Portland Pulp (website, facebook, instagram) is now under construction at 116 Free Street. It will be co-located with Head Games.
Portland Pulp promises a menu of juice, smoothies and chopped salads. They hope to open this Spring.
Month: May 2017
The 5 Spot Now Open
The 5 Spot (facebook) opened earlier this week at 935 Congress Street in the space that was the longtime home of Sonny’s Variety. The 5 Spot bills itself as a South Philly “Cheesestake Joint” serving a menu of “REAL Philly Cheesesteaks, Home Made Soups, Hand Carved Grilled Ham and Turkey Sandwiches on Dave’s Killer Bread, Wraps, Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Daily and Surprise Specials AND The Best Breakfast Sandwiches in the City”
East End at the Westin
East End Cucakes is scheduled to open a seasonal retail outpost in the Westin Hotel today. In addition to cupcakes owner Alysia Zoidis will also have whoopie pies and cookies. The retail shop will be open Monday through Saturday, 11 -5:30.
El Corazon to Open Thursday
El Corazon (facebook, instagram) plans to open their new Longfellow Square restaurant on Thursday.
Update: El Corazon had a well-attended soft opening last night with a limited menu.
Pho Co. & Chau Du
The Press Herald has published a feature article on Pho Co. and its owner Chau Du.
By 9:15 a.m., the broths are all simmering, chicken, beef and vegetarian just barely at a bubble. Chau Du is preparing for what she expects will be an average lunch at Pho Co. in Portland, a prediction based mostly on the weather. It’s not raining, it’s not particularly cold and so she is making merely enormous, rather than gigantic, vats of broth in a trio of approximately 30-quart stockpots. They already smell good, with notes of cinnamon and star anise rising up. In the beef broth, a couple big chunks of ginger root bob at the surface, floating alongside five long bones.
AP: The Lost Kitchen
The Associated Press has distributed an article on the phenomenal success of The Lost Kitchen in Freedom Maine.
Erin French runs a 40-seat restaurant called The Lost Kitchen in an old mill in a tiny town in central Maine. She began accepting reservations for the season at midnight April 1, expecting a few dozen calls overnight. Instead, she got 10,000 in 24 hours.
Huff Post: Portland Travel Guide
The Huffington Post has posted a travel guide to Portland by visiting chef Jenny Dorsey.
NYC: I swear I’m not cheating on you, but I’ve found a second love on the East Coast. I was recently up north in Portland, ME for two weeks through a work-study grant with Browne Trading Co. and the James Beard Foundation. It is the perfect mix of a friendly, New England “small town” feel with all the convenience, culture, and good food & drink as a bigger metropolis.
Featured in the article are: Allagash, Benkay, Boda, Central Provisions, Drifters, Eventide, Holy Donut, Maine Mead Works, Mini Mogadishu, Red Sea, Standard Baking, Tipo, Urban Farm Fermentory, Vena’s
Beard Award for Taylor & Wiley
Congratulations chefs Andrew Taylor an Mike Wiley from Eventide on being named the 2017 Best Chefs: Northeast by James Beard Foundation.
Under Construction: Rose Foods
Rose Foods (website, facebook, instagram) will be the name of Chad Conley’s new bagel shop and cafe in Portland, slated to open this summer. As reported back in February, Conley has leased the former Brea Lu space at 428 Forest Ave.
A press release from Rose Foods describes the concept as a,
counter-service bagel shop, neighborhood cafe, and retail store, featuring food from New York Jewish cuisine. Smoked seafood and other specialty products will be featured for retail sale and on bagel sandwiches, alongside deli classics like sour pickles, pastrami sandwiches, matzo ball soup and a variety of salads.
The space will have a dining room for eating in-house and Conley plans to expand to selling bagels wholesale and to offer catering services starting in the winter. His inspiration for Rose Foods dates back a few years to a bagel shop he visited in Toronto. The business is named after his wife Rachel’s great-grandmother.
Conley is the co-owner of Palace Diner.
This Week’s Events: Beard Awards, Cambodian Cooking Class, Allagash/Cultivating Community, Full Plates Full Potential, Lamb Jam
Monday – the James Beard Awards Gala is taking place in Chicago. Chefs Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley from Eventide are co-nominees for Best Chef: Northeast, and Rob Tod from Allagash is a nominee in the category of Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Professional. Portland Food Map will be onsite at the Lyric Opera House to report on the outcome.
Tuesday – there will be a rosé wine tasting at the Other Side Deli on Veranda Street.
Wednesday – it’s the opening day of the Monument Square Farmers’ Market.
Friday – Oxbow will be hosting Bob’s Clam Hut from Kittery, and there will be a wine tasting at the Rosemont Market in the West End.
Saturday – Immigrant Kitchens is teaching a Cambodian cooking class, Allagash is partnering with eight local restaurants to through a benefit for the Cultivating Community, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Sunday – Flanagan’s Table is hosting a sold out benefit for Full Plates Full Potential, and Lars Taylor from The Honey Paw and Pliny Reynolds from Terlingua will be competing in a BBQ Lamb Jam in Cambridge.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.