Review of Mike's

Mike’s, the new sandwich shop on Congress Street, has received 4 stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald.

Opened this month, Mike’s is a small restaurant. The front room houses a few stools, where you can eat looking at Congress Street out the front window, beverage coolers and the kitchen. The back room has tables for seating. There are band posters and other art work celebrating rock ‘n’ roll decorating the restaurant’s two rooms.

Review of Mike’s

Mike’s, the new sandwich shop on Congress Street, has received 4 stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald.

Opened this month, Mike’s is a small restaurant. The front room houses a few stools, where you can eat looking at Congress Street out the front window, beverage coolers and the kitchen. The back room has tables for seating. There are band posters and other art work celebrating rock ‘n’ roll decorating the restaurant’s two rooms.

Outdoor Eats at The Porthole and Silly's

An article in Wednesday’s Portland Daily Sun writes about outdoor eating in Portland with special attention paid to The Porthole and Silly’s. For a complete (I think) list of outdoor eating spots in Portland see this list on PFM.

An endless summer doesn’t appeal to everyone, and even I look forward to pulling out my oversized sweaters, roasting freshly carved pumpkin seeds with different spices, and hitting the Cumberland County Fair to ogle the pies and bovines. It’s the change of seasons that makes each individual one so tasty; but for now, as Springsteen says, I’m going to keep “drinkin’ warm beer in the soft summer rain” as long as Mother Nature will allow.

Outdoor Eats at The Porthole and Silly’s

An article in Wednesday’s Portland Daily Sun writes about outdoor eating in Portland with special attention paid to The Porthole and Silly’s. For a complete (I think) list of outdoor eating spots in Portland see this list on PFM.

An endless summer doesn’t appeal to everyone, and even I look forward to pulling out my oversized sweaters, roasting freshly carved pumpkin seeds with different spices, and hitting the Cumberland County Fair to ogle the pies and bovines. It’s the change of seasons that makes each individual one so tasty; but for now, as Springsteen says, I’m going to keep “drinkin’ warm beer in the soft summer rain” as long as Mother Nature will allow.

Immigrant Kitchens: Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls

Immigrant Kitchens met up with Suu Lee Martin, originally from Ho Chi Minh City, to learn how to make Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls (intro, photos, recipe).

When you get Vietnamese spring roll lessons from Suu Le Martin, you learn they’re basically ground pork, really thin rice noodles, carrot, salt, sugar, pepper, onion, and egg, wrapped up in special paper and deep fried. But by the time you’re chomping into the crispy, hot, handheld treat, you understand she also did something else: she took sheer human love, wrapped it in courage and glued it all together with a scramble of prayers.

Review of Caiola's

Edible Obsessions has published a review of Caiola’s.

I am going to start simply by laying out the fact that I am undeniably and absolutely in love with Caiola’s. I am biased from the second my hands hit the keyboard and I am more than ok with that. Truth be told, in spite of what my friend Kate says, they serve up the best brunch in town (or within at least a 50-mile radius) and we haven’t gone to another spot since they started serving it over two years ago.

Review of Caiola’s

Edible Obsessions has published a review of Caiola’s.

I am going to start simply by laying out the fact that I am undeniably and absolutely in love with Caiola’s. I am biased from the second my hands hit the keyboard and I am more than ok with that. Truth be told, in spite of what my friend Kate says, they serve up the best brunch in town (or within at least a 50-mile radius) and we haven’t gone to another spot since they started serving it over two years ago.

The Locavorian Lunch Tray

The Natural Foodie column in today’s Press Herald is on the strides made by school systems in bringing locally grown food and freshly prepared food to the student lunch trays.

One of the most visible changes in Portland this year is the addition of fruit and vegetable buffets at all nine elementary schools.

Less visible is the drive to make more dishes in-house and rely less on processed food.

“We’ve made pretty big strides in bringing scratch-made food back to Portland schools,” Adams said. “We still serve chicken nuggets once a month, but now we do breaded drumsticks made in-house and baked red potatoes instead of tater tots.”