Month: January 2010

Phoenix Review of Binga's Stadium

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Binga’s Stadium.

While they are meaty enough, it is the skin and the sauce/seasoning that makes or breaks a wing — and Binga’s offers you about 20 options. The best wings tend to be seasoned with a dry rub, but Binga’s mostly coats theirs in syrupy sauces.

This works best when there is some heat to cut though the sugars. The Thai chili sauce was too mild, and seemed unreasonably sweet. The thin, orange-tinged classic Buffalo sauce was much better . . .

Phoenix Review of Binga’s Stadium

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Binga’s Stadium.

While they are meaty enough, it is the skin and the sauce/seasoning that makes or breaks a wing — and Binga’s offers you about 20 options. The best wings tend to be seasoned with a dry rub, but Binga’s mostly coats theirs in syrupy sauces.

This works best when there is some heat to cut though the sugars. The Thai chili sauce was too mild, and seemed unreasonably sweet. The thin, orange-tinged classic Buffalo sauce was much better . . .

SMCC Cooking School, Pizza Bowl, MOOMilk

| Posted in General News

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald reports on a visit to the Culinary Arts program at SMCC and the discount meals that the students serve up 3 times a week.

Today’s menu is called “A Taste of France,” and includes a choice of four entrees: Medallions of Beef, Buerre Maitre D’; Chicken Chasseur; Salmon Bearnaise; and Roast Loin of Pork “Moutarde.” All entrees come with a baked stuffed potato and green beans.

The entire meal costs just $12, which is why you’ll find a lot of retirees and other folks on a budget in the dining room.

There’s also a report on the 2nd Annual Pizza Bowl taking place this weekend,

With 11 local pizza places on the roster this year, attendees will have the option of testing a cheese pizza and a specialty pizza from each place. Committee chairman Loretta Rowe said as people purchase their tickets, they will be given a tally sheet to keep track of the slices they taste. In the end, she said, they’ll be asked to vote for their favorite pizza.

And an article about MOOMilk, the new brand of Maine organic milk

The organic milk, in green-red-and-blue cardboard cartons, is being produced by 10 farms in Aroostook, Kennebec, Penobscot and Washington counties, and processed and packaged at Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook.

Wine Tastings Hearing in Augusta

| Posted in Wine

Both MPBN and the Press Herald have reported on yesterday’s hearings about Maine’s wine tasting legislation at the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee in Augusta.

“At our Bangor location, we have had customers after the fact apologizing for missing a tasting because they saw the windows covered in paper and thought we were either closed to remodel or out of business,” [retailer Scott Worcester] testified. “During a tasting in Southwest Harbor, I had to explain to a gentleman that he could not come into my store while carrying his infant, even to buy cheese and crackers, because I was conducting a tasting.”

For a wider perspective on how legislation is impacting the state’s wine making and retailing industry be sure to read the article published earlier this month in Down East.

Review of Silly's

| Posted in Reviews

The USM Free Press has published a review of Silly’s.

As a college student in Portland, it can be hard to find a restaurant that fits your budget. With books to buy and student loans to pay off, who has the money? If you’re looking for affordability, good service and great food, Silly’s Restaurant, at 40 Washington Ave. has it all.

Maine at Work: Cooking at Becky's

| Posted in Cooking

Reporter Ray Routhier tried his hand at being a breakfast cook at Becky’s for this week’s Maine at Work column in the Press Herald.

But when I glanced up at the order slips – clipped by clothespins to a string hanging across the window between the kitchen and the dining room – I felt like someone had suddenly shoved an intercepted code from World War II in my face.

“BEOM/#13” read one slip. “B/Scb/It, BagTst” read another. “#3/HF/Whtt” read a third.

I had no idea what any of it meant, never mind how to start cooking any of it.

Maine at Work: Cooking at Becky’s

| Posted in Cooking

Reporter Ray Routhier tried his hand at being a breakfast cook at Becky’s for this week’s Maine at Work column in the Press Herald.

But when I glanced up at the order slips – clipped by clothespins to a string hanging across the window between the kitchen and the dining room – I felt like someone had suddenly shoved an intercepted code from World War II in my face.

“BEOM/#13” read one slip. “B/Scb/It, BagTst” read another. “#3/HF/Whtt” read a third.

I had no idea what any of it meant, never mind how to start cooking any of it.