Dinner at the Cafe Francisco's dresses up the Blue House BY ANDY KING
	FRANCISCO’S FRANCISCO’S 1081 Brighton Ave, Portland, 207.347.8050; Call for hours.

When you see an "at" in the moniker of something, you picture a something fancy, or grand, located at a spot even fancier, or with more grandeur. Example: The Inn at Little Washington is perhaps the world’s best luxury inn surrounded by some of this country’s most beautiful landscape, and contains perhaps the best restaurant in the hemisphere. Charles Ives’s composition of his watershed orchestral essay "Housatonic at Stockbridge" used an ethereal bend in the famous river as his inspiration; we must get it from our English cousins with their Stratford-upon-Avons and their Burton-on-Trents.

And I’m not making fun, but I think it’s kind of funny that what might be the smallest restaurant in the state, located in the smallest breakfast and lunch place in the state, is called, rather stoically, Francisco’s at the Blue House Café.

What chef/owner David Mallari, a smiling, close-cropped mountain of a man, lacks in elbow room he makes up for with charm. Fully embracing the intimate theme dictated by the eight walls that make up the dining area, eating there involves a lot of interaction with the staff, a table visit from the chef, and all those things that we love about small start-ups. The best example of this: the L.D.T. This isn’t a sandwich (although lettuce, duck, and tomato sounds pretty boss to me), it’s the Least Desirable Table. This deuce, which abuts the door, has a framed message on it stating that if you sit at the L.D.T., you will enjoy a complimentary soup or salad with your meal. They’ll even tempt you with it when you come in. We chose against it, but the folks that came in right after us jumped at the chance.

Expect fantastically perky service, especially from the decidedly friendliest server in the entire country. I’m a tool and forgot to get her name, but you’ll know exactly who I’m talking about. Very chipper. Pronounces the "t" at the end of the words "all right!" chipper. Loved her.

Francisco’s menu is self-described as "an international culinary journey," which is a slight relief. Nine times out of ten, dining at a restaurant whose menu is all over the map means that none of the items shine — kind of a Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none thing. To make that their goal off the bat, rather than have that be the result of poor planning, makes seeing multiple countries represented more comforting, especially when they’re as varied as Argentina, the Philippines, Italy, and Japan.

While I was eying the Mongolian Hot Pot for Two as a starter, we ended up with the Vegetable Lumpia (fried spring rolls with plum sauce) and a twist on a childhood favorite of mine: Fried Brie. The five Lumpia were decent, über-hot and crisp, but not overwhelming. The Brie balls were coated in Panko bread crumbs, which are a coarser grind, resulting in a crisper crust that releases the fryer oil better. The secret behind their cheese frying technique made itself apparent, as the center of each round ball was quite cold, one even a bit frozen. Each was drizzled with a piquant merlot syrup which was potent enough to cut through the richness of both the cheese and the frying process. I would have spread it on the table bread if I hadn’t already slathered the bread in the accompanying olive oil with mashed garlic in it.

"The kiss of death," wife Jackie muttered, watching me consume at least three cloves.

"Nope," I replied, "That’ll be later. Whoo!"

The entrees followed suit in culinary variability. Pancit Bihon belies Chef David’s Philippine roots, a bowl of rice noodles with sautéed vegetables, pork, sausage, and shrimp. The overall flavor of the dish was subtle but clearly sour, with fish sauce making its presence felt mostly in the aroma. It’s similar to a toned-down Pad Thai.

I had to try the house specialty, the Timballo di Macaroni, layers of pasta and vegetables baked in a pastry crust. It was just that, served with my choice of Italian sausage and the vegetable medley of the night — never my favorite accompaniment, but the carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower were cooked and seasoned well nonetheless.

House desserts were fine, almond joy ice cream and watermelon sorbet. They aren’t currently made in house, but will be shortly.

So what we have here is the beginning of what there aren’t a lot of in this age of the shiny and trendy: a homey, intimate, friendly place, bent on personalized service and providing a nice meal for a great price. The menu will tighten up and take on more of a cohesive form over time, but even so it’s fun to visit a restaurant where the excitement of starting up is still palpable.

WATCH OUT! Francisco’s will be putting on international-themed dinners throughout the year. Saturday, September 24 will be a gen-u-ine pig roast (are there two words that sound better together?), and a percentage of the proceeds benefits CarePartners, which helps provide health insurance to low-income families.

Andy King can be reached at dinnerwithandy@yahoo.com