The Golden Dish has reviewed Golden Lotus.
With bold strokes, The Golden Lotus opens on the heel’s of Empire Chinese, offering a menu of Cantonese specialties that are carbon copies of Empire’s menu but not nearly as fine–yet.
MECA Culinary Arts Program
The Bangor Daily News has published an article on MECA’s culinary arts program.
“We felt as though there was a real connection to be explored between Maine’s preeminent destination for arts education and a city that has such a passion for culinary arts,” Raffi Der Simonian, director of marketing and communications at MECA, said. “Our new foodie programming directly aligns with MECA’s institutional mission of educating artists for life.”
See the MECA website for details on the current set of classes.
Interview with Alison Pray
Maine Today has posted a very nice multimedia interview with Alison Pray, co-founder of Standard Baking.
This connection to tradition is a huge part of it and that informs our work every day.
Interview with Bernie Larsen
The Press Herald has published an interview with Bernie Larsen, co-founder of Moran’s Market in 1956.
Q: Why are you continuing to work at 85?
A: There’s still that touch, that personal touch. People just love to come in and that’s why I’m still working – I enjoy people. I work six days a week, but I go in at 6 (a.m.) and get out at 1 (p.m.), so I don’t want to sound like a hero. It keeps me young, even though my body says no.
Reviews: Slab & Blue Spoon
The Portland Phoenix has reviewed Slab,
But the bread seems even better when paired with ingredients that work harder to stand up to it—as in the caponata with its thick layer of near-bitter eggplant in a dark, winey sauce; or in the meatloaf-meatball sandwich, where a crunchier bread encases huge portions of tender beef and pork, mingling with sauce and cheese. One of last week’s specials featured rich pulled pork and soft white cheese between slices of focaccia so delicate and flakey it approached filo. Its accompanying sauce was almost meaty with tomato and pepper.
and Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed the Blue Spoon.
Everyone finished their food and happily tapped out. There were no looks of disgust on anyone’s face. In fact, everyone enjoyed their meal greatly. Despite the fact that I ordered a meal where I wouldn’t normally like half the components, it was damn good and the main part of it – the chicken – was superb.
Dinner at the Beard House: Piccolo and Opus Ten
Chefs Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez from Piccolo will be heading down to NYC in early November to prepare a meal at the James Beard House in the West Village.
At Portland, Maine’s intimate Piccolo, chef Damian Sansonetti and wife/partner Ilma Jeil Lopez pay homage to the rustic, soul-satisfying cuisine of Central and Southern Italy with great care and passion. For this Beard House dinner, the former Bar Boulud chef de cuisine will return to his roots with a tantalizing menu inspired by the rich flavors of Italy’s Calabria and Abruzzo regions.
You can see a detailed menu with pairings and make reservations on the JBF site.
As previously reported chef David Turin from Opus Ten is also scheduled to prepare a meal at the James Beard House. His dinner is taking place later this month on October 21st. More details on the meal are now available. You can see a detailed menu with pairings and make reservations on the JBF site.
Crema→Arabica
Long rumored to be in the works, the name of Crema Cafe on Commercial Street has been changed to Arabica Coffee, bringing the coffee shop into alignment with owners original other spot on Free Street.
Check out this report from the Urban Eye blog for more details.
Bar of Chocolate Cafe Profile
John Myers has written a profile on the Bar of Chocolate Cafe for Eater Maine.
Somewhere along the way, Martin developed a flair for chocolates; she’d bring them to work to hand out to her favorite guests. Sam Beringer was one of those guests. A longtime bartender at Brian Boru’s sister bar, Una, Beringer encouraged Martin to enter her desserts in the Chocolate Lover’s Fling, an annual competition and fundraiser. If she could win there, he argued, they could leverage that momentum to open a dessert and cocktail lounge.
Blueberry Files: Geary’s, Eventide, The Well
A new post from The Blueberry Files combines a report from the grand opening of the Geary’s tasting room, a review of Eventide and a review of The Well.
My connection to the food scene was obvious in thinking about what makes Portland my home. My love affair with Portland was ignited by the incredible food and drink scene I discovered upon moving here. And nowhere is that sense of place through food expressed better than at Eventide. Local this, local that; in tune with the seasons, the land, and the ocean…and of course, tasting great at every step.
New Episode of Booze, Fish & Coffee
For the new issue of Booze, Fish and Coffee co-hosts Bo Bigelow and Brian Ericson have lunch at Lolita and discuss Fuji, Oxbow, Lolita, Timber, Taj, Boda, Arcadia, Hugo’s, Central Provisions and Veranda Asian Market.