As you’ve probably noticed Portland Food Map looks a little different today. The old homepage, which served the site well when it first launched, has been redesigned to provide more space for the news updates and better access to site features.

Along with the new homepage design comes a few additional capabilities for you  including an RSS feed and the ability to comment on the posts, as well as making it easier for me to post news items. Also you can now search 400+ Portland food websites right from the homepage.

Here’s a brief PFM feature history:

August 7, 2007 – PFM Launched

September 3/4, 2007 – The Unreviewed and Under Construction lists

October 9, 2007 – Category Street Maps

November 28, 2007 – Portland Food Search

February 2, 2008 – Sunday Brunch List

April 7, 2008 – Event Calendar

January 1, 2009 – the new homepage blog

I hope you like the new homepage design. Have a Happy New Year!

The 10 restaurants looked up most often during the month of December were:

1. Loco Pollo (-)
2. Emilitsa (2)
3. Evangeline (3)
4. Bresca (4)
5. Back Bay Grill (6)
6. Caiola’s (7)
7. Five Fifty-Five (13)
8. David’s (34)
9. Bibo’s Madd Apple Cafe (46)
10. Miyake (9)

The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.

The Portland Phoenix has reviewed Arabica.

“Coffee preferences are profoundly idiosyncratic, but I find their dark roast a bit light and a hair under-brewed. It’s more nutty and smooth than rich and full. The espresso drinks, where technique is more important, are consistently excellent in the hands of the experienced staff.”

There’s an interview published in today’s newspaper with Paula Pelczar from Make Thyme for Dinner for the ShopTalk column. Pelczar’s business is a “meal assembly business” in South Portland which provides the raw materials, kitchen equipment and recipes for people to cook family meals in advance.

Port City Life interviewed Rob Evon, the administrator of Port City Music Hall, for the January/February edition of the magazine (article not available online). Port City Music Hall is scheduled to open in mid-January.