Gleason Fine Art Adds Color to Latest Portland Dining Experience

August 22, 2012

Take a handsome bed and breakfast in Portland’s historic Spring Street district, add a celebrity chef, mix well with artwork from one of Maine’s best-known galleries, and what have you got?—Carmen at  the Danforth, Portland’s hot new restaurant.

When Danforth Inn owner Kim Swan invited Dennis and Marty Gleason to select very special artwork to grace the walls of the inn for Swan’s collaboration with long-time friend, celebrity chef Carmen Gonzalez, the gallerists were thrilled at the chance to combine their own love of fine dining with selections from their stable of Maine art.

On opening day at Carmen at the Danforth, diners enjoyed cocktails in the grand salon hung with paintings by Henry Isaacs, Kevin Beers, and Phil Frey. A lush garden scene by Boothbay’s Andrea Peters complemented the Mad Men-era cocktail bar in the hall, and gourmands tucked into their appetizers under the quiet gaze of Helen St. Clair’s serene figural paintings in the first dining room.  In the second dining room, Brunswick artist Matt Barter’s rugged fishermen paintings formed a bold backdrop to Chef Gonzalez’s deftly composed and passionately seasoned dishes of crab, halibut, and lobster.

Outside, flanking the inn’s graceful entrance, a blazing red sculpture by Portland artist Jac Ouellette reminds diners that the Danforth is the place to go to experience the very best Portland has to offer in terms food, comfort, art, and drink.

Gleason Fine Art has galleries at 545 Congress Street in Portland (207-699-5599) and 31 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor (207-633-6849).  Carmen at the Danforth is located at 163 Danforth Street, on the corner of Winter and Danforth streets. The inn may be reached at 207-879-8755.

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