Mister Meatball and African SuperMarket have been added to the PFM directory.

Appetite Portland, a new food blog, has been added to the PFM directory. The author’s was inspired by the recent national press coverage of Portland to start up the site and to “document the delights of this city’s restaurants and food stores”.

Maine Beer Company has been added to the Food Map. The brewery evolved out of the owner’s own home brew experiments and is still a very small operation. I recently enjoyed a bottle of their Spring Peeper Ale, the bottle was from batch #2 and batch #3 is now showing up on store shelves. They’re located out on Portland’s Brewery Row on Industrial near Allagash, Casco and Geary’s. Tours are by appointment only.

A new local food site, DineInPortland.com, has been added to the blog list on the food map. DineInPortland.com plans on limiting its commentary to the “best of the best”. The narrower scope is balanced by continuing “to visit them to see how well they do in the long run.”

A new blog, Portland Food Heads, has started up. The blog, which just launched this weekend, promises, “Recipes, reviews, scene reports and more from the Forest City.”

Maine Foodie Tours has been added to the food map. They’re now offering two walking tours daily, the Old Port Culinary Tour and the Just Desserts Tour.

Bam Bam Bakery and Portland Wine Review have been added to the food map. Bam Bam is a gluten-free bakery and PWR is a new blog that produces reviews of wines that are available from local retailers.

The Outdoor Dining list continues to grow thanks to the many suggestions I’ve received from Food Map readers. Please keep them coming; you can email suggestions to anestes@portlandfoodmap.com.

Sunnier days and warmer temperatures are making there way into the weather reports, and Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is this weekend. So it seems like the right time to put together a list of the venues in the city that, weather permitting, offer outdoor drinking and dining. The 50+ business listed range from full outdoor restaurant table service to ice cream vendors that provide a table or two for you to rest while you enjoy a a hot fudge sundae. I’ve tried to make the list as complete as possible but there are probably some omissions so if you find one please let me know.

Bar Lola, Borealis Breads, Bard Coffee, Tortilla Flat and Henry VIII have all been added to the list since this morning. Thanks for the feedback!

Three more blogs have been added to the map: Cornucopasetic, Broadturn Broadside and Portland Point.

The meal assembly business Make Thyme for Dinner, and Where is Jenner’s Mind, a blog, have been added to the map. Also a new Brazilian/Indian restaurant going in on Congress St has been added to the Under Construction list.

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!