I’m patiently waiting—maybe even somewhat impatiently—for the new wave of restaurants to open in the Portland area. There’s a lot of talk and promise of new venues to come but nothing is really set in stone as far as I know.

Some enterprising restaurateur should take over the former Stein Gallery space on Middle Street. I could see that as a whopping good locale for an ambitious eatery to set up shop in style.

There’s talk, however, of a knock-your-socks off high-end eatery, with a famous chef, opening up in the still unbuilt Eastern Waterfront condos, which are pending approvals and other data too complicated for us mortals to understand.

Then there’s the upcoming resurrection of the soon to be former Jordan’s Meat Packing building on Middle and India streets that will house a Westin hotel and host a star-studded restaurant. In no time that part of Middle Street will be interesting indeed and could very well become an intriguing restaurant row.

Then this summer Dana Street will open an all American bakery, and I think that’s a good idea. Fore Street’s dessert menu is about as good as it gets for down-home sweets. I’ve already put my order in for Shoo-fly Pie and Grasshopper Squares.

Yet none of the future promises held promise for last night as I searched my mind trying to figure out where I wanted to dine. I’d been everywhere at least once in the last week, with no complaints whatsoever. I even had a nice little Sunday brunch at Uffa.

With trepidation we stumbled into Katahdin last night. Though it had fallen out of favor in my book I decided to go if we could find a place to park in the lot across the street on Spring St. It must have been fate. There were two empty spaces and we took one.

If you recall I had some unkind words about the place several months ago and vowed never to go back.

My friend tagging along really didn’t’ want to go. I said, “C’mon, at least we know the drinks are good.”

The lesson is never say never. Life goes on and sometimes there are changes for the better.

I’ll say right now that as soon as we walked in I knew we were in for a good evening. I’ve been getting these premonitions lately whereby I sense instantly if a restaurant will be good or not.

I don’t lay any claims to sixth sense, or that sort of thing. Perhaps it’s my sunny disposition that gives me a leg up on intuition.

Katahdin is such a funny place really. It has the incongruent interior décor of a 1970s hippy dive yet is peopled by a mix of artsy locals, upright upwardly mobile types and well to do neighborhood denizens of the Western Prom who cruise down the hill to start off with a well deserved cocktail.

That’s just what we did, offered by the cheeriest waitress in town, Mia, who’s about as affable, able and funny as Aunt Molly on a world cruise. There should be more servers like Mia in the city.

Winnie Moody, the manager and the bartender, is a wizard behind the bar, and many Portlanders come in there just for her expert libations.

If I had complained about the menu being too esoteric, with everything soused in a soppy, sweet sauce of some kind, it’s been toned down enormously. In fact, the menu reads beautifully now under the able hands of chef/owner Becky Lee Simmons.

For starters there were such choices as skillet steamed mussels in an orange fennel broth; crab cakes with aioli; Damariscotta oysters on the half shell; goat cheese fondue; and an asparagus tart. On the lighter side offerings included some very nice sounding salads—like an organic green salad, with tomatoes and pink pepper corn dressing; baby spinach, apples, candied walnuts and gorgonzola; and arugula with grapefruit, cucumber and avocado, about as California as one can get.

What’s quickly brought to the table is a wonderful basket of Katahdin’s home-made focaccia. The bread is cut into half-inch wide sticks and served in a nice bread basket along with some very good olive oil. I wish the bread had been warm. Yet the flavor and texture were wonderful. The bread was about as addictive as eating potato chips. Sad to say we devoured two bread baskets.

I chose the goat cheese fondue to start. The preparation involves creamed goat cheese mixed with Kalamata and green olives, put into a small crock, baked, topped with Parmesan and served simmering and bubbly, accompanied by grilled strips of their wonderful focaccia.

I loved the dish. I mean, what could be bad about good tasting goat cheese, well flavored and served in a precious cauldron of steaming hot flavors? It was my own private dip and I ate every bit of it.

My friend had the oysters, which were fresh and perfectly briny.

It wasn’t easy to choose an entrée because there were so many that sounded good. There was hangar steak, a robust offering when done well, and a Thai version of scallops, pan roasted with basil, ginger and coconut milk that I will try on another occasion. I’ve had the salmon with a miso before and it’s good. The glazed pork tenderloin with red wine sour cherry sauce is sweet but very tasty. Other dishes included the roast duck breast with oregano blackberry puree and a very intriguing sounding shrimp and white bean sauté with pancetta, arugula and shaved Pecorino. There was also a vegetarian offering of wild mushroom cakes with ricotta, dandelion greens, sweet red onion and crème fraiche.

I was in the mood for beef and ordered the marinated grilled hangar steak, and my dining companion had the special of the day, pan roasted filet of halibut.

My hangar steak was perfect. It was marinated in a sugar based soy sauce mxiture that when grilled imparted a lovely crisp, slightly caramelized crust around the meat. I ordered it medium rare and that’s exactly how it arrived. It was served with garlic mashed potatoes, which were perfectly pureed and subtly flavored with garlic, and a mix of sautéed greens—which I think were a mélange of escarole, mustard greens and Swiss chard.

The halibut was served over garlic mashed potatoes and topped with a mushroom ragout and sautéed braised greens. This dish too was very appealing. The fish was perfectly cooked--delicate, flaky and very fresh tasting. Halibut is such a good fish anyway. The kitchen did it justice.

We chose two very good desserts--a vanilla caramel flan and a pear and almond custard tart. In a matter of moments we virtually inhaled our desserts as though we were in rarefied air.

In essence it was a simple dinner, loaded with wonderful flavors in an atmosphere that’s utterly casual and fun. I’m thrilled that Katahdin is back in my good standing, and I will go back again and again.

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