Today’s Press Herald reports on discussions between city officials and restaurant owners regarding regulation of outdoor seating.
Portland planning officials are struggling to find a way to protect the city’s vibrant restaurant scene while also making sure that pedestrians can maneuver through sidewalks and public spaces cluttered with outdoor seating.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed The Good Table in Cape Elizabeth.
The best of The Good Table is old-fashioned, hearty fare – from nicely grilled beef burgers with fried onions to moist and flavorful fish and chips with cole slaw. Start with a pail of fresh mussels served in a broth infused with butter and garlic. Move onto a rich standard such as rib eye steak with horseradish cream, or a lighter, Greek-style baked fish. All the food here is comforting – and filling.
The Blueberry Files has published her annual Thanksgiving turkey buying guide. It includes price per pound details on 18 different turkey brands available from local farms and markets.
Ah, meat. The epicenter of the local food dilemma. On one side, you could argue that meat should not be cheap. On the other side, you have your desire to serve a huge, perfectly-roasted, glistening bird that will satisfy all of your guests, with plenty of leftovers for the next day. Somewhere lost in all of that is the financial reality that locally-raised or organic meat simply costs more than the unethical alternative.
The Bangor Daily News has profiled Coastal Root Bitters.
With a classic aromatic on the market since May, he is gearing up for a few more varieties. Coffee bitters made with Tandem Coffee Roasters coffee, star anise, oak and chocolate is in progress, as is an Indian spice, garam masala, and possibly a pine.
“I’m working on giving it a Maine identity,” [Nolan] Stewart said. “The possibilities are endless.”
David Levi from Vinland will be the featured chef for a dinner at the James Beard House January 13th.
See Urban Eye for details on the menu.
The Golden Dish has published a first look review of Ebb & Flow,
The “mezzes” are delightful and perhaps my favorite part of the menu and offer such other choices as taramasalata (whipped roe and almond milk) and fire roasted eggplant, which are served with the wonderful pita. And choose one of the hearty appetizers or skip that course and go straight to other main dishes like tomato-based braised lamb shank with pistachios or chicken roasted in the wood oven. Then you easily enjoy the simplicity of the fine cooking–sometimes a relief from the fine madness elsewhere.
Vrai-lean-uh has reviewed Tandem Bakery on Congress Street.
Every time I go I order a new thing that is more fantastic than the last. The poppyseed grapefruit bundt cake was spectacular. The jalapeno cheddar biscuits are perfectly tender and soft with just the touch of crispy edges. I mostly hate scones, but these ones are light and buttery and come in flavors like plum rosemary. The chocolate chip cookies are somehow both sophisticated and nostalgic. The sticky bun, guys. It’s so good.
Malcolm Bedell, co-author of From Away, is competing in the Sandwich category today at the World Food Championships.
Bedell is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to launch a sandwich food truck in Rockland called ‘Wich, Please.
The Press Herald has published an interview Heather Sanborn, co-owner of Rising Tide Brewing.
Q: Since the business has grown, have you stepped back from the actual brewing?
A: As we’ve grown, I have been able to do less and less on the production side. Back when we had one employee, I would work on the bottling line and clean out the tanks and brew a pilot batch now and then, but now I can focus on other things I like. And I can say, “I want a beer that tastes like this,” and Nathan and the others can come up with the recipe and try that. The thing I enjoy doing the most is working on financial projects – how we can finance the next tank and making sure everyone gets paid and working on hiring plans. We’re a team of 11 right now and we hired our first full-time employee in 2012. So there’s an HR role and CFO role that falls to me as well.
Longtime Portland bartender Andrea Lee passed away last week at the age of 65.
Andrea Lee, a beloved bartender at Sangillo’s Tavern who offered comfort, laughter and “really good drinks” to its patrons for 37 years, died unexpectedly on Nov. 6. She was 65.
Ms. Lee worked Wednesday and Friday nights at the popular Portland neighborhood bar, which usually drew large crowds with Lee behind the bar.
For details on services see the obituary in today’s Press Herald.