Eat Maine has posted a profile of Blue Spoon.
When Iovino opened the doors in 2004, he envisioned a neighborhood meeting place, which is exactly what Blue Spoon has become, especially during its wildly popular version of happy hour, simply called “wine time.” The bistro burger, made with lean ground steak in a Burgundy reduction and topped with caramelized onions, garners an almost cult-like following throughout the city.
The Angela Adams blog, Sea Fantasy, has posted a photo essay of Lolita.
The August issue of Maine includes a profile of Jay Villani,
Villani’s decision to return to the kitchen at Local 188 comes after an extended absence, a time he spent opening and maintaining the operations of his other two successful Portland outposts, Sonny’s and Salvage BBQ. Though nearing 50 (which, as he tells me, is like “300 in chef years”) he has grown as a cook, learning new methods and old tricks, and discovering a new appreciation for the art of plating dishes. He has also grown wiser, learning one of the most important lessons in the restaurant world: how to delegate responsibility when necessary.
Barbecue Rankings was recently in town and paid a visit to Salvage.
I greatly enjoyed my visit. These guys are doing things right and Salvage BBQ comes with my stamp of approval.
The Angela Adams blog has published a very nice set of photos of Standard Baking Company.
Standard Baking Company is one of the gems of Portland, Maine. The European style bakery transports you to the old country with it’s rustic interior and beautifully handcrafted baked goods. The breads are the best around, sticky buns are unrivaled and molasses cookies are addicting. I love walking in and watching big trays of fresh dough going into the ovens— or even better, coming out and onto the shelves for our consumption. In warmer months, I recommend going early, grabbing a coffee and sitting outside next to their beautiful planters, enjoying a tasty pastry fresh out of the oven while you watch the waterfront hustle and bustle.
Eat Maine has profiled Caiola’s.
Much of Caiola’s success can be attributed to Harmon, who approaches cooking with an almost fanatical devotion. She is constantly applying new technique from a myriad of different cultures. She goes to extraordinary lengths to thoroughly understand every element of a dish and immerses herself not only in preparation but also the history of a recipe to a point where I am reminded of well-known American cookbook author Paula Wolfert. This is evident in Harmon’s scallop and lobster rossejat with toasted vermicelli and basil crema, a classic that takes roots in Catalonia and pays homage to Rome.
The Boston Globe has written a brief piece about The Holy Donut.
The Holy Donut makes from scratch and hand cuts, shapes, and glazes roughly 3,500 doughnuts a day in about 24 different flavors. The ones we tried were undisputed winners, including their two most popular sellers – a zesty lemon that pops with fresh citrus, and the dark chocolate sea salt, which is glazed hot from the fryer and practically melts in your mouth.
Eat Maine has published an article about Vignola/Cinque Terre.
This fall will mark Skawinski’s twentieth journey to Italy to visit Vignola’s purveyors. On each visit, he is accompanied by a small contingent of his cooks and servers. Skawinski started the trip to show his staff a good time, but also so they could be armed with knowledge of the region and could maintain relationships with the family-run operations they work with year round. Maintaining a strong connection to regional origins is a very important element of Italian cookery.
Today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Anapurna’s Thali, a vegetarian food cart in East Bayside.
At the new Annapurna’s Thali vegetarian food cart in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood, the flavors have roots in the Himalayas.
Owner Gloria Pearse spent part of last summer on a vegetarian farm in Kotabagh, India. The farm sits in the foothills of the famous mountain range near the border with China and Nepal. While there, Pearse, a long-time vegetarian, was able to learn traditional vegetarian recipes from the cook.
Today’s paper also has an article about the Thai Culinary Arts Studio in Yarmouth.
Limanon, a native of Bangkok, is an environmental lawyer embarking on a new path in life, one in which she will teach traditional Thai cooking to Mainers. She’s calling her new business the Thai Culinary Arts Studio. In addition to regular cooking classes, Limanon plans to offer group dinner party classes and, eventually, culinary travel to Asia.
The Huffington Post has published an article about The Hop Yard in Gorham.
Enter three young men in their thirties with farming in their blood and a passion for great beer — hop farmers Ryan Houghton, Geoff Keating, and Peter Busque. The founders of The Hop Yard, these guys grew up in Maine and are committed to seeing the state become a major producer of high quality hops.
Vinland, and chef David Levi’s dedication to locally sourcing ingredients, is the topic this week’s front page article in the Source section in the Maine Sunday Telegram.
But if you’re trying, as Levi is at Vinland, his 100-percent Maine-sourced restaurant just down Congress Street, to build entire meals around what is freshly available in the state at this minute, it is undeniably limited. Fine dining can’t be built on salad. What Levi is looking for are vegetables with more caloric content, nutritional value and oomph on the plate. If he were the kind of person one could use the phrase “he’d just about kill for” about, which he is not, it would be fair to say he’d just about kill for the miracle of a Maine-grown onion right now.