Little Woodfords has been recognized as one of the Best Coffee Shops in America by Food & Wine magazine.
Portland’s most knowledgeable (and patient) baristas can be found in this sunny shop far up Forest Avenue, away from downtown and the tourists; a thoughtful rotating selection of good coffees makes each visit a potential learning experience.
Maine Food for Thought has received an award from the World Food Travel Association. Owners Sarah and Bryce Hach were on-hand at the Food Travel Innovation Summit in London to hear the news.
Maine Food for Thought was recognized as a leader in the Food Trekking category where they were up against semifinalists from 16 countries.
Monday – Portland Beer Week is ongoing all week.
Tuesday – Carbon and Piccolo are collaborating on a pop-up, and there will be an Ishi Ishi pop-up at Royale Lunch Bar.
Wednesday – there will be a wine tasting at Old Port Wine Merchants, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Thursday – Bill Doukas, Dina Medouris, and Anna Nashi will be part of a Greek food panel discussion, and famed apple expert John Bunker will be speaking at the Portland Museum of Art.
Friday – Three of Strong will be releasing Merrymeeting Spiced Rum.
Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Central Provisions.
…And with good reason; owners Paige Gould and Chris Gould (also the chef) have built a largely consistent, extraordinarily efficient business that produces some of the area’s finest dishes. Among them, a batter-fried cod cheek tempura served with spicy, aromatic citrus-peel kosho; crisp-skinned suckling pig pressé nestled into a sweet-tangy purée of local apples and almond oil; and the ever-evolving bread plate, where a savory, egg-yolk-rich sabayon always plays a starring role.
Antoine Bikamba along with business partners Damas Rugaba, Aime Nijimbere, and Aline Bucyana have leased the former Maria’s space at 337 Cumberland Ave where they plan to open 207 Bar & Restaurant.
You’ll recall that Maria’s announced in September that they had purchased the Espo’s Trattoria building on Congress Street where they plan to move the nearly 60-year-old restaurant in December. The Maria’s building was purchased by Youth and Family Outreach.
The owners of 207 Bar & Restaurant are applying for a full liquor license and plan to serve a menu of “international cusine”. You can see a copy of the draft menu below:
The Press Herald reports that Andy’s Old Port Pub has closed. The owners shared that there was a mix of factors including a broken walk-in refrigerator and difficulty in staffing the restaurant.
An emotional Jennifer Fox, who owns the pub at 94 Commercial St. with her husband, Rick Frantz, said they made the decision to close on Friday morning after they discovered they would not be able to repair a walk-in cooler. It was, she said, the last straw in “a cacophony of incidents that all kind of came at the same time.”
“As much as I’m going to miss it – it was my own child – it was time,” Fox said.
The BDN and Press Herald have posted reports on Scratch’s decision to keep their Toast Bar closed due to a lack of staff.
Here’s an excerpt of what Scratch wrote on Instagram,
Unfortunately with the current labor shortage we just can’t find the staff to provide the experience and service to our customers that is so important to us.
It is an extremely difficult decision and one that admittedly feels a bit like defeat because who likes to disappoint folks who want their toast!? But we‘re going to double down at the bakery on Willard Square where we, of course, will have all the bagels, breads, sweet treats, savory eats, coffee and good cheer you can handle.
We plan to revisit reopening sometime in the spring…
The Cheese Shop (website, instagram, facebook) plans to open their new store located at 107 Washington Ave on Friday at 10 am. A wine tasting with Devenish Wines is taking place 4 – 6:30 pm.
The new store will sell a larger selection, they’ll also begin offering evening classes and have some space for seating and producer demonstrations. Here’s a look at the opening day menu:
Owners Will and Mary Sissle opened The Cheese Shop opened September 28, 2018 and have quickly developed a loyal customer base working out of their container sized space in The Black Box incubator.
Ishi Ishi Ramen, a 9-seat ramen counter, is slated to takeover their former Black Box shipping container space.
Wednesday – there will be a wine tasting at Maine & Loire, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Thursday – it’s Halloween! Two Fat Cats in South Portland will be having a Halloween Decorating Station for Kids.
Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Sunday – it’s the fist day of Portland Beer Week, Allagash is holding their Fall Fete, the 15th Annual VegFest is taking place, there will be a screening of Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montreal, and Drifters Wife is launching their week Pigeon Sundays happy hour.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published an article about the 6th Annual Heirloom Apple Tasting.
Apple enthusiast Sean Turley and Anestes Fotiades, the creator of the online Portland Food Map, offer a more closely guided tour of New England apples as part of their Heirloom Apple Tasting held annually on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, formerly Columbus Day, in Portland. This year’s event sold out within hours of being announced on Instagram and featured 213 dessert (best eaten raw), cooking (best in pies) and cider (best in fermented beverages) apples.