Columnist Bill Nemitz has chronicled the back story of Eric Hughes and the launch of his food cart Eric’s Pizza Express in today’s Press Herald.

“At the end of the day, you feel good that you’ve done a full day’s work,” Eric said with a broad smile this week. “Especially when you haven’t worked in a while.”

Welcome to Eric’s Pizza Express, which opened two weeks ago at the corner of Marginal Way and Chestnut Street. It’s brought to you by, well, an entire community.

Munjoy Hill News has published a construction update on Trader Joe’s new store.

A subcontractor at the site said that the new store is scheduled to open on or by November 1st – that’s when the doors will be wide open to the public.

The Portland Phoenix has published a triple scoop review of Harbor Scoops, Mount Desert Island Ice Cream and Willard Scoops.

What explains the current craze for ice cream in Maine, which has resulted in several new businesses and recently overcame the nation’s President? Sure, it’s one of the hottest summers on record, and yes, ice cream is an affordable indulgence in a tough economy. But gazing upon the transfigured visage of a Mainer mid-lick, it is clear ice cream’s appeal lies deeper. As I have previously argued in these pages, desserts play to different parts of our psyche. Ice cream goes straight for the Id. In licking a cone, the unconquered infant within achieves regressive union with the milky sweetness.

A new Portland food blog entitled From Away which launched in July has been added to the PFM directory. It publishes reviews, brief tasting notes and general commentary. Recent posts have included a Bonobo vs Otto comparison and a review of Aurora Provisions.

Today’s Press Herald reports on the demolition and new plans for the 2 spots that had been the Ice House on York and Binga’s in Bramhall Square.

The building has been boarded up since it was damaged by a fire two years ago. Tod Dana, who bought the building, plans to open a…restaurant on the lot, at 231 York St.

There’s also an article about Portland area native, Zac Young who will compete in the Top Chef Just Desserts TV reality show.

While working in the wig department of the Radio City Rockettes, Young decided to take his passion for baking in a more serious direction and enrolled in and graduated from The Institute of Culinary Education in New York.

He later trained in France with Philippe Givre at Valrhona and Philippe Parc at Chocolate Michel Cluizel. His resume includes stints at Bouchon Bakery and Butter Restaurant.

Mainebiz has published an article on the challenges facing the Portland Fish Exchange.

Bert Jongerden, general manager of the fish exchange, maintains that the types of financial incentives offered to fishermen in the Bay State are desperately needed “to level the playing field” if Maine hopes to hold onto what’s left of its groundfishing industry. Those include such measures as allowing them to sell lobster bycatch (the lobsters that get caught in the groundfishermen’s nets) or passing a permanent rebate on the 5% diesel fuel tax.

The newspaper also includes a report on a new brewery in Portland called Rising Tide Brewing Company.

“It’s absolutely exciting,” says Sanborn as he works on setting up his new 1,500-square-foot space on Portland’s Industrial Way with beer barrels, fermenters and beer-making supplies. He has invested $30,000 of his own money to finance his passion for brewing after spending several years running Bush Fire Media, a graphic design and web development firm in Portland.

The Tuesday Portland Daily Sun includes an interview with Lisa Fernandes about her approach to permaculture.

Me: Are you trying to get off the grid completely?
Fernandes: It’s not our goal to be homesteaders in the city. I don’t think that doing things completely independently is an attractive or reasonable goal. But we do want to be able to withstand the energy challenges in this volatile economy. We plan to grow old here and want a place that will take care of us more than we’ll take care of it. We want it sustainable so that when we’re older there’s no digging or tilling.

Fernandes’s garden is a stop on the Backyard Locavore Tour taking place on August 14.

Small Wonder Organics is now selling shares for their Tomato Passion Club CSA. The program will start-up next week on August 11, and Rabelais will be serving as the pick-up point in Portland. CSA members will receive “no less than 36 lbs of organic tomatoes and at least 1 lb basil over six weekly distributions.”

Inspired by Broke 207′s list of cheap eats under $10, Brews & Books has put together a list of the best craft beers available for less than $8 a six pack.

After reading the list, I says to myself … “there should really be a list like this for beer!” A list of beer that doesn’t suck, and beer that isn’t super-expensive. Obviously, cost is relative (lots of people would call anything over five dollars for a six-pack outrageous), but I’m going to say that less than eight dollars for a bunch of really good beer is on the cheap end of the spectrum.

According to today’s Press Herald, the Clock Tower Cafe at City Hall is rethinking its menu to offer more healthy options.

Despite their popularity, items such as sugar-sweetened drinks and whoopie pies will disappear, Gardner said. Dishes like macaroni and cheese and taco salad may be reinvented using low-fat and whole-grain ingredients and be served in smaller, more appropriate portions. The nutritional values of different foods will be highlighted and healthier options will be featured.

Also in today’s paper is a report on the great season Maine beekeepers are having this year.

Tony Jadczak, the state’s bee inspector, said Maine’s average honeybee hive yields about 32 to 35 pounds of harvestable honey annually. This year, he expects beekeepers could average 100 to 200 pounds, depending on their locations. He said the beekeepers are practically chortling with glee when they give him reports.

Portland Food Coma has posted a survey of Maine barbecue. He visits a few Portland area options like Skinny Cart BBQ, Buck’s, Hot Suppa and Beale Street as well as some further afield.

Most people will tell you that there’s no such thing as good barbecue in Maine, and to get the real deal, one must head south. I will premise this post by saying that I’ve never been to the south, but the one thing I will do before I die is a true barbecue pilgrimage to all of the major capitals. This was my warm up.

Wednesday — Wine Revolution, Grace’s wine club is meeting to taste 5 wines from Albarino, a Wine Wise class is taking place at The Wine Bar, and Downeast Beverage is hosting a wine tasting.

Thursday — the next Cultivating Community Twilight Dinner is being held at their farm in Cape Elizabeth, and Maine Beer Company owners/brewers Dan and Dave Kleban will be at The Great Lost Bear for a brewery showcase of Zoe and Spring Peeper Ale.

Friday — Wine Wise is teaching a class at DiMillo’s, and there will be a wine tasting at the West End Deli. First Friday Art Walk is this week and restaurants will be very busy on Friday, be sure to make your reservations early.

Saturday — LeRoux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting.

Farmer’s Markets — the traditional series of Farmer’s Markets are taking place Monday (Monument Square), Wednesday (Monument Square) and Saturday (Deering Oaks Park). Cultivating Community is running their new series of markets Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at various locations around the city.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

The 10 eateries looked up most often in July were:

1. Bar Lola (5)
2. Havana South (16)
3. Bubble Maineia Dessert & Noodle Bar (15)
4. Bresca (8)
5. Boda (2)
6. WhaddaPita (-)
7. Katahdin (1)
8. The Grill Room (41)
9. Five Fifty-Five (9)
10. Otto Pizza (11)

The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.