Thanksgiving Dinner

| Posted in Events

Some restaurants do stay open on Thanksgiving. Here’s the ones I know about so far:

There are also several vendors are selling pies, cakes and even entire meals to take home:

  • Aurora Provisions is selling a full dinner for two, $68
  • Aunt Dee’s is selling apple, pumpkin, squash and pecan pies
  • Cakes Extraordinaire, is offering a free pumpkin pie with every pie purchase
  • Rosemont Market, pre-order your locally raise turkey by Nov 20, they’re also selling pies, rolls, quick breads, cranberry sauce, a stuffing mix, gravy, herb butters, etc.
  • Leavitt and Sons is “offering side dish catering (everything but the bird)”
  • Standard Baking on Commercial Street, Scratch Baking in South Portland, and many of the other bakeries in the area are good sources for pies, breads, etc. They probably produce some holiday themed options in addition to their usual offerings.
  • Black Tie Bistro is “offering everything from fully stuffed and cooked birds, to all the side dishes and trimmings. Desserts from bread puddings to classic pies, everything from scratch and available to pick up.”

UPDATE: The Press Herald has also published a list of sources for Thanksgiving, pies, side dishes, etc and it includes a number of options not already listed above as well as additional details on the ones that are.
Is there a local restaurant, market or bakery that’s missing? Post  a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

Big Sky Cookie Review

| Posted in Reviews

Hilly Town has published a cookie review of the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut Cookie at Big Sky, rating it a 4 out of 5 for Flavor and Bang for Buck, and a 3 out of 5 for Texture.

However, in my mind, there is a clear distinction between a chocolate-chip cookie and an oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie. Oats lend sturdiness, texture, and yes – flavor. Oats in a CCC aren’t an ‘add-in.’ They’re a revision (OCCC). Mind you, it can be a tasty revision, as this OCCC from Big Sky proves.

A Packed Week of Events

| Posted in Events

Monday—The weekly Piatto per Tutti cooking class and Foodie Trivia Contest are taking place tonight.
Tuesday—Simply Divine Brownies is hosting a brownie tasting to celebrate their Grand Opening. Bar Lola is holding a wine dinner featuring wines from Portugal. A cooking class is taking place at SMCC.
Wednesday—The Monument Square Farmers’ Market takes places in the morning. In the evening, there’s a Slow Food Dinner at Cinque Terre with guest Douglas Gayeton, author of Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town. There’s also a cooking class taking place at Black Tie Bistro.
Thursday—Wine tastings are scheduled to take place at Leavitt & Sons and Kitchen and Cork. There will be a launch party for Shipyard Prelude at Portland Pie. Vignola is holding their 4th Annual Allagash Tasting Dinner, and Port Sports is organizing a Mead Crawl which will finish up at Novare Res to taste Maine Mead Works’ new Lavender Mead.
Friday—Rosemont Market on Congress Street is holding a wine tasting.
Saturday—The Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market takes places in the morning. In the afternoon Barbara Lynch, chef/owner of No. 9 Park and James Beard Award for Best Chef Northeast in 2003 will be at Rabelais for a book signing for her work Stir: Mixing it Up in the Italian Tradition.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

Review of Hugo's

| Posted in Reviews

Appetite Portland has published a review of a recent meal at Hugo’s.

First, let me say that Rob Evans deserves all the accolades. My birthday dinner at Hugo’s was nothing short of spectacular. That said, when your restaurant sits perched on a pedestal boasting a shining, gleaming “sterling” reputation – well, the expectations of your guests run high. Very high.

My admittedly stratospherically high expectations were almost – just about – very nearly – exceeded. But not quite.

Review of Hugo’s

| Posted in Reviews

Appetite Portland has published a review of a recent meal at Hugo’s.

First, let me say that Rob Evans deserves all the accolades. My birthday dinner at Hugo’s was nothing short of spectacular. That said, when your restaurant sits perched on a pedestal boasting a shining, gleaming “sterling” reputation – well, the expectations of your guests run high. Very high.

My admittedly stratospherically high expectations were almost – just about – very nearly – exceeded. But not quite.

Interview with Lee Farrington

| Posted in People

Portland Food Heads has published an interview with Lee Farrington. Farrington is in the process of opening a new restaurant called Figa that will focus on “globally inspired cuisine”.

…and offer small tastes, and then have a couple different sized portions along with thoses tastes. I really wanted people to try things that they would never necessarily try.  So we’ll have a board of things between $2 and $4—just weirdness—and hopefully people will spend $2 try things, and if they like it they can get a larger portion.

Review of 158 Pickett Street Cafe

| Posted in Reviews

158 Pickett St has received 4 stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald.

The day I went for breakfast, I had a giant bacon, egg and cheese sandwich ($6). The English muffin was sort of like a biscuit, and sort of like a cake – a little flaky, a little spongy, with lots of flavor. The cheddar cheese was sharp and oozing all over the place, and there was plenty of very thick, very crisp bacon – more like slabs than slices. Overall, it was a great and filling treat.

Interview with Exec Dir of Wayside Soup Kitchen

| Posted in People

Today’s newspaper includes a ShopTalk interview with Susan Violet, Executive Director of the Wayside Soup Kitchen.

Q: Sounds like extensive preparation for the soup kitchen.

A: Oh, well! People don’t always understand the full extent of Wayside’s work and the impact on all of Cumberland County. There’s a lot more going on here than managing a soup kitchen.

We’re also Wayside Food Rescue, which sources and distributes food, which might have gone to waste, throughout Cumberland County to food pantries, soup kitchens and a few social service agencies. We help with Milestone, for example, on India Street, and the Friendship House here in Portland.

Interview with Otto's Anthony Allen

| Posted in People

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Anthony Allen, owner of Otto Pizza.

People queued up along Congress Street during the First Friday Art Walk last week may have been in town for the art, but they were in line for the pizza. As one of the few late-night eateries downtown, Otto Pizza has caused a buzz in Portland during its four short months in business.