Beyond

Portland, Maine

Although Maine is the biggest state in the New England region of the US, it’s arguably one of the least well-known and well-traversed. That should change in 2020 with the state’s headline-making bicentennial. What visitors to the city of Portland can expect to encounter is a thriving yet laid-back destination with outsize culinary talent. (US-based Bon Appetit magazine named Portland ‘restaurant city of the year’ in 2018, citing among the proof: The Shop by Island Creek Oysters, Drifters Wife and Little Giant, which happens to be owned by Ian and Kate Malin, who lived previously in Hong Kong.) Coffee roasters and craft brewers vie for business with bakers and restaurants, all making the most of stellar local produce. To mark the big birthday there will be festivals and exhibitions, including one celebrating 13,000 years of the indigenous Wabanaki people; concerts include a bicentennial gala by the Portland Symphony Orchestra.