Travel + Leisure have included Duckfat, Gelato Fiasco, Maine Pie Line and Piccolo in their list of the best dessert destinations in Portland.
Do you have some favorites you’d add to the list?
Month: October 2014
Bao Bao Opening
Bao Bao Dumpling House is scheduled to open today at 5 pm. The restaurant was open to the public Saturday night after two days of invitation-only dinner services that saw dedicated fans of chef Cara Stadler lined up on the sidewalk waiting for a table.
MaineBiz, Maine Today and Eater Maine have also posted photos and details on Bao Bao. Check-out Eating Portland Alive some initial impressions on the food and the space.
Wine Dinners: Terry Theise, Italian Organics, Frank Cornelissen, La Spinetta (Updated)
Several wine dinners have been announced:
- A group of four Northern Italian organic winemakers—Elisabetta Foradori, Silvio Messana, Alessandra Bera, and Elena Pantaleoni—will be at Vinland for a dinner on October 29th.
- Winemaker Giorgio Rivetti and Rosemont are teaming up on a wine dinner at O’Maine Studios featuring “rich, graceful, intense wines, from organically grown grapes, biodynamically farmed” from La Spinetta Winery in Piedmont and Tuscany. The dinner is on November 1st, tickets are $85 per person.
- Winemaker Giorgio Rivetti will be at The Corner Room for a dinner featuring La Spinetta Winery in Piedmont on November 2nd.
- Hugo’s is hosting James Beard award-winning author Terry Theise for a dinner on November 6th. Theise is the author of Reading Between the Wines. $165 per person.
- Terry Theise will be joining Rosemont at the Mayo Street Arts Center on November 7th to lead a tasting of several “special, rare, and never-before-available-in-Maine grower-produced Champagnes” along with small plates provided by chef Brad Messier. $85 per person.
- Frank Cornelissen, a leader in the in the natural wine movement, will be at Vinland for a dinner featuring his wines from his vineyard on Mount Etna on December 6th. Natural wine guru Zev Rovine and Ned Swain from Devenish Wines in Portland are co-hosting the event.
This Week’s Events: Harvest on the Harbor, Rising Tide, Indie Biz, Triple Nickel
Tuesday — Kate McCarty will be speaking about her book Portland Food: The Culinary Capital of Maine at the Maine Women Writers Collection, the monthly Local Foods Networking Breakfast is taking place.
Wednesday — the winners of the 7th Annual Indie Biz Awards are being announced, it’s the first day of Harvest on the Harbor, Black Tie is serving a farm dinner in New Gloucester, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — artist Sam Van Aken will be at Thompson’s Point for a kick-off of the Tree of 40 Fruit grove, tastings are taking place at the Public Market House and The Corner Store, Five Fifty-Five is throwing the Triple Nickel Bourbon & Bacon Bash, and Harvest on the Harbor continues.
Friday — it’s the third day of Harvest on the Harbor.
Saturday — Oxbow is holding The Goods from the Woods at their homebase in Newcastle, it’s the last day of Harvest on the Harbor, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market are taking place.
Sunday — Rising Tide is throwing a party to celebrate their 4th Anniversary.
Pocket Brunch Tickets — after nearly a year and a half sabbatical the Pocket Brunch crew is back with a 6-course brunch in collaboration with Marshall Wharf, Novare Res and In’finiti. It’s scheduled for November 2nd. Tickets are now on sale.
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.
Gorgeous Gelato’s Liquor License Application
Gorgeous Gelato(website, facebook, twitter) has applied for a liquor license. As they explain in their cover letter (page 77),
Espresso coffee and certain Gelato sundaes become really exquisite when some liquor is added. We would also love to serve our customers a very small selection of famous Italian liquors, such as: Lemoncello, Grappa and Sambuca.
Vinland
The Maine Sunday Telegram features a check-in with chef/owner David Levi as his restaurant Vinland(website, facebook) approaches its 1-year anniversary.
It started slowly. Other restaurateurs had told him not to expect business to pick up until after the Fourth of July, but still, June dragged on. He shook up the menu with a new small plate theme – letting customers build a meal of any five plates for $60. He’d had good press in the Wall Street Journal in May. The cruise ships came in, but those passengers never seemed to make it up the hill. He decided to stay open on the 4th itself; other restaurants were closing, but if there were customers to be had, he resolved to take advantage. “It turned out to be a really big night for us,” he said. For the next couple of weeks, there would be sporadic bursts of business, huge nights on a Monday or Tuesday and then relative calm again. Then around the middle of the month, high season started in a big way. “Every night was a huge night until Labor Day,” Levi said.
First Look: Bao Bao
Eating Portland Alive has published some photos and first impressions of Bao Bao. He’s also captured pictures of the menus.
Under Construction: Isa
Isa, the new restaurant under construction at 79 Portland Street, has applied for a liquor license. Owner Suzie Saint Pierre is converting the former New World Kitchens building into a “40-seat bistro serving casual and affordable fare”.
Saint Pierre has 15 years of experience in the industry as a server, bartender and manager. She hopes to open Isa in December.
Under Construction: Tiqa
Tiqa, the restaurant under construction in the new Marriott on Commercial Street, has applied for a liquor license. As we reported back in August, Tiqa will be serving Mediterranean cuisine. Owners Deen Haleem and Carol Mitchell have included a description of the menu (page 63) in the materials submitted for review.
In total Tiqa will be able to seat 276 people: 57 in the lounge/bar, 35 on the patio, a 15 at the chef’s bar, 58 in the dining room and 111 in the private dining room. Haleem and Mitchell hope to open Tiqa in early next year.
Under Construction: Unwined
A new wine bar calling itself UnWINEd is under development at 569 Congress Street. They plan to serve “local and imported fine wines, artisan craft beers, appetizers and petite plates.”
Here’s the concept as described by owner Jared Lawrence Rice in his liquor license application cover letter,
As Portland’s first bar-less bar, unWINEd will spotlight a relaxed atmosphere, with calming acoustic music, leather couches and scattered tables and chairs. Our Goal is to provide Portland with a calm, relaxing environment where people can gather and unWINEd.
Here’s the draft menu:
