CENTRAL PROVISIONS

Every winter, my friends and I gather at a low-slung, brickwalled Portland restaurant that’s a passageway to another world: a cross between Cheers and Beowulf. Here, the clouds are lined with charcuterie. Pungent, runny cheese flows as the wind and snow howl outside. Gluttony is expected; the faint aroma of whiskey fills the air. Within this cozy refuge, linger over spoonfuls of bone marrow and toast; slather on the red-onion jam a little thicker. Laughter ricochets off the brick walls as darkness falls. What’s one more glass of wine?

– KARA BASKIN 414 Fore Street, Portland, Maine, 207-805-1085, central-provisions.com