I’ve begun to think that the Portland dining scene has reached a saturation point. Since Caiola’s and the Front Room we haven’t had a new place to praise or bash in months. In fact, new if not exciting eateries around the state have, as far as I know, not appeared.

I still long for something new and exciting to open, whether it’s in Kittery or Bar Harbor. Not that I’d make Kittery a destination for dining, though I have been to Bar Harbor recently where I spent a few nights and endured the feral flush of their off-season dining choices.

If I have two hopes and desires it’s these: that one day someone will open a restaurant that not only serves exciting food but does so in formidable surroundings.

Get Real Get Maine is against the law in the city of Portland. You’ve seen this catchy promotional line everywhere, above baskets of apples to larders full of organic meats, dairy and poultry.

But apparently the city thinks otherwise. Specifically the Portland City Clerk says its illegal to sell meats at the city’s farmer’s markets.

I found this out today when I went to the Wednesday Farmer’s Market that’s on Monument Square.

Those brave, hearty farmers have been there most of the winter on Wednesdays. Two months ago, for instance, I stopped by the Sumner Valley stand and bought a pork roast, eggs, a chicken (the best) and bacon –all farm raised, natural and organic. What a treat it was to get farm fresh goods in early March.

So today when I stopped by, on this dreary, cold, damp day, the farmer said she could no longer sell pork or any other meat.

Apparently the city clerk cited an ordinance that seems to allude to a prohibition of selling meat products at farmer’s markets in the city.

Actually the clerk indicated in a letter to those affected farmers that the law is unclear so that it’s best to be cautious and ban any such activity until someone can decide what is legal.

The Portland City Council is looking into the matter and we can only hope they come to a conclusion before the first frost.

Meanwhile if you want farm fresh products otherwise forbidden in Portland you can go to Cumberland, Westbrook, Saco, Kennebunk and other such uncivilized locales where farm fresh is still a notion worth pursuing.