Year: 2010

Review of Silly's

| Posted in Reviews

The Blueberry Files has published a review of Silly’s.

The best part about this place is that it accomidates all types of eaters. Vegetarian? (C. had some fine looking falafel!) Vegan? Huge carnivore? Fried food lover? Gluten free? Check. You really can’t go wrong with Silly’s. Am I being a little over the top? Maybe, but you’ll have to check it out for yourself, and I hope you have a great experience, because I really love it there.

Review of Silly’s

| Posted in Reviews

The Blueberry Files has published a review of Silly’s.

The best part about this place is that it accomidates all types of eaters. Vegetarian? (C. had some fine looking falafel!) Vegan? Huge carnivore? Fried food lover? Gluten free? Check. You really can’t go wrong with Silly’s. Am I being a little over the top? Maybe, but you’ll have to check it out for yourself, and I hope you have a great experience, because I really love it there.

Review of Mousse Cafe and Bakeshop

| Posted in Reviews

Mousse Cafe & Bakeshop received 4 stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald.

One of my companions ordered a half chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread with a cup of fish chowder ($5.99). The chicken salad sandwich looked so good that I went back to the cafe earlier this week to try it. I’m very particular about chicken salad — it’s so easy for the mayo to overwhelm it — but it was great.

Winter Points in the Phoenix

| Posted in Fisheries

The Portland Phoenix has published an article about my favorite Maine oysters, Winter Points.

Hennessey’s dad and uncle started farming and harvesting oysters in the mid-’90s as a way to help pay the taxes, and, what started as a side business has become a full-time career for Hennessey and his cousin and business partner, Ryan Curran.

Rowan Jacobson, author of A Geography of Oysters, describes Winter Points as “four-inch oysters filled with brine and brothy umami richness. So rich and firm, with a hint of sweetness on the finish” and quotes chef Daniel Boulud who called them “the Burgundy of Oysters”.

Bagel Bake-off Redux

| Posted in Reviews

Appetite Portland has published the results of a bagel bake-off comparing the Everything and Sea Salt bagels from 158 Pickett Street Cafe and from Scratch Baking.

The Verdict: Scratch by a nose. But, just barely. Both establishments make truly fab bagels. And, If there is one thing I’ve learned, it is that bagel preferences are extremely subjective – and very, VERY personal.

Back in 2008, Type A Diversions published the results of her own comparative tasting of the sesame, poppy seed and plain bagels from Scratch and Mister Bagel.

To accompany smoked salmon, capers, tomatoes and red onion, I would opt for Mr. Bagel’s bagels, as they would not compete with the flavors of the other ingredients. They are also a bit less chewy than Scratch’s bagels, making it easier to bite off a piece piled with fixings. For all other occasions, I’d stick with Scratch for a crisper, more flavorful bagel.

An Interview with Erik Desjarlais

| Posted in People

Find Eat Drink has published an interview with Erik Desjarlais, chef/owner of Evangeline.

What is your least favorite new culinary trend and why?
I dislike the fact that there are culinary trends. Food is food. I don’t think food is fashion. Fashion goes out of style, food shouldn’t. Nose to Tail cooking is not a trend. It has been going on for centuries. But since it is now mainstream to eat offal, it is a trend. I guess I’m thankful that it has become mainstream because I love to cook with offal. In 2003, very few would even consider eating pig tails, head cheese, blood sausage, tongue or brain. Or even pork belly! I was scoffed at for having them on my menu. People would come storming in to my restaurant screaming at me for having offal and extremities, saying “Who would eat brains????” My only answer was, “Well, probably your great grandmother.”

Bar Review of The Corner Room

| Posted in Reviews

Portland Bar Guide has published a review of The Corner Room.

Instead, our swift server delivers hot hard cheese encrusted house focaccia with a pitcher of a lightly hued olive oil. Dizzy with joy, I realize I should’ve opted for something from the many splendored, all-Italian all-handpicked wine list (Gabbiano Chianti, Toscano for example, for $6.50 a glass) instead of the knee jerk local draft (Geary’s Winter, $5).