My wife and I accidentally stumbled upon Zeta Cafe's first "soft opening" night last night - it's the new dinner spot in South Portland's Legion Square. While it's totally unfair to do anything like a review of a restaurant on opening night, here are a few observations:

Order the hummus plate. House-made, with what seemed like as much garlic as chickpeas, it was a wake-up call to the tastebuds, and a great prep for what was to come.

Erik Desjarlais's restaurant, Evangeline, was just named one of America's top ten French restaurants by Saveur magazine's editor-in-chief, James Oseland, in an article in USA Today.

He and his wife, Krista Desjarlais of Bresca, will soon be starting 12 Seats, which may allow Erik even more room to experiment with his talents.