For over 15 years, Blue Moon Market and Café was a natural food store and casual restaurant. But in the fall of 2010 it morphed into Blue Moon Evolution, an elegant but unfussy lunch and dinner restaurant complete with refined table service, candlelight, white tablecloths, fresh flowers, and a superb locavore fine-dining menu. Much more than a glorified café, its worth seeking out this new Moon.
Ian Thomas doesn’t set out to create a signature dish—it’s more an act of spontaneity, a dash of chance. As the Executive Chef of The District restaurant explains, anyone can create an elaborate, beautiful-to-look-at dish—but it takes “real genius” to craft something that’s straightforward, yet elegant and, most important, delicious. “The simplest dishes usually become the signature ones,” says Thomas, who is most inspired by French and Asian fare.
After Congress Street meets Middle Street heading away from downtown Portsmouth, it becomes Islington, and veers slightly off the beaten path. But it’s worth exploring those extra few blocks to discover The Kitchen.
