In Portland, Maine last week I had lunch with my 12 year old son Will at Duckfat, a casual restaurant at 43 Middle Street near (not in) the Old Port section of town. Duckfat is one of three restaurants diagonally across the street from Rabelais Books, a bookstore dedicated to 'fine books on food & drink'. Browsing in Rabelais I asked which of the restaurants we should try for lunch, half expecting a non-committal 'depends on what you like' answer. The actual answer was, 'Duckfat, all the restaurants are good, but Duckfat is special.' Duckfat was special.
Like any 12 year old, Will eats a lot of French Fries. He said Duckfat's are the best he has had, worth a special trip. He said, if we go to Maine next year, we need to go back to Duckfat.
Having recently tried poutine for the first time in Montreal, I was not satisfied to have plain French Fries. We had Duckfat's version of poutine with local Maine cheese curd and house made duck gravy. Will accompanied the poutine with a chocolate milk shake. I wish I still had the blast furnace metabolism of a 12 year old boy. The poutine was insanely good. The fries were awesome on there own, crisp and richly flavored (I think duck fat is second only to butter in making anything cooked in it taste good). The cheese was good, but not so strong as to overshadow the fries. The gravy was mild, but made everything hold together.
I can't wait to go back.