Weekend Events: Rabelais Book Sale & Maple’s Grand Opening

| Posted in Events

Here are a couple additional items for this weekend’s event calendar:

  • Wine Maniac Book Signing – Layne Witherell will be at Rabelais today, 3 – 4:30 pm to sign copies of his book Wine Maniac: Life in the Wine Biz.
  • 2nd Annual Sidewalk Book Sale – Rabelais is holding their annual sidewalk book sale on Sunday, 11 – 3 pm. Hundreds of books will be priced at $1, $3 or $5 and all other books are 10% off. For bookish food fans this is a must-attend event.
  • Maple’s Grand Opening – Maple’s Organics is having a Grand Opening at their new location in South Portland on Sunday, 1 – 5 pm. According to the press release, “There will be live music, prizes and fun for the kids, and plenty of gelato samples going around.”

Review of Happy Teriyaki

| Posted in Reviews

Soooo . . You Really Like Cats has published a review of Happy Teriyaki.

Kum and Myung You, an incredible wife-and-husband duo, moved their family from the West Coast to be closer to relatives. Myung will dutifully man the grill and deftly sear and cook his way through several of the Japanese dishes, but the soul of the restaurant lies in Kum and her Korean menu. Some reviewers in the past have mistakenly pegged these intimately crafted dishes as Korean-American food, “ready for the college crowd.” I must emphasize, the Korean food here is nothing but Korean cuisine at its purest. Her family’s recipes are what arrive at the table in the form of each of the banchan – obligatory Korean side dishes – and every entree in the Korean menu. Not even Myung knows the deepest secrets of her family’s mastery of homemade Korean cooking.

Local Sprouts Profile

| Posted in Profiles

The Portland Daily Sun has published a profile of Local Sprouts,

People have become members of the community-supported kitchen, and they are often excited to preserve their access to local foods “and excited about the educational work that we do as well in addition to just cooking food. We’re more than just a restaurant, we’re really about teaching people and connecting the community and really also building a movement for local foods and local control in our communities,” [worker-owner Jonah] Fertig said.

Soju Review & Allagash's Rob Tod at The Bear

| Posted in Reviews, Beer

Soju received 3 stars from today’s Eat & Run review in the Press Herald.

…I opted for chicken breast teriyaki ($7.50) from the Japanese side of the menu and kimchi bokum, a pan fried pork, from the Korean side ($8.50).

Both were satisfying, but I far preferred the chicken teriyaki. Served over a bed of steamed white rice and a healthy mix of carrots and sprouts, the tender chicken tasted sweet and slightly sesame — subtle and not overwhelming.

Also in today’s paper the weekly What Ales You beer column went to The Great Lost Bear for last week’s craft brewing showcase where he got the chance to talk to Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing.

“When I started in 1999, Maine already had breweries making great beer, British and German style,” Tod told me when I got him to join me on the Bear’s patio. “Geary’s and Shipyard and some others were already making great beer, so I wanted to try something different.”

Soju Review & Allagash’s Rob Tod at The Bear

| Posted in Reviews, Beer

Soju received 3 stars from today’s Eat & Run review in the Press Herald.

…I opted for chicken breast teriyaki ($7.50) from the Japanese side of the menu and kimchi bokum, a pan fried pork, from the Korean side ($8.50).

Both were satisfying, but I far preferred the chicken teriyaki. Served over a bed of steamed white rice and a healthy mix of carrots and sprouts, the tender chicken tasted sweet and slightly sesame — subtle and not overwhelming.

Also in today’s paper the weekly What Ales You beer column went to The Great Lost Bear for last week’s craft brewing showcase where he got the chance to talk to Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing.

“When I started in 1999, Maine already had breweries making great beer, British and German style,” Tod told me when I got him to join me on the Bear’s patio. “Geary’s and Shipyard and some others were already making great beer, so I wanted to try something different.”

A Pair of Festivals

| Posted in Events

Today’s Food & Dining section in the Portland Press Herald includes a feature article about the Greek Festival,

Maria Economos held court at the stove in the parish hall of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, a pan of hot canola oil awaiting her next piece of delicate pastry dough.

“You’ve got to have the knack, and I do,” insisted the 87-year-old Economos as she surveyed the kitchen table behind her and fastidiously hand-picked the next square of dough to fry. “I’ve been doing this since I was 13 years old.”

and an article about the Vegetarian and Vegan Food Festival which is also taking place this weekend.

“There are plenty of opportunities for people to get their feet wet if they’re thinking about a plant-based diet,” said Beth Gallie, the co-chair of this year’s event. “One thing that makes us happy is people who come who aren’t vegetarians but who want to add meatless meals to their diet.”

Now in its sixth year, the free festival serves up oodles of food samples, a roster of speakers and a host of vegetarian-focused organizations.

Review of El Rayo

| Posted in Reviews

Edible Obsessions has posted a review of El Rayo. It’s a follow-up to her review from last July,

The rest of our meal (strawberry refresco, negra modello, beans and rice bowl w/chicken, guac. w/chips, pescado and al pastor tacos) was easily the best I’ve had to date, though still only ‘ok’. The chips were nicely warm, the refresco was lived up to its name and the tacos were hearty and filling. We were enjoying ourselves for the better part of it, though the wait for the food and drinks was a bit long but all of that went to shit when the Mrs. made the mistake of ordering the flan for dessert.

Greek Heritage Festival

| Posted in Events

The Tuesday Portland Daily Sun includes a pair of articles about the Greek Heritage Festival that kicks off on Thursday this week.

There were dozens of mothers and daughters in the kitchen at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church this past week: measuring out flour, stuffing dates and sprinkling confectioner’s sugar. The recipes that once fed families of ten have been scaled up to feed ten thousand. Going into its 28th year, the Greek Food Festival is three days of Hellenic hospitality under a big top tent at the corner of Pleasant Street and Park Street, just around the corner from the art museum.