The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of the Sea Glass restaurant at the Inn by the Sea.
For stylish seaside dining in one of Maine’s premier inn resorts, Sea Glass offers a menu of admirable dishes that are well prepared. The wine list is extensive and offers superb choices in all price ranges. Best dishes include gaucho steak, mushroom tart, roast chicken under a brick and any of the desserts by pastry chef Karen Voter.
Fettle Vegan has published a review of The Holy Donut.
Opened for about a year and a half, The Holy Donut began as one woman’s mission to create a better-for-you, traditional style donut with tons of flavor. Leigh Kellis teamed up with her Dad to start producing what I now know as vegan donut gold after longing for far too long for delicious donuts near where she lived.
The latest episode of Booze, Fish & Coffee includes a review of visiting food truck Cafe Crepe.
New to the area, this food truck is the real deal. Lauren certainly knows how to make a crêpe that rivals those in France–hers are light and perfectly cooked. As for ingredients, she isn’t playing around here. Tons of variety, and you can get both sweet and savory crêpes — for the savory, there’s one with baked brie, another with mozzarella, spinach and pesto, and another with goat cheese and caramelized onions with balsamic reduction.
For more on Cafe Crepe visit their Facebook page.
Kate McCarty has written an interesting article for the Portland Phoenix about the Small Axe food truck and the chefs’ use of local farms and purveyors when sourcing ingredients for their menu.
The meat, fish, dairy, and produce Small Axe serves is all from local sources, drawing on Deuben’s and Leavy’s longstanding relationships with nearby purveyors. Small Axe’s vegetables come from two farms, one in particular that focuses on unusual varieties appealing to chefs: Green Spark Farm. Deuben first noticed the attractive display of Green Spark Farm’s produce at the Portland farmers’ market while shopping for Miyake’s tasting menu. He was further drawn to the farm for the varieties of produce growing there, in particular Asian greens and cabbages like totsoi and red choi.
McCarty is also the author of The Blueberry Files. This piece is the first of a monthly column she’ll be writing for the Portland Phoenix.
Map & Menu has published a brief (beautifully illustrated) review of Piccolo.
Photo Credit: Map & Menu
The Golden Dish has written about a recent meal at the SMCC Culinary Arts Center where students prepare and serve meals to the public as part of their education.
The choice of starter offerings included either clam chowder or house-cured gravlax. My guest chose the soup and I opted for the salmon. The chowder was too thick for his tastes, without much clam flavor. My salmon, however, was beautifully cured (nicely citrusy) and accompanied by perfectly diced egg yolk, onions and capers. There was herbed cream cheese (very tasty) to spread on crostini. This was a good dish.
Eat Maine has published a review of Salvage BBQ,
With multiple sauces, plenty of peppers, and easily mixable sides, Salvage has a menu that can be customized for your tastes. A dash of hot sauce here, an extra pickle there, and soon you’ll be swapping your Maine-made IPA for some Kentucky bourbon and pretending your latitude is much, much lower. End the meal with a slice of peach pie, and you’ll completely forget the coming snow.
and Drink Up and Get Happy has published a review of Elsmere,
Overall Elsmere BBQ and Wood Grill is great place to get out of the busy downtown Portland and enjoy great brews and excellent food all in a warm, welcoming space supporting local businessmen and the local farms they source from.
and the Press Herald has published a bar review of The Grill Room.
The ambiance is warm and somewhat cavernous – exposed brick walls throughout the restaurant and dim lighting – and the service is upbeat, prompt, and knowledgeable. There might be a wait for a table, but the food is delivered exceptionally fast. It’d be easy to spend a decent amount of money at the Grill Room, but thankfully for happy hour, it’s also possible to spend under $10 for a drink and a snack – and there’s usually not a wait for a seat at the bar.
Cara Stadler, chef owner of Tao Yuan restaurant in Brunswick, will be opening a Portland restaurant this Spring, according to a report from Maine a la Carte.
The West End Deli is moving, and a restaurant featuring Chinese dumplings is already under construction in its place. Chef Cara Stadler, who owns Tao Yuan in Brunswick…confirmed today that the basement of the building at 133 Spring St…is being excavated and the space will be reconfigured into a single-level restaurant. It is expected to open in April or May…
Update: There’s been some question about where the West End Deli is moving to. A reliable source tells me that they plan on moving a couple blocks away on Congress Street.
Peter Peter Portland Eater has published a review of the Portland Hunt and Alpine Club.
We finished up and paid. I walked out happy. Portland Hunt and Alpine Club is a great new choice in Portland for a drink after work with some apps or a pre-dinner visit any time. I believe that in a city saturated with restaurants that have bars, a bar that has a smallish restaurant but is focused on drinks is the type of place that can add something to the culture…
MaineToday.com has assembled a tour of Portland food tours: Maine Beer Tours, Wine Wise, Maine Foodie Tours, The Brew Bus and Portland Taste Tours,
A food and drink tour of Portland may seem like something designed just for visitors, but if you want to learn about this city’s new restaurants, food producers, breweries and distilleries — or want a distinctive experience you might not get on your own — don’t turn your nose up at letting a guide lead the way.
and The 207 Foodie has shared her experience on the Halloween tour run by Portland Taste Tours.
I recommend anybody who A. Loves food, B. Wants to try new food, C. Enjoys a good tour and D. Wants to explore the Portland food scene to check out a Portland Taste Tour. Trust me, this is something you will not regret.