Portland Beer Week

Portland Beer Week kicks-off on Sunday. The full schedule more than 50 tap takeovers, lectures, beer dinners, and tours.

It would be close to impossible to get to them all so I’ve made a short list of the ones I’m most interested in getting to:

  • Blind IPA Tasting on Sunday at The Thirsty Pig
  • Early History of Maine Beer Lecture on Monday at The Great Lost Bear
  • Silence of the Lambics on Tuesday at Novare Res
  • Cookie and Beer Pairing on Wednesday at The Thirsty Pig
  • Allagash Mystery Beer Night on Tursday at The Great Lost Bear
  • Goodfire Brewing Launch on Thursday at The Thirsty Pig
  • Oxbozakaya on Thursday at Pai Men
  • Austin Street Beer Dinner on Thursday at Terlingua
  • From There to Here on Friday at Slab
  • Where the Wild Biers are on Saturday at Novare Res
  • Zymurgy Home Brew Tour on Sunday with the Maine Brew Bus
  • Freshman Orientation on Sunday at Bayside Bowl

This Week’s Events: Food Stories, Nonesuch River, Portland Beer Week, In Search of Israeli Cuisine

Monday – Meghan and Phil Gaven from The Honey Exchange will be interviewed on WMPG’s Food Stories radio program.

WednesdayBrowne Trading is hold a wine tasting, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – there will be a cider tasting at the Public Market House, and The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing Nonesuch River Brewing.

Friday – there will be a wine tasting at the Rosemont on Brighton.

Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – it’s the first day of Portland Beer Week, you can review the full schedule on portlandbeerweek.org. There will be a screening of In Search of Isreali Cuisine at the Jewish Community Center.

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, please provide details as a comment to this post.

Reviews: Lazzari, Yobo, Bolster Snow, Scratch Toast Bar, The Treehouse, Cong Tu Bot

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Lazzari,

The pizzas he creates in the copper-clad monster Le Panyol oven at the rear of the restaurant are excellent, with a lightly charred, gorgeously blistered crust and toppings that are – whenever possible – roasted in the fiercely hot wood-fired oven. His crowning achievement isn’t pizza, though. It’s his meatballs, served with a ladling of fresh marinara, a rough scoop of black-pepper-dusted housemade ricotta, and a slice of the bread he bakes himself…

the Portland Phoenix has reviewed Yobo,

While Yobo is good at the light and bright, it’s just as good at the rich and hearty. A chicken confit, first braised then fried and coated in red chili paste, was double-rich and beyond tender. Potstickers are done in a thick, homemade-country style. The mung bean pancake combines the earthy and sweet, the garlicky and sour. Bi bim bap eschews crunchy vegetables for a version that is heartier, with wilted leaves mixing in among the yolk, sauce, crispy rice and tender seared beef.

The Golden Dish has reviewed Scratch Toast Bar,

What you get here is a line-up of toasts that come with various spreads…On my first visit I thoroughly enjoyed the cheese toast. I was expecting a glorified grilled cheese sandwich but was taken away instead by the house-made pumpkin enriched ricotta spread on a multi-grain sprouted bread. It was lightly toasted and the ricotta, laced with honey, was beautifully made.

Portland Magazine has reviewed Bolster Snow, and

We’re even more wowed by the day’s catch—sea bass on our visit—served as a whole, pan-seared filet in a sauce containing earthy chanterelles, pickled raisins, and subtle curry oil ($30). The fish is tender and sweet, and the skin crackles. Accompanying florets of cauliflower will convert even the staunchest non-believer.

the Portland Press Herald has reviewed The Treehouse.

A great place to go for whimsical ambiance; get there soon before the weather chills too much to enjoy that patio.

Also this week, Down East published a review of Cong Tu Bot. The article isn’t online yet, but the magazine is available at your local newsstand.

Allan Kellis, 68

Allan Kellis, co-owner of The Holy Donut, passed away earlier this week at the age of 68, reports the Press Herald.

Soon after Leigh Kellis started making doughnuts in her kitchen in 2011, her father, Allan Kellis, jumped in to help.

He would show up at 6 every morning to make deliveries to coffee shops and retailers like Coffee by Design and Whole Foods. For the next five months, he delivered doughnuts and worked tirelessly to help his daughter grow the wholesale business and secure a retail space.

Under Construction: Highroller Lobster Co.

Highroller Lobster Company has announced plans to open a brick and mortar restaurant. The restaurant will be located at 104 Exchange Street in the former Portland Meatball Company space.

Owners Baxter Key and Andy Gerry launched their first food cart in June 2015. They’ve been a fixture at tasting rooms in the Portland area and have added a second cart on Commercial Street. Key and Gerry are working with Peter Bissell on this project to as they put it “make this place SLAP!”

Belleville Bakery Opens Today

Belleville (instagram, website, facebook), the new bakery at the intersection of Congress and North Streets on Munjoy Hill, is slated to open today. Chris Deutsch and Amy Fuller are serving croissants (be sure to try-out the chocolate almond) and other traditional French baked goods along with Tandem Coffee in the mornings. The lunch menu includes options like a prosciutto, sharp provolone and giardiniera sandwich and roman pizza.

The couple learned to bake in Paris. Prior to moving to Portland they operated a French bakery food cart in Washington DC called Hot Hot Bakery.

Belleville will be open 7-3 Tuesday through Friday, and 8-3 on the weekend.

Beard Leadership Award for Pingree

Rep. Chellie Pingree has received a leadership award from the James Beard Foundation,

Ungaro cited the fact that Pingree owns her own farm (on North Haven island) and has supported legislation that promotes healthy food, the organic food industry, and local and regional food systems. Pingree, she said, “really stands out as a politician who is bringing her own personal passion in terms of helping our agriculture systems be more organic and fresher, and to make the soil stand out as just as important as oil.”

This Week’s Events: Bring Back Breakfast, Austin St Beer Dinner, Parlor Ice Creamatorium, Rhone Dinner

Wednesday – Mast Landing is releasing their collaboration with Battery Steele called Bring Back Breakfast, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

ThursdayLocal 188 is serving a 5-course Austin Street beer dinner., The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Gritty’s, and Petite Jacqueline is holding a 3-course Rhone wine dinner.

Friday – Fork Food Lab is hosting the Parlor Ice Creamatorium, a Halloween event with “spooky scoops, booozy shakes + other frightful delights”, and Aurora Provisions is holding a Halloween party and ribbon cutting to mark the change in ownership that took place this summer. The Halloween Party starts at 3:30 pm and the ribbon cutting takes place at 4:45.

Saturday – the Deering Oaks 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, please provide details as a comment to this post.

Reviews: Yobo, Island Creek, Mi Sen, Boone’s

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Yobo,

Using traditional ingredients as well as fresh and foraged produce from his mother’s property in New Hampshire, Chung has created a menu focused largely on classic Korean techniques. Standouts include his rich, sticky galbi (beef short ribs) and exceedingly good banchan (side dishes) that take advantage of local vegetables like garden-grown perilla and wild fern bracken, while still hewing close to traditional recipes.

The Golden Dish has reviewed Island Creek Oyster, and

My lunch included a few oysters (Mookie Blues, Damariscotta; Puffers, Wellfleet, MA and Eider Cove from New Meadow’s River). The full can of sardines with the accoutrements is a pretty full meal for lunch, and I was eminently satisfied. If you like sardines, which I do, these are a fine example. Other choices include mussels, octopus and squid.

the Portland Press Herald has reviewed Boone’s and Mi Sen.

Maybe it was an off night, but Boone’s was a surprising disappointment with a happy hour that left me less happy and more frustrated. The drinks were fine, the oysters were carelessly shucked, and the nacho portion was measly. That being said, what shines here is the space. It is a beautiful dining area, a lovely open-air bar and the perfect date night ambiance. And what I had of the food was quite tasty, leaving me curious what the rest of the menu is like. If you go, I suggest skipping the food on the happy hour menu and ordering the full portions.

Veebie

The Spoon has published an article about Veebie.

Veebie rolled out (pardon the pun) it’s first kiosk in downtown Portland earlier this week. The bright orange containers on wheels have 48 numbered cubbies. Order your food through Veebie on your phone and pick it up from your assigned cubby between 11:30 and 1:30. The menu features items from a different restaurant every day, so today (Thursday), for example, the items available are from B.Good.