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

| Posted in Events

Monday — Rosemont on Brighton is holding a wine tasting.

Tuesday — Rosemont on Commercial is holding a wine tasting.

Wednesday — The Farm Stand in South Portland is holding a pre-New Year’s Eve sparkling wine tasting.

New Year’s Eve — restaurants have been announcing their New Year’s Eve plans:

Thursday — Petite Jacqueline and Artemisia Cafe are serving a New Year’s day brunch

Friday — the West End Deli is holding a wine tasting.

Saturday — Leroux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting, and the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place at the Urban Farm Fermentory.

Sunday — the 5th Annual Great Paella Fest is scheduled to take place at Local 188.

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.

Vinland in Boston Magazine

| Posted in Profiles

The new issue of Boston Magazine includes a profile of Vinland.

So how does Levi stick to his plan during the harshest season? By dovetailing a fairly standard fine-dining playbook (strip steak with poached parsnips, crispy chicken with lovage) with more-exotic ideas (fermented-buckwheat bread sticks may start a meal; radicchio might appear in a cocktail). Creative workarounds replace pantry staples: Yogurt whey and apple vinegar make fine substitutes for the acid in lemon juice; maple syrup and honey are used in lieu of sugar; and the clarified butter known as ghee takes the place of olive oil. There is, Levi acknowledges, no good substitute for black pepper—so if he thinks a dish needs it, he’ll scrap it altogether.

Review of Timber

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Timber.

Timber Steakhouse & Rotisserie turns tradition on its head with a dramatic dining room and a varied menu featuring fish, duck and pork as well as delicious beef and chicken. Don’t miss the Tuna Tataki starter, a fine introduction to the kitchen’s skill and artistry. Do watch your wallet, though: With filet mignon priced at $41 and New York Steak at $49, memorable meals here may take a bite out of your savings.

Interview with Guy Hernandez

| Posted in People

The Portland Phoenix has interviewed Guy Hernandez, chef and co-owner of Lolita,

Guy and Stella moved from St. Louis to Maine to work as an architect and a consultant, respectively, before falling into the food scene with 158 Bakeshop and what later became Scratch Bakery in South Portland. Late last year, the pair surprised Portlanders when they announced they were closing their popular Munjoy Hill restaurant Bar Lola to open Lolita. Guy said the feedback’s been great and the community’s been nothing but supportive, and he finally has time to step out for meals elsewhere, like the Tokyo Abura at Pai Men Miyake.

The article is part of a new series. Each week the Phoenix sits down with a local chef to get their thoughts on a dish from someone else’s restaurant. The first 2 interviews in the series were with Luke Aberle from Piccolo and Geoff Wiech from Hunt + Alpine.

CBD Kinetic Coffee Sculpture

| Posted in General News

The Bangor Daily News has published an article on the kinetic coffee sculpture that sits atop the new CBD building in East Bayside. The article includes a short video interview with the artist.

The handiwork of South Portland sculptor Jac Ouellette is a 1,000-pound statement piece that can be seen from Interstate 295.

“This was a good challenge for me,” said Ouellette, who spent the last year working on the sculpture, which soars 15 feet high on the Diamond Street building and moves with the wind.

Up and Coming

| Posted in Beer

CNN has included Portland in their list of Up and Coming Foodie Destinations.

There are nearly 600 restaurants in the city of 66,000 — one of the highest ratios of any town in the country. Many of them specialize in fresh, local fare.

Five Fifty Five currently has a local beef tartar on the menu, as well as Gulf of Maine cod and truffled lobster mac and cheese. Hugos is doing a tasting menu that includes rabbit with Brussels sprouts, spaetzil and mustard, grilled swordfish and a cream of broccoli soup. And Piccolo is putting an Italian spin on a local pork chop, hake, and an eggplant, tomato and ricotta dish.

20 Best Beers: Coolship Resurgam

| Posted in Beer

Food Republic has included Allagash Coolship Resurgam in their list of the 20 Big Beers of the Year.

The beer writer Joshua Bernstein introduced me to this older release at a bottle share this fall, and its funky, citrus-forward flavors have lodged firmly in my memory since. Resurgam is part of the company’s coolship program, meaning it ferments spontaneously via interaction with natural yeasts in open-air vats. It won a GABF medal in 2010 and again this year, with silver in the Belgian-style lambic or Sour Ale category.

Best New Breweries: Bissell Brothers

| Posted in Beer

Paste magazine has included Bissell Brothers in their list of the Best New Breweries of 2014.

The bros actually opened the doors of their nano-brewery late in 2013, but this year has seen them gain considerable momentum; The Substance IPA continues to sate Portland-area hopheads, and hoppy amber Bucolia didn’t do too bad a job either, but Bissell Brothers really spread its wings this past month with the release of Angels with Filthy Souls, an Amarillo-laced milk porter that should immediately assuage any fears of a redundant portfolio on the brewery’s part. If expansion is not on their radar, then the rest of us are worse off for it.

This Week’s Events: Christmas, New Year’s Eve List (Updated)

| Posted in Events

Thursday — it’s Christmas Day.

Saturday — the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place at the Urban Farm Fermentory.

New Year’s Eve — restaurants have started announcing their New Year’s Eve dinner plans. I’ll add more listings as information becomes available:

      • Artemisia Cafe, 4-course dinner for $65 per person
      • Back Bay Grill, 4-course dinner, $96 per person
      • Bao Bao Dumpling House is holding a Chinese street food party starting at 10pm, “$28 buys you a glass a bubbles and passed bites all night”.
      • BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe, 3-course dinner, $50 per person.
      • Boone’s, 5-course dinner, $85/$110 per person
      • Central Provisions is throwing a party. The $100 ticket comes with a “welcome punch, passed hors d’oeuvres, 2 drink tickets and a midnight toast
      • Ebb & Flow is serving their regular menu “plus lots of specials” and will be “giving out free bubbles to everyone to ring in 2015”.
      • Eventide, will be throwing a party, $50 per person
      • Five Fifty-Five, 5-course dinner in the restaurant for $100 per person with optional wine pairings and truffle, caviar, and oyster supplements. Five Fifty-Five is also planning a champagne and caviar lounge in their private dinning room for $50 per person.
      • Grace will be serving their regular dinner menu. A cover charge of $20 (which funds the Good Shepherd Food Bank) will get you into the late night party which comes with complementary champagne toast.
      • MJ’s Wine Bar “will be offering 9 different sparkling wines by the glass this year. All at either $6 or $10 a glass”.
      • Petite Jacqueline, 3-course dinner for $70 per person, there are also optional truffle, caviar, oyster and foie gras supplements.
      • Piccolo, 8-course tasting menu with a glass of prosecco, $110 per person
      • Sea Glass at Inn by the Sea, 4-course menu, $85 per person with optional wine pairing for $30
      • The Frog & Turtle, 4-course dinner $65 per person
      • Vinland, 5-course/5-snack tasting menu, $90 per person
      • Zapoteca, 5-course dinner, $70 per person with optional tequila tasting for $25

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.