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Food for Thought
John Golden has written about food for Gourmet, Food and Wine, the New York Times, New York Post, the Daily News and was an editor at Cuisine and publisher of Good Foods Magazine. He now lives in Portland, where he dines out, or searches the area's markets for the best foods to prepare himself.

Blog Index
April 11, 2005
Chute's Is A Hoot

My quest for perfect coffee-shop fare, greasy-spoon grub or just good old-fashioned home cooking is taking a premature breather. While the food can generally be satisfying and filling and good to the last licking drop, too much of it goes a long way quickly.

That’s how I felt today after I finished my lunch at Chute’s, the Windham family style dining cave along Route 302.

Like the Busy Bee, Chute’s is open for breakfast and lunch only, closing at 1 pm daily. The menu is eggs, eggs, eggs, which I don’t eat often because I have a tendency towards high cholesterol.

Still what I ate was very tasty, spicy, filling and will probably literally stick to my ribs for weeks to come. I decided, though, that this is not what I want to eat on a regular basis.

I’m content to satisfy my urge for road side food occasionally.

The egg dishes at Chute’s are certainly creative. I sampled the Swedish Hash, amongst many other hash versions on the menu. Mine was a slathering cornucopia of beef, chicken and ham mixed in with perfect home-fries and carmelizerd onions, with eggs over it and 2 slices of thick homemade bread buttered and toasted on the grill.

The hash was absolutely delicious. The potatoes were crunchy, just the way home-fries should be, and the onions and spices really brought it all together. The bread functioned like a utensil, as I used it to push all the ingredients together so it could be eaten with proper gusto.

Afterwards and several diet Pepsis later I felt like a burst sofa as I took to the road along the arduous drive back to Portland on Route 302.

I’m sure breakfast time at places like Chute’s is filled with people who go there every morning for one of these monstrous meals. It may all taste great. But every day?

Still, if you’re in the area, famished, don’t care about your weight, in perfect health and have nothing better to do, by all means go to Chute’s. It’s a hoot.


Posted by John Golden at 03:35 PM

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Comments

I've enjoyed your posts on breakfast places and was wondering if an investigation into decent weekend brunch spots might be needed. I recently tried Bintliff's, which I'd heard was THE place for brunch, but was underwhelmed. Any thoughts?

Posted by TM
April 18, 2005 11:52 AM

good idea about brunches. One place in particular is Pier 77 in Cape Porpoise, right on the harbor. Fabulous spot and delicious food.

Posted by John Golden
April 18, 2005 12:45 PM

You were right about Chutes. It's like going home to mom's. You can eat there on vacation, but need to walk around the lake to feel normal again. I was amazed at the variety of menu items for a little homestyle restaurant. The line was out the door with people waiting to get in. They must be doing something right! I live in Northern Calif. and we don't have anything near those fantastic prices, service and homemade jams. Can't wait to go back. It's a neat family history too if go in, ask for Maila- she knows it all.

Posted by Kate
July 4, 2007 02:20 PM

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