In the four newspapers that I read daily—the Portland Press Herald, the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Wall Street Journal—each except for the Journal has Wednesday food sections that are sometimes good and informative or hit and miss.

In Portland’s paper today, one of the features was about the benefits of flax seed oil. Its taste is described as nutty and flavorful. I’m not so sure about that. I take a spoonful everyday and I sort of hold my breath, close my eyes and swallow fast. It takes like rancid oil to me. What it does offer is many health benefits. It even helps, with extended use, to sooth joint pain.

The Times had a curious article written by Frank Bruni, the paper’s restaurant critic, my least favorite reviewer of the last 30 years that I’ve been gulping down that column’s insights or lack thereof. In it he describes a juxtaposition of roles that he undertook recently posing as a waiter at a Boston area restaurant.

Presumably he chose Boston for his experiment because of its distance from his home turf. It was a mildly amusing article on how a novice—and an unlikely one at that—saw first hand what it’s like to be a waiter. Obviously this was a nifty switch of tables for Mr. Bruni.

He chose the East Coast Grill in Cambridge because it’s owned by a friend of his and the ruse was easily perpetrated there. I’m not so sure he or his readers learned that much from the experiment We all know there’s nothing worse than an inexperienced waiter, and Bruni passed the test, according to his own assessment, with flying colors. Of interest were his observations of the dining public, depicted as self-absorbed malcontents whose appreciation of good food bordered on the absurd.

Perhaps we do enter a world of our own when we choose to dine in public. But it works both ways from either side of the table.

One of my waiter pet peeves—among many—is when you’ve finally gotten their attention to bring you the check and they leave the table instantly, making you spend another 5 to 10 minutes trying to lure them back to process the darn thing. Of course this generally happens at less serious establishment whose staff generally couldn’t care less. I think the wait staff at Portland’s better eateries are first rate. Places like Five Fifty Five, Back Bay Grill, Cinque Terre, Fore Street, Uffa, Oolong and others hold onto their best waiters for a long time and we all get to know each other on a first-name basis, which makes the entire experience very pleasingly cozy.

The Boston Globe’s section was not particularly inspiring today either, though at other times it is. I particularly like the paper’s Sunday magazine food section, which used to be the sole domain of the Sunday Times Magazine, which rarely publishes a single recipe worth saving anymore

This past Sunday The Globe featured a lemon pound cake that read beautifully. I’ve clipped the recipe and plan to make it to serve for dessert on Sunday for one of my Sunday night suppers of meatloaf, braised red cabbage, mashed potatoes and glazed carrots.

Another reporting trend that I’ve noticed in the Globe food section is their constant mention of various gourmet foods that are apparently available at Shaw’s supermarkets in Massachusetts. Is one to assume that the Maine chains carry these finds too? This week the paper mentioned the availability of heirloom tomatoes from Florida, which are the best you can get from the tomato world this time of year.

Interestingly I’ve never seen anything approaching gourmet status at our local Shaw’s. In fact I was in the newly expanded market in Falmouth yesterday and vowed never to go again. Hannaford’s is just as convenient for me and the foods they carry are more interesting. Even the health food section at Shaw’s is a token gesture whereas Hannaford’s is fairly compelling.

For one, you can’t get Smiling Hill dairy products at Shaw’s as you can at Hannaford’s. I needed milk and all they had was the kind that was fortified with all sorts of additives.

The meat department is a who’s who of plastic wrapped blandness. I bought two packages of Perdue chicken breasts to use in a recipe from Paula Wolfert’s new edition of the Cooking of Southwest France. When I started to prepare the meal I discovered that I had bought chicken tenders instead of skinless and boneless breasts. They look the same in the package. Without wearing my reading glasses I couldn’t see the small type that said chicken tenders. I compensated well enough.

I’m not saying that Hannaford’s is beneath selling chicken tenders, and they probably do. But at least they have Wolf Neck meat, fairly good naturally raised chickens and just about any cut of meat that you want.

A friend of mine who’s an expert on supermarket shopping swears by Shaw’s for packaged staples but goes to Hannaford’s for meat, dairy and vegetables. I don’t disagree.

Another interesting item today appeared in the Globe’s Sidekick section, a daily pullout of goings on in Boston from food to entertainment events and the TV listings.

Today’s food feature was an interesting query in their reader write-in column that posts various restaurant recipes requests.

A reader inquired about the crab cakes that are served at the King Eider Pub in Damariscotta. They are apparently the best she’s ever had.

I’ve had the crab cakes there and liked them very much The recipe is printed in the paper.

The two distinguishing characteristics of the preparation are this: the mix contains sour cream, an interesting touch, and the cakes are refrigerated for 24 hours before cooking. This last step is pretty standard in crab cake recipes since the mixture generally needs at least a few hours of chilling to firm up before cooking. They sound delicious, and I’m going to make them. If you want the recipe, more than you want to buy the paper, send me an email and I’ll send it along.

There are certain New England staples of regional cooking that we all seem to love, and for good reason. Crab cakes are one. Lobster bisque and clam chowder are another. The two best lobster bisques I’ve had locally are served at The Cumberland Club and the Portland Country Club.

I haven’t particularly sought out great clam chowders elsewhere, though I had very good fish chowder at Scales recently, and the Porthole fish chowder is fabulous.

By standards the Porthole is underrated. It may look like a wharf-side dive but the food can be very good. Their soups are excellent and hearty enough to be an entire meal.

I love soup for lunch because they’re filling, tasty and very satisfying as a cold weather palliative.

In fact there are a lot of preparations from our local restaurants that are worthwhile. I love the sweet potato fries at Norm’s Barbeque. The flatbread at Five Fifty Five is terrific as is the mushroom dusted scallops at Back Bay Grill.

Give me the tomato tart at Fore Street anytime when it’s served in the summer and fall, or their sautéed livers, simple and well prepared.

I wish Katahdin still had blue plate specials, but I’ll settle for one of their martinis, the best in town.

The other day I had lunch at the Front Room and my guest ordered the Croque Monsieur, a massive rendition of the sandwich that looked incredible. According to my lunch companion it was. The Front Room has really hit our dining scene in a big way. Each time I go I have a great meal. I’m sure it will be the success story of 2006.

Recently I had roast quail as my entrée at dinner, and it’s one of the best preparations I’ve had in a long time. I also sampled the cornbread, which is available as a side dish. There are many ways to make cornbread. The Front Room’s is more cakelike and very moist. Try it. It’s very good.

It was recently reported to me that Pat’s, above Pat’s meat market on Steven’s Avenue, is worth visiting. A friend of mine who’s a true food maven said he had a terrific meal there. I haven’t been to Pat’s in a long time and will try it out soon.

Though I’ve been sworn to secrecy, there are a few restaurants in the planning stages that will be opening in Portland by the spring. They all sound extremely promising.

Stay tuned.

E-mail this entry to a friend