and several cheeses as well as a tapanade (all available for sale of course). Spit buckets and carafes of rinsing water were available on each table as well. This was well thought out and carefully planned to be sure.
Both tables contained wines representing a broad swath of producers from around the world: a red blend from Lebanon (pricey), a chardonnay from China (somewhat off putting we all thought), in addition to Austria, California, Italy, France, Spain and Chile. We had a grand time and chatted a few folks in the bargain. Maine is a pretty small place indeed. (photos above and below, Bangor Wine and Cheese shop)

Bangor Wine and Cheese, 86 Hammond st., Bangor, ME, ph: 207.942.3338

After the tasting the three of us stepped next door to the Café Nouveau for dinner. Leslie thistle, owner of the wine shop also operates this small but distinctly unique café. Why unique? The menu is different than one normally finds in this part of Maine, and while portions are small, the food very tasty. Susan and Carl had the blackened salmon and I had a delicious duck breast. Salads were fresh and in very typical French style came with a dressing already on them (no litany of: “1000 island, French or blue cheese”). Service was slow probably a consequence of a very small kitchen. My one complaint was my appetizer of lobster brioche had virtually no lobster in it, although the lobster bisque, which covered the very tasty brioche, was nevertheless very tasty.

Café Nouveau, 84 Hammond st., Bangor, ME, ph: 207.942.3336