Month: December 2014

Sprudge Interview with Tandem Bakery

| Posted in People

Coffee industry insider Sprudge has published an interview with Will Pratt and Briana Holt from Tandem Bakery.

Are you able to do anything different with coffee service at the second space?
Pratt: We’re doing Fetcos over there, which has been pretty good. It’s actually been harder to dial in than we thought—we thought it was just press play and forget about it, but it presents a lot of fun challenges. And we’ve actually been using the Mahlkönig K30, we’ve been doing espresso shots—longer shots—and the espressos up there are amazing. We’re adding AeroPress and other made-to-order stuff in the next couple weeks as well. It’s been crazy how the reaction to the space makes people forget that we’re a coffee company, so we’re trying to put that back in there as well. Every picture we see is of the food!

Under Construction: Lincolns

| Posted in Under Construction

Mark Ohlson, Nathan Drinkwater and Stephen Briggs are launching Lincolns, a “cash only lounge for locals to escape the madness of the old port and see quality entertainment” at 36 Market Street. Lincolns will be in the basement level space that had been the home to Market Street Eats and many years back was the location a cocktail lounge called Maza. According to their letter of intent,

Lincolns will be a bar that functions on the premise of simplicity. We sell a short list of common, premium beers and alcohols all at $5. We will also offer chili and potato & pasta salad also at the $5 price point.

Ohlson is the owner of MJ’s Wine Bar, Drinkwater is a bartender at Gritty’s and Briggs works at Bull Feeney’s. They hope to open Lincolns in January.

Here’s a copy of the draft menu (page 95 of the City Council packet) as well as a floor plan.

lincolnsmenu

lincolnsfloor

Under Construction: East Ender

| Posted in Under Construction

As reported back in November, Small Axe co-owners Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy are in the process of buying the East Ender. The deal is expected to close in January and after completing some renovations they plan to re-open in February or March next year.

Deuben and Leavy have now applied for a liquor license giving us all our first look at the lunch and dinner menus (page 120 of the City Council packet). Here are excerpts from the menus:

ee_lunch

ee_dinner

BA Best Meals of 2014

| Posted in Reviews

palacetuna

Bon Appétit has included the Tuna Sandwich at Palace Diner in their list of the Best Meals of 2014.

Palace Diner is a 15-seat charmer located in a shiny red 1927 dining car in Biddeford, Maine, located a 30-minute drive South of Portland. The two former fine dining chefs/owners—Chad Conley and Greg Mitchell—do simple and nostalgic diner food amazingly well. Their bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast is perfect. And, damn, those Palace potatoes: boiled, smashed down, and then crisped with abandon on the griddle.

But it’s the tuna salad sandwich (with a side of crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside French fries) that I go back for. It’s not rocket science: just good ingredients executed with passion and precision. The bread is always toasted perfectly, the tuna to mayo ratio spot on, and the addition of dill and cucumber is just the way my mom used to make them for me back in grade school. Pair with a hangover and Coke and all is well with the world.

Review of Ruski’s

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has reviewed Ruski’s.

The burgers were textbook good. They were perfectly grilled to medium rare and had the essential outer charred crust that gives the beef so much texture and flavor.  The restaurant has many cooks, and that night Will was in the kitchen and did his job very well.  For $8.95 you get a half pound burger on a big hefty roll with a mound of fries.  Cocktails like premium vodka on the rocks are $6.50, and beers are often on special from $2.50 for PBR to premium drafts at $3.75. With tax, tip and drinks the $20 each spent on dinner was a satisfyingly cut-rate night on the town worth repeating many times over.

2nd South Portland Otto Now Open

| Posted in Openings

otto125b450

Otto Pizza’s 2nd pizzeria in South Portland opened today. The new pizza shop is located at 125 John Roberts Rd which is right near the Maine Mall.

The John Roberts Road location is OTTO’s 9th location overall (10, if you count our Portland delivery facility), and is one of our roomiest, with 5 picnic tables, and an indoor bocce court. Diners can enjoy pizza by the slice or whole pie, along with a full array of beverages, including beer and wine. (Yes, we’re serving Autohelm, our brand new collaboration with Rising Tide Brewing Company!)

Photo Credit: Otto Pizza

Under Construction: Rivalries in Falmouth

| Posted in Under Construction

The Forecaster reports that Rivalries is working on opening a new 11,400 square foot sports bar in Falmouth.

The proposed restaurant would be a two-story, 11,400-square-foot building with its entrance on Hat Trick Drive. It would seat 192 patrons on the two floors, with 16 bar seats and function spaces upstairs. Seasonal outdoor seating would allow for 32 more patrons.

The lot of almost half an acre is bordered by Clearwater Drive to the east, Farm Gate Road to the south, and the proposed Hat Trick Drive to the north. It is currently undeveloped.

More on the Portland Food Co-op

| Posted in General News

MPBN, WCSH and The Golden Dish have all published reports on the Portland Food Co-op,

The dairy cases stock all of the products that we’ve become so familiar with at farmers’ markets: Lakin’s Gorge’s ricotta (Rockport), Balfour cultured cream (great sour cream), yogurts and cheese to Swallowtail’s dairy lineup of kefir, cheese and flavored yogurts. Ice cream choices include the excellent Catbird Creamery and the store has a small but professional kitchen where many preparations like soups, sandwiches, salads and vegetable dips are made. [Golden Dish]

and today’s Press Herald includes an interview with Mary Alice Scott, the co-op’s education and outreach coordinator.

Q: Why join a co-op instead of going to a mainstream grocery store?
A: It’s a mission-driven idea. People want to support businesses that are locally owned and know they’re generating jobs. Our mission is to have a huge amount of organic and local products and buy from local vendors whenever practical. It’s not just fruit and vegetables, it’s local cleaning supplies and other local items. We already have relationships with more than 120 local producers.