July 6
Burrito, received an enthusiatic 4 stars from this week's Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram. "Excellent if not perfectly authentic burritos, enchiladas, rellenos and more create an exciting opportunity for anyone with an appetite."
Type A Diversions has put together a handy list of places to enjoy lobster rolls in the Portland area.
The South Portlander asked Bob Johnson, owner of Scratch Bakery, for some recommendations on summer wines.
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July 4
The new print edition of The Bollard has hit the streets. This month's edition includes a review of Medeo and a new installment from The Land of the Forgotten Cocktail series by award-winning bartender John Myers. Copies can be found just about anywhere free newspapers are distributed. I picked up my copy at Maple's Gelataria.
Port City Studios has posted an article extolling the virtues of the North Street Community Garden. "I am going to put it out there that the North Street Community Garden in Portland is the most scenic community garden in the country."
Accidental Vegetables has reviewed Bresca. "Our meal at Bresca was, overall, quite delicious. If you detect a tone of disappointment in this entry, it's because it didn't quite live up to its reputation, I thought."
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July 3
The Eat & Run column in today's Press Herald reviewed The Merry Table. "The Merry Table offers a nice alternative to grabbing a sandwich for lunch in downtown Portland. The savory crepes are a touch more expensive than an Old Port sandwich, but well worth it for both the quality and the change of pace."
Also in today's paper was a Community Voices commentary by Rabbi Akiva Herzfeld on living to eat vs eating to live, and an article about Roger Doiron's organization Kitchen Gardeners International. Due to technical problems at MaineToday.com it hasn't appeared on the newspaper's website yet.
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July 2
Type A Diversions has reviewed the Conundrum Wine Bistro. "Conundrum does not serve overly creative fare, but rather simple dishes done well. This is one my favorite spots in Southern Maine for drinks and appetizers - they make a mean martini, have a diverse wine list and an excellent selection of appetizers and cheeses."
If you're headed to the Eastern Promenade to watch the fireworks Friday night there are a couple alternatives to the fried dough and other street fare that you might want to check out. Bar Lola is selling box dinners to go, pulled pork sandwich, potato salad, mexican brownie and ice tea or lemonade. Rosemont's location on Munjoy Hill is planning to up the number of pizza and sandwiches for sale as well.
PORTopera, Portland summer opera company, is producing a cookbook this year, Cucina de Bel Canto. According to the Press Herald, the "cookbook contains more than 500 recipes from area chefs, foodies, singers and board members, as well as images from past productions."
There's a late addition to this week's event calendar. Luke Livingston from BlogAboutBeer.com and Jason Burks from BeerBloggers.com will be giving a talk tonight from 6-7 pm at Prost!. The talk "will cover some of the basics, such as selecting proper glassware, pouring properly, beer temperature and how it effects taste, etc."
Local Foodie is begining the second year that she and her husband are eating a locavore diet.
Food historian Sandy Oliver has written a follow-up article on the Crowne Pilot cracker situation for The Working Water.
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July 1
The 10 restaurants and bars viewed most often on Portland Food Map during the month of June were:
- Evangeline
- Novare Res
- Bresca
- The Grill Room
- Chef et al.
- Caiola's
- Emilitsa
- Five Fifty-Five
- Prost! International Tap House
- Food Factory Miyake
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June 30 pm
Samantha Hoyt Lindgren of Rabelais appeared on the radio as part of the Sunrise Bookshelf show on WUML in Lowell, MA.
Masala Mahal, an Indian market in South Portland, has been added to the site.
Commune Tested, City Approved has posted a review of Novare Res. "For the past month, Novare Res has been serving up more than 200 bottled beers and an ever changing selection of 25 beers on tap. And the food is amazing."
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June 30 - This Week's Events
Tuesday night the owner and brewers of Allagash will be on hand at Novare Res, the beer bar will have 10 Allagash products on tap that night. The next training run for the Wine Flight 5k is taking place on Tuesday; Walter's is the destination. There are wine tastings taking place this week on Friday at the West End Grocery and on Saturday at Leroux. Farmers' Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be a Jazz Breakfast at the Portland Museum of Art. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
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June 29
Nakornping Thai, received 3 stars from this week's Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram. " . . . Nakornping's appetizers, like the sate and the 'shrimp in a blanket,' are excellent, and some of the entrees I tried rate just as highly. Only a few overcooked main ingredients detracted from the meals' good quality."
The Thai restaurants in Portland will have some additional competion when the new Thai buffet that's now under construction on Congress St opens. The new restaurant will be located at the former location of D'Angelo's.
Today's edition of the Maine Sunday Telegram has an interesting article on the resurgence of grain farming and milling in Maine and an article on the red tide outbreak affecting the shellfish industry.
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June 28
In her debut as the new blogger for 1:00 a.m. Curfew, Amy Martin has reviewed Prost! International Tap House.
You can tell it's strawberry season by the number of strawberry festivals taking place. New Gloucester had theirs on Thursday and today there are ones in South Freeport and North Yarmouth. If you don't have time for either of those options then go to this morning's farmers' market in Deering Oaks where there's sure to be plenty of fresh strawberries for sale.
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June 27
There's a new article on Chow Maine about Tropa Wine Co., a new wine shop located in the West End.
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June 26
Today's Press Herald reviewed North Star Music Cafe. "The North Star's niche is comfort. The cafe is spacious."
New England Couture Cakes was profiled in this week's edition of The Maine Switch.
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June 25
This week's edition of the Portland Phoenix includes an interview with Blake Smithson, former owner of Chickey's Fine Diner, about the regional variations of barbeque in the US.
There's a late addition to this week's event calendar. Bibo's Madd Apple Cafe is holding a wine dinner on Friday featuring wines from South Africa.
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June 23 - This Week's Events
The Greek Heritage Festival is taking place this week Thursday through Saturday. On Thursday, The Cheese Iron is holding a class on goat cheeses. Kitchen & Cork is holding a course on kitchen knife skills Wednesday. On Saturday they are offering a cooking class that will take students shopping at the Portland farmers' market and to other shops, and then return to the store's kitchen to prepare a meal with their purchases. Browne Trading is holding a Wine tasting on Thursday. Farmers' Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be a Jazz Breakfast at the Portland Museum of Art. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
Club Onyx opened for business last week.
A Taste of New York has been added to the list of food carts.
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June 22
Tu Casa, received 3 stars from this week's Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram. "Well-made, inexpensive Salvadoran standards fit the bill for a great casual dinner out."
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June 20
This week's edition of The Forecaster has a write up about Mark's Hot Dogs 25th anniversary, and an article about The Icehouse ending the legal battles over their liquor license.
The Great Lost Bear won the Best Beer Bar category in Cheers magazine's annual Benchmark Awards.
Francisco's Culinary Journey has reviewed Bayou Kitchen. " . . . we've been back every week. That says a lot about a place! I'm now hooked on the Bayou Scramble . . . "
Bresca's menu is now online at their MySpace page.
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June 19
John Everett has written a farewell article for his bar blog, 1:00 a.m. Curfew packed with parting advice on things like "pregaming", Homerunners and his favorite bars in Portland. Amy Martin, a writer from The Maine Switch, will be taking over for John.
Todos Street Tacos has been added to the site's list of food carts
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June 18 pm
The Clown has decided to close its shop on Market Street in the Old Port. June 21 will be their last day in operation. Their two locations in Stonington and York will remain open.
There have been a couple late additions to this week's list of food events. Tomorrow afternoon, the Public Market House is holding a wine and cheese tasting. From a post on New2Maine.com I learned that Cinque Terre and Eve's are colaborating on a wine dinner tomorrow night showcasing the wines of Wente Vineyards. The dinner will be held at Eve's. For more information on both these events visit the Event Calendar
This week's edition of the Portland Phoenix reviewed the brunch offerings at Five Fifty-Five, Caiola's and Local 188. "Five Fifty-Five successfully dresses itself down for brunch. Local 188, already dressed down, seems to handle brunch more smoothly than its dinner service. Finally Caiola's, efficient and effortlessly elegant at night, is precisely the same in the morning."
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June 18 am
Portland 207 has posted Part 3 in his ongoing series listing all the restaurants and bars in the city with outdoor seating on decks, patios, sidewalks, etc. To get the full picture see also Part 1 and Part 2.
Commune Tested, City Approved has an article about harvesting wild ginger and other plants for a homemade wild-sourced salad.
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June 17 pm
Binga's Wingas in conjunction with Harpoon Beer is running a benefit tonight for Climb for Cancer Care. $1 will be donated for every Harpoon you order, $2 for orders of wings, fries or onion rings ordered.
The Bollard has the scoop on last night's City Council dileberations on the Porthole/Comedy Connection's outdoor deck. "City legal staff had recommended that councilors severely limit food and alcohol service – and prohibit entertainment – on the businesses' adjoining outdoor decks, due to waterfront zoning restrictions."
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June 17 am
Tropa Wine Co. is now open for business. The small wine store is located on Congress across the street from Local 188 and just around the corner from Evangeline.
If you need any reminder about how wonderful and remarkable to Portland restaurant scene is just take a look at this post on Chowhound.com. Chowhounder Anastasia came to Portland specifically for a "7 day foodie excursion". In a single week, she and her husband managed to pack in visits to Bar Lola, Five Fifty-Five, Miyake, Yosaku, Fuji, Mims, The Lobster Shack, Portland Lobster Co., Street & Co., Duckfat, Standard Baking and Shipyard. I can't think of any other city the size of Portland that people visit exclusively for the food.
A post by Portland Psst! tipped me off to this article about Maine wineries appearing in a recent edition of Mainebiz. Maine's weekly buisness magazine also has a story about Roger Doiron's nonprofit Kitchen Gardens International.
The Maine Beer Writer's Guild had their June meeting at Novare Res and several of the members have posted their thoughts about the meeting and the bar to their blogs: Blog About Beer, Beer, Maine & Me, BeerBloggers.com. Here are some more Novare Res-related posts from other blogs that have surfaced as well: Beer Locavore, The Sound Inside My Mind. The new beer bar has certainly generated a lot of buzz in the short time it's been open.
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June 16 - This Week's Events
Peakfest is being held this week Friday through Saturday. Bayside World Market & Fair is taking place on Saturday as is the Vegetarian Food Festival. An all star cast of local chefs is headed to Cow Island on Sunday to cook for the 3rd Annual Taste of the Nation dinner (tickets are still available). The second training run for the Wine Flight 5k is taking place on Tuesday. Wine tasting are taking place at Old Port Wine Merchants on Wednesday and Leavitt and Sons on Thursday. Farmers' Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be a Jazz Breakfast at the Portland Museum of Art. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
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June 15
Today's Press Herald reports that maple syrup production fell in Maine during 2008.
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June 14
The new issue of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine is out. It includes stories about the use of romanesco (a fractalish Italian broccoli) at Caiola's and the farm to table philosophy of Lee Skawinski from Cinque Terre. There's also an interesting piece by Sandy Oliver debunking the legend that felons in Maine's past refused to eat lobster more than twice a week.
Enjoy Your Meal has posted the menu for next weekend's Taste of the Nation dinner on Cow Island.
The Bollard has innagurated it's new The Maine Beer Guy column with a rundown of locally made summer brews. The Beer Guy is authored by Russ PHillips who writes a beer blog called Beer, Maine & Me.
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| See prior 2008 posts to the site |
| See 2007 posts to the site |