Type A Diversions has reviewed El Rayo, providing an early take on the new restaurant.
Bottom line: El Rayo lived up to expectations, at long last bringing fantastic Mexican fare to Portland.
For additional input see reader comments here and here.
And you might also want to take a look at this article from Portland in a Snap.
Photo Credit: Type A Diversions
El Rayo is now open. They started lunch service yesterday and, according to owner Cheryl Lewis, they’ll be begin doing dinner sometime in the next few days as soon as they work out a few more details.
Fore Street, Micucci’s, Coffee by Design, Becky’s and the Portland Farmers’ Market were among the winners at Buy Local’s Indie Biz Awards on Wednesday night. For more details on the event check out the latest post from Portland in a Snap.
Buy Local also figured prominently in a new article on the Down East site (via Psst!) advocating for a Portland Buy Local truck that would trundle about town Good Humor style dispensing croissants and locally grown veggies.
At first, I simply wanted our local Maple’s Gelato or Beal’s Ice Cream to operate their own truck. Fresh ingredients would be a huge improvement. I could call it a victory and gain ten pounds. Then I thought, why stop with ice cream?
Portland needs an entire Buy Local truck of items such as ice cream, bread, dairy, produce and beer. Imagine a truck painted by a local artist with a jingle produced by local musicians. Did I mention it would run on biodiesel?
Wayne Tuohey from CUE Culture was interviewed for the ShopTalk column in today’s Press Herald.
The initial stuff I made at home, since the early ’90s, was the Apricot Habenero Rum barbecue sauce. I used to make it for the family. For Christmas every year they’d get a Tupperware full of frozen pulled pork and a Mason jar of sauce. So when I thought about doing Cue Culture, I thought, ‘My family likes it, but I don’t really know if it’s any good.’ I took some to a restaurant in Portland, and some people I knew, and my parents knew. They’d moved to Florida, and my father took some barbecuing classes at the local community college.
Tasting in Tongues has started writing a weekly post where author Paul Gagne describes how he cooked up the food sourced at the Portland Farmers’ Market. The latest menu includes a “pork chop on a bed of the parsnip/potato puree with a sprinkling of the balsamic reduction”, Greek salad and fiddleheads with red quinoa.
There’s an especially packed calendar of foodie events today with two lectures, 3 wine tastings, a Peak Brewing showcase at Great Lost Bear, Novare Res’s first anniversary celebration and a Portuguese wine dinner (5 courses and 5 wines and a port with presentations from the wine makers) at Local 188.
I just drove by El Rayo and there are signs posted saying that there’s a private party there tonight. New restaurants often have a party with friends and family a couple days before they open as a dry-run with a controlled friendly audience. A call to the restaurant confirmed that they plan to open on Saturday.
The Portland Phoenix has reviewed GRO Cafe, the new raw food establishment near Monument Square.
Even without cooking, GRO Café may evolve and flourish too. What they do well is good enough to build upon successfully. The sesame noodles made from zucchini, for example, offered a nice contrast in texture to crisp carrot and celery. The almond Thai sauce was not too thick or sweet. Little nori dumplings were sort of interesting, though their nutty, garlicky, bright green paste was a touch too dense.
but also went on to say
But there are things to improve. In the smallish sea veggie shiitake roll, the bitter collard wrap and seaweed aroma overwhelmed the other flavors. The mushrooms also get a bit lost in a too-sweet marinade when featured in an “Emma Goldman” sandwich, which replaces bread with two circles of wettish undercooked tortilla. But the Goldman was better than the veggie-ball sub . . .
Portland Fodder has published photos of a draft menu for The Salt Exchange. The new small plate restaurant is still under construction but hope to open on May 29.
Portland Bar Guide has published a review of Bonobo.
He also said their wood-fired pizza is unbeatable. And he’s right. Everything is freshly made and they offer gourmet organic combinations (Taleggio cheese, smoke roasted tomato, leeks, garlic butter and arugula salad – and that’s just one pizza) you won’t find anywhere. I know, you thought Flatbread had the best pizza, right? Bonobo is upping the standards.