Linda Greenlaw and Browne Trading are teaming up to offer bluefin tuna charters this summer.
Greenlaw, an Isle au Haut resident, author and world-renowned fisherman, will offer chartered fishing tours for bluefin tuna out of Portland Harbor through Browne Trading Co. on Commercial Street…Trips will be aboard the Hazel Browne, a 46-foot Wesmac owned by Rod Mitchell, the owner of Browne Trading Co.
CTN host and Portland Daily Sun editor Curtis Robinson interviewed Karl and Sarah Sutton about their food truck Bite into Maine (website, Facebook, Twitter).
The Suttons have an ongoing Kickstarter campaign to help underwrite the cost of their small operation to participate the Lobster Roll Rumble this summer in NYC.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of The Frog and Turtle.
The Frog and Turtle ups Westbrook’s foodie street credibility and style. Local music is a treat, and its brunch is a good one. (Try the homemade raspberry jelly doughnuts for a sugar rush; a pint-sized Bloody Mary will bring a rush of a different kind.) For those seeking dinner, make a reservation and consider ordering from the upscale pub menu. A plate of pork wings with fiery tangerine sauce while listening to excellent local music makes for a great evening.
The Portland City Council meets Monday and as part of the agenda will be reviewing the liquor license applications from several new restaurants:
For details on all the food businesses under development in Portland see the Under Construction List.
Rosemont manager and Press Herald wine columnist Joe Appel has authored an article for the new issue of Saveur. The article is entitled Urban Grapes, and in it Appel writes about the urban wineries of Vienna that produce field blended wines.
It’s a tradition that dates back at least to Roman times, when grapevines grew together on family farms. Whereas other cities gradually lost vineyards as they urbanized, an 18th-century decree stipulated that Vienna’s crazy-quilt winemaking districts were to remain in perpetuity.
The article isn’t yet available online but you can pick-up a copy of Saveur at Longfellow Books.
For more of Appel’s writing visit his website, Soul of Wine.
Dispatch reports that Marcy’s reopened earlier this week after a 3-month renovation.
It’s been well worth the wait, though, because the renovations look incredible. They’ve gone and spiffed up the already classic diner look they already had. Everything looks fresh and new, even if it wasn’t completely replaced.
The Golden Dish has published a review of the East Ender.
For main a course my friend had to have the Swedish meatballs served over American-style house-made wide noodles. What a sixties dish, perhaps better served as a first course in a smaller portion. Even so, they were beautifully presented and the flavor was intensely rich, the noodles al dente and the spinach leaves a nice touch.
Not So Hush Hush took place yesterday at Eventide. Portland Hunt & Alpine Club (website, Facebook) owner Andrew Volk produced a menu of excellent drinks while the Eventide kitchen crew sent out a stream of hors d’oeuvres to the packed house. Here’s the cocktail menu for the event, the Winslow Sour was the favorite among those I spoke to:
Portland Hunt & Alpine Club recently leased a space on Market Street and plans on opening their craft cocktail bar this July.
For additional photos see the ones posted by Zach Bowen and Sean Thomas.
Bard Coffee got a shout out in a New Yorker article about the specialty coffee conference that took place last weekend in Boston.
“This is what coffee tasted like in nineteenth century!” Peter Giuliano exclaimed, holding a cup of Bard coffee’s Sumatra Wahana Natural as we talked at a small stand near the entrance of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, where the Specialty Coffee Association of America was holding its twenty-fifth annual exposition this past weekend. “I’ve never tasted anything like it.”
The Press Herald and the Forecaster are reporting that South Portland City Council has voted to allow the farmers market to return to Hinkley Drive in 2013.
City officials had been reluctant to grant the market permission to operate on the site next to Mill Creek Park and a credit union because the busy road would have to be closed for several hours every Thursday.
But after the city’s Planning Board voted last week to give the farmers’ market a special exception permit, councilors voted Wednesday night to allow the road closure.
Maine-based food blogs Sweeter Salt and From Away and chef Mitchell Gerrow from East Ender are participating in the American Lamb Pro-Am:
Krista Kern Desjarlais, chef/owner of Bresca, is working on a new venture which she plans on calling Bresca and the Honey Bee. This week she closed on the purchase of Outlet Beach on Sabbathday Lake in the town of New Gloucester. The property includes docks, boat rentals, a beach and a snack shack (in operation since 1929) which she’ll be converting into her new eatery.
Bresca and the Honey Bee will be open 7 days a week from Memorial Day straight through to Labor Day. The menu “will be picnic inspired with a focus on pastry and ice cream with hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza, salads and snacks.”
I’ve always been a big fan of Bresca and look forward to visiting Krista’s new venture. A trip (or two or three) to New Gloucester this summer are going to be on my calendar.
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The Portland Phoenix has published a review of The North Point.
It’s a menu that says: my kitchen is tiny but I care about food — an experience familiar to many New Yorkers. There are lots of cold meats in the form of patés and charcuterie, and a nice selection of cheeses. A pheasant paté was quite good — sweet but peppery with some gaminess, with a texture more meaty than creamy. Even better was a trio of juicy sausages — a spicy-smoky andouille, a sweet and fatty kielbasa, and a peppery rabbit — served with four sauces.
The Press Herald What Ales You column reports that both Shipyard and Allagash made it on to the list of the 50 best selling craft beers in the country.
Shipyard is the No. 15 selling beer in the craft beer category and No. 23 in overall brewers, up from No. 16 in crafts and No. 24 overall last year. Allagash made it to No. 48 on the craft beer list after not appearing on the list last year.
Map & Menu has published a review of Blue Rooster.
The Blue Rooster fills the perfect need in Portland when you don’t want to sit down for long but still want to be wowed with every bite. If you work in the Old Port and don’t make the Blue Rooster a priority for your next lunch day, you’re missing out.
Photo Credit: Map & Menu
Lobster Gal has published a review of the lobster roll at Eventide.
Even fresh picked, tasty lobster on a perfectly grilled grocery hot dog bun can start to seem, dare I say, ho-hum. Creativity can go wildly wrong with lobster rolls. I can see why the chef at Eventide is considered a culinary genius. Don’t question brilliance, just go with it, it just might blow you away. My only regret is that I didn’t summon up the stomach space to try the warm, rum butter option. Mmm, can anything be wrong that involves the words “rum butter”?
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article on GMRI’s partnership with Maine restaurants to increase the use of sustainable fish species on their menu.
Samuel Grimley, sustainable seafood project manager at GMRI, said the institute has been planning Culinary Partners for a little over a year now, and held a couple of feedback meetings with restaurateurs to get their input as the program was developed.
Since February, five Maine restaurants have joined up and set goals for themselves for the coming year. In addition to Five Fifty-Five, the other members are Sonny’s and Local 188 in Portland, Sea Glass at Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth and the Jordan Pond House restaurant on Mount Desert Island.
Maine a la Carte has published a brief review of Blue Rooster.
I had missed the soft opening and wanted to check it out. Be warned this is not health food, but if you are in the mood for a little indulging, you’ll find it hard to resist sandwiches like the Red Eye…
Portland Daily Sun food columnist Natalie Ladd share some of her work history and experience,
Prior to my current gig, I worked full time for seven years as Front-of-the-House Manager and Beverage Director at a top notch place that gets rave reviews. My departure from that job is likened to the worst divorce imaginable as I still love and admire the Chef, but as is often the case in our business, it was time for us to part ways. My resume also includes a long management stint with one of my heros, the colorful Roger Bintliff at the original Bintliff’s American Cafe, and the list goes on.
Imbibe magazine has included Eventide in their list of the Best Oyster Bars in America.
In as much as there is such a thing, Eventide’s cocktail list is as “classic oyster bar” as they come. It veers towards the savory, with tequila Bloody Marias, a Dirty Dirty Martini made with oyster brine, and even a Bubbly Mary with bloody mix and cava. And for the diehards? Oyster shooters served ”naked” with just frozen vodka or ”spicy” with a jolt of jalapeno tequila and salsa verde.