Category: General News

The Portland Daily Sun has published an omnibus review of the 2009 year in food.

This year saw many openings, including: Papaya King, Paciarino, Bard, Mornings in Paris, Maine Bean Cafe, The Farmer’s Table, El Rayo, Grace, Binga’s Stadium Smokehouse and Sports Bar, the Salt Exchange, Peace Food Market, Otto’s, Kon Asian Bistro, the Corner Room, Shima, JPs, Veranda Noodle Bar, Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll, the second floor of the Public Market House, Saigon Restaurant, GRO Organics and Po Boys and Pickles.

The Portland Daily Sun has published an omnibus review of the 2009 year in food.

This year saw many openings, including: Papaya King, Paciarino, Bard, Mornings in Paris, Maine Bean Cafe, The Farmer’s Table, El Rayo, Grace, Binga’s Stadium Smokehouse and Sports Bar, the Salt Exchange, Peace Food Market, Otto’s, Kon Asian Bistro, the Corner Room, Shima, JPs, Veranda Noodle Bar, Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll, the second floor of the Public Market House, Saigon Restaurant, GRO Organics and Po Boys and Pickles.

The Portland Daily Sun food writer Margo Mallar paid a visit to Saigon and Kon Asian Bistro as part of her Christmas day.

The soup was a delight to my gentile tastebuds but it was a Christmas gift that our pescatarian Jewish friend Rachel had to decline on two counts: treif and meat.  \We were eating light so limited ourselves to Saigon Veggie egg rolls, steamed french beans, a sardine banh mi sandwich and a tofu curry entree.  The portions were abundant, made with fresh ingredients and well seasoned.  The homemade chili sauce alone is worth a return trip.

Portland Phoenix restaurant reviewer Brian Duff has penned a survey of changes in the 2009 dining landscape as well as  a caution that the Portland food scene may be peaking. I hope he’s wrong about that.
In a separate article Duff notes his favorite dishes for the year: the Sole Francaise at Street & Co as Best Upscale Dish, and the Duck Soup at Pom’s as the Best Affordable Dish.

Today’s issue of the Portland Daily Sun includes articles on the online effort to persuade Trader Joe’s to come to Portland (see also this earlier post)

Portland foodie activists are taking to the Web by the thousands in hopes of luring supermarket chain Trader Joe’s to Southern Maine.

At least two simultaneous Internet campaigns aimed at convincing the company to open a store in Greater Portland are under way, including a Facebook group and an online petition, each drawing more than 2,000 participants.

about Havana’s plans for a Wharf Street restaurant and renovations taking place at 51 Wharf

On a well-traveled stretch of cobblestone street that includes The Merry Table Crêperie on one end and Beal’s Ice Cream on the other, the owners at the 51 Wharf restaurant and lounge are reinvesting in their business, while across the street a Latin American-inspired casual fine dining restaurant is coming in to replace a defunct furniture store.

and Margo Mallar’s culinary bucket and wish list for 2010. Here’s a taste,

An understanding that the Mediterranean is much more than Italy and Greece. There’s a real dearth of North African, Middle Eastern, Turkish and Balkan food.

Today’s issue of the Portland Daily Sun includes articles on the online effort to persuade Trader Joe’s to come to Portland (see also this earlier post)

Portland foodie activists are taking to the Web by the thousands in hopes of luring supermarket chain Trader Joe’s to Southern Maine.

At least two simultaneous Internet campaigns aimed at convincing the company to open a store in Greater Portland are under way, including a Facebook group and an online petition, each drawing more than 2,000 participants.

about Havana’s plans for a Wharf Street restaurant and renovations taking place at 51 Wharf

On a well-traveled stretch of cobblestone street that includes The Merry Table Crêperie on one end and Beal’s Ice Cream on the other, the owners at the 51 Wharf restaurant and lounge are reinvesting in their business, while across the street a Latin American-inspired casual fine dining restaurant is coming in to replace a defunct furniture store.

and Margo Mallar’s culinary bucket and wish list for 2010. Here’s a taste,

An understanding that the Mediterranean is much more than Italy and Greece. There’s a real dearth of North African, Middle Eastern, Turkish and Balkan food.

About Town paid a visit to the new 2nd floor of the Public Market House and posted a report on the newly expanded market.

Chairs and tables look out over Monument Square, making it a prime people-watching location (and the yet-to-be-completed glass elevator, also overlooking the square, will only heighten the experience).

“All of a sudden I’m beginning to feel this is really what I hoped it would be,” Horton says of the endeavor, which she sees not just as a public market for fresh foods and produce, but also as an “incubator for businesses.”

BA Foodist blogger Andrew Knowlton included Tu Casa’s enchilada salvadoreña with tongue on his budget list of best restaurant dishes of 2009.