Olive Cafe

The Portland Phoenix has reviewed the Olive Cafe.

the breakfast menu is pretty straightforwardly American — the aforementioned egg sandwich, pancakes, French toast, eggs. But the “egg sandwich wrap” mentioned olive oil and pita bread, which was good enough for me. It was quite good, actually. It has no salty meat, just eggs, sautéed onion, tomato, and freshly chopped oregano.

This Week's Events

Both Piatto per Tutti and Black Tie Bistro have cooking classes scheduled this week, Monday and Wednesday respectively, and the The Cheese Iron is holding a class Wednesday evening on American artisanal cheeses. The biweekly Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place on Wednesday in Monument Square. There are three wine tastings scheduled this week: at Old Port Wine Merchants on Wednesday, at Browne Trading on Thursday and at Kitchen & Cork on Saturday. Eve’s annual Ice Bar event will be taking place Thursday through Saturday; the Maine Ice Carving Championship will be held at Eve’s Saturday morning. There are two wine dinners taking place on Wednesday at Twenty Milk Street and at Cinque Terre. The Great Lost Bear is showcasing the brews of Redhook Ale Brewery on Thursday.  On Sunday Hugo’s and Novare Res are co-hosting a dinner that pairs up Novare Res selected beers with Hugo’s cuisine. Wine lovers looking for a weekend road trip should check-out the Wine Expo which is taking place in Boston on Saturday and Sunday.  For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

Happy Teriyaki

Happy Teriyaki received 3½ stars from this week’s Taste & Tell column in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram.

“But best of all was the bowl of soft tofu and seafood Korean stew ($13.95). On top of its ingredients an egg slowly cooked, remaining tender, its yolk semiliquid, a few minutes after being placed on the table. Three tender shrimp, three oysters and three clams cooked in their shells filled the bowl next to the tofu.”

Papou's Kitchen, etc

wasabiPapou’s Kitchen is now open for business. They offer a short menu of gyro and falafel wraps.
I was in the Old Port today for lunch at Paciarino (an excellent meal of goat cheese ravioli) and spotted this Stop Work order in the window of Wasabi, a new sushi restaurant (not) being constructed at 7 Exchange Street.
John Robinson, who sold Hugo’s to Rob Evans in 2003, is revamping Finch’s, his Falmouth restaurant, as  Johnny’s Bistro & Bar.

Fishing Industry

Glen Libby, chairman of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association, authored a Maine Voices article for today’s Press Herald about fisheries management. He call the current days at sea approach a “dismal failure” but expresses hope in a new sector based management and other ideas like CSFs.

“In addition to forming a sector, our fishermen have created Community Supported Fisheries based on the successful agriculture model, Community Supported Agriculture.

In partnership with the Island Institute, this has allowed us to change the current marketing structure from catching high volumes of lower-quality fish that sell for a low price to catching low volumes of higher-quality fish that sell for a premium price.

By selling directly to the people of Maine, we have established a way to keep Maine’s fishermen fishing, and our customers now feel a strong sense of ownership for the fishery and the fishermen in the Gulf of Maine.”

Paciarino

Accidental Vegetables has reviewed the lunchtime pasta options at Paciarino.

“We chose to share maccheroni al pesto and ravioli with goat cheese in a simple tomato sauce. Each was about 8 dollars. The pasta was delicious, with that combination of softness and toothness you only find in homemade pasta, cooked perfectly. The sauces were also beautiful.”

Loco Pollo Tamales

Cornucopasetic has reviewed the tamales at Loco Pollo.

“But, alas, the tamales. They seemed a bit small, although that is offset by the fact that they are affordable (3 tamales is $6.00). My tamale was a bit dry and also a bit broken up. The filling wasn’t an explosion of rich mexican spices, it was more of whimper…I sort of think my experience may have been a fluke…A second visit is in order, but for now: merely okay.”