FollowPaper City. The Smell of Money, sulfur, rolling into north Deering. It used to be Westbrook, it stinks.
But, Frenchtown, Brown St. family dinners smells of Quebec. Smells of roast, smells of creton of home.
Today, suburban Portland. 8 pizza joints on Main Street. The smell of Angelone’s of fresh ingredients. Pizza Only. Cash Only.
Of Guidi’s of mammouth lazy day breakfasts. A Bradleez Plaza, 2 eggs, 2 toast, 2 pancakes, 2 bacon, 2 sausage and coffee for 9 bucks. Delicious, gargantuan, gluttony, a food coma.
The curry of The Dancing Elephant dances on the tongue. Delicious, new. Lunch Buffet $9.99, wonderful hopes it survives the curse of that space.
Of China Villa, which inspired this post, the smell of corn starch frying, that wonderful smell of take out Chinese, and one of the most craveable things in town Fried Pork Dumplings.
The delicious ice cream and chocolate of Catbird Creamery. An ice cream sandwich of Brown Sugar ice cream between two snickerdoodles, amazing.
The Frog and Turtle on a Sunday morning, a memere, a dish that reminds chef James Tranchmontagne about his grandmother, 2 poaches eggs on an English muffin with creton, slow cooked pork, with excellent dijon mustard, Francophone, classic, delicious.
The smell of poutine, the cheese curd melting with the gravy on French Fries, late night Montreal bar food, lovely, rich, delicious, decadent.
The smell of gas on the roads, car stopped, waiting, going home, getting there.
The smell of the spring, the new buds, the pollen in the air, the river in the distance.
The all too polluted Presumpcot in Westbrook, way better than it used to be except between the Sacarappa Falls and the mill, still open sewers, still fecund, still smelling. Needs to be better, wants to be an open river again. Amazing it’s the same river, now completely beautiful with the Presumpcot River hits Falmouth at Allen Avenue, and readies itself to enter the Casco Bay.
Westbrook, a city of smells, paper city, urban renewal, I do wonder what it once was. When Vallee Square was packed with stores, apartments and history and not torn down for CVS, Family Dollar and parking lots.
Westbrook it’s there, it’s close to Portland, still figuring out how not to be the Paper City, not sure what it is. Will it ever been an arts capital I don’t think so, Portland is simply too close and draws artistic energy all over the state. But looking out my window seeing the trees bud, the flags flying in the distance, the falls lurking behind the trees, it is beautiful.
Edmund