This Week’s Events: New Year’s Eve, Paella Fest, Winter Market

Monday/New Year’s Eve
Here’s a list of restaurants that will be open on New Year’s Eve. Many are planning special prix fixe dinners and a few will be open with their standard menu.

TuesdayPaella Fest at Local 188.

Thursday — The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing brown ales.

Friday — Wine Wise is leading a class on Sangiovese, and there will be a wine tasting at the West End Deli.

Saturday — a wine tasting is taking place at Browne Trading, and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

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.

Review of Buck’s Naked BBQ

The Blueberry Files has published a review of Buck’s Naked BBQ.

Being no expert in barbecue, I can’t begin to wade into whether this is authentic or how it rate compared to other regions. I can only tell you what I like, and I won’t order the pulled pork here again (one of my favorite pit sandwiches), but enjoyed the ribs…The roadhouse vibe isn’t as pervasive as it is in other Buck’s locations, and with plenty of seating in the bar, I’m sure I’ll find myself visiting again to try their wings and order some drinks (sans the rib topper though).

More Accolades for Eventide

Delights & Prejudices, the in-house blog of the James Beard Foundation, has included Eventide’s Cucumber-Cured Arctic Char with Melon, Mint, and Kasha on the list of their favorite dishes of 2012.

Our favorite dish during an excellent lunch was this Arctic char crudo, which was joined by an unexpected but memorable scattering of toasty kasha and soft pieces of melon, made honey-sweet from the warmth of a fleeting Maine summer.

Food & Wine: Eventide & Petite Jacqueline

Food & Wine Executive Editor Dana Cowin has named both Eventide and Petite Jacqueline to her list of the Best Restaurants of 2012.

She praises PJ for their “Pitch-perfect bistro with magnificent renditions of classics” and calls Eventide a “supercute oyster bar with a great local selection and some Asian-accented dishes, like the lightly grilled Gloucester surf clam with daikon and nam prik.”

Cowin was in Portland for a visit in early August.

Top 10 Most Ridiculous Tips

Portland Daily Sun columnist Natalie Ladd has assembled a list of her Top Ten Most Ridiculous Tips of 2012.

1) $10 Gift Card to Pizza Hut. Um, I’d rather have been left a crispy Hamilton IF the tab had been $50, but it was $87 and in addition to the competitors’ gift card, I got a little love note about how great the service was. Call me ungrateful here (and in the following gratuities), but these people peeled out of the parking lot in a new Audi convertible.