Five thousand square feet filled with eighteen stained glass windows, pews, candles, and enraptured guests. Sounds a lot like any neighborhood church. But the Chestnut Street United Methodist Church, renovated over a two-year period and reborn this July as Grace restaurant, is anything but normal: Going to church has never been so delicious.

Owners Peter and Anne Verrill, also of the popular Foreside Tavern in Falmouth, saw the space in November of 2007 and had faith. The extensive renovation of the church, originally built in the 1850s, resulted in a breathtakingly beautiful 178-seat restaurant that is one of the latest buzz-worthy additions to Portland’s restaurant repertoire.

Fifty welcoming and cordial employees navigate guests between two bars, a second-floor lounge, and two levels of regular tables, depending on what kind of eating experience is desired. Cooking takes place in the dramatic open kitchen appropriately located in the former altar.

The first-floor, thirty-seat, twenty-two-feet in diameter circular bar with its sleek design and signature triquetra-shaped canopy exudes coolness — and comfort — and is the obvious focal point of the restaurant. (There is also a smaller upstairs bar great for people-watching and an upstairs lounge for comfortable seat-seekers.) The bar menu, which is served until midnight along with all the desserts, includes a sous vide-then-grilled-to-order burger topped with Vermont cheddar, pickled onions, and tomato confit and other foods perfect for accompanying the restaurant’s reasonably priced and varied libations. The jalapeño margarita, salaciously called the “Heated Affair,” is a must-try concoction. And revelers can enjoy live music on Saturday nights until midnight. Sharing an alleyway with Merrill Auditorium, Grace is also a great go-to spot for pre- or post-performance victuals.

The regular menu comprises more formal dining fare, from a sumptuous seared baby octopus to vegetarian goat cheese gnocchi (which should be called pillows of heaven) to traditional hanger steak. The food is varied, creative, satisfying — and surprising. A touch of sugar mixed in with salt, herbs, and roasted garlic oil on the blanched then deep fried green beans makes this side sinfully delicious. Local Geary’s beer gives the chocolate brownie ganache a welcome bitterness and balance.

Executive chef Eric Simeon, previously of Aquavit, Picholine, and other New York restaurants, has no agenda other than delicious food. “I’m not trying to reinvent anything,” says Simeon, who after spending nine years in New York made the move to Maine specifically to work at Grace. “I just want to work with as much local stuff as I can, including produce, meat, and fish.” Simeon’s worldly culinary influences from Mexican to African are nicely integrated into Grace’s distinctive new American offerings.

Grace is an ambitious restaurant that successfully bestows on its guests the multiple meanings of its name. “The original intention of grace,” says Anne Verrill, “is everything from beauty down to the actual saying of grace at the table.” After a feast or a bite, a cocktail or a bottle, guests will certainly have plenty to be grateful for.
 
Grace. 15 Chestnut Street, Portland. Open Tuesday to Saturday: bar open 4 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.; dining 5 to 10:30 p.m. Handicap accessible. 207-828-4422.  www.restaurantgrace.com