Author: PFM

Review of Otto Pizza

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Otto.

A pizzeria should offer some simple pleasures that have been lost in our era’s obsession with gourmet this and that. The bobos can head to Bonobo for wood-fired delicacies and a restaurant atmosphere. The experience at Otto has more of a working-class(ic) appeal. At Otto you stand in line in a cramped shop, and watch young people sweat in front of big ovens. In the summer months most customers grab a $3 slice and join the pleasantly disorganized gathering of eaters out front. Not everyone is lucky enough to grab one of the few stools or the little red tables scattered out front, so they perch on the curb, or fold their slice and eat standing up. It’s the most appealingly informal and haphazard display of eating in the city.

Review of Bazkari Catering

| Posted in Reviews, Beer

The Bazkari Catering food cart received 4½ stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald.

When I tried Bazkari for lunch the other day, I sampled the Bazkari Chicken Pie for $4.50. This was a cold dish featuring a top and bottom layer of creamy mashed potato and flavored with lemon, yellow pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Between the potato layers is a thick layer of Bazkari’s chicken salad made from Ana’s chicken soup along with vegetables, mayonnaise and extra virgin olive oil.

Although I don’t think of mashed potatoes as cold food, this chicken pie was fantastic as I ate it outside on a warm July day. It was plenty filling for one person.

Also in today’s paper is an interview with Dave Geary about his thoughts on extreme beers and other topics.

Urban Farm Fermentory, Clam Shucking Champion, Picnic Wines

| Posted in General News, Profiles

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about Beattie Quintal who is the reigning shucking champion at this weekend’s Yarmouth Clam Festival, advice on picnic-worthy wines and a profile of the Urban Farm Fermentory, a new venture taking shape in the Bayside neighborhood.

Even a small patch of earth in a neglected industrial area can become an oasis of food production.

That’s one of the lessons to be learned at the new Urban Farm Fermentory located on Anderson Street in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood. Tucked in back of a single-story former warehouse and hidden from view by a jungle of Japanese knotweed, a greenhouse and a container garden grow lush and verdant with the fullness of midsummer. Here, tomatoes ripen and lavender blooms along with cilantro plants.

Guy and Stella Hernandez of Bar Lola Profiled in Find Eat Drink

| Posted in People, Profiles

Bar Lola and it’s owners Guy and Stella Hernandez are featured in a profile on Find Eat Drink penned by their former sous chef Erik Desjarlais.

In a risky career change, Guy and Stella Hernandez traded their pencils, straightedges and successful lives as architects for sauté pans, pork belly and martini shakers. They own and selflessly operate Bar Lola, a popular dinner spot on Munjoy Hill (or “The Hill” as locals call it) in Portland Maine. They have generated a very loyal following amongst locals and food tourists with Guy’s relentlessly organic and simple approach to straight-up tasty food, and Stella’s keen sense of…well…just basically making you feel welcome.

Evangeline in Alan Richman's Blog

| Posted in General News, Events

The Mitra’s Clabber-Fed Poularde and Poached Maine Lobster Tail dish at Evangeline appeared in a recent post on GQ food writer Alan Richman’s blog Forked & Corked. Richman wrote about his personal exploration of “ethical eating” and lists the “top ten ethical dishes, some from restaurants, some from homes or farms, all enjoyed earlier this year during my ethical-eating travels through America”.
In separate news, Evangeline’s Tastes of France dinner, a benefit for Share Our Strength, that takes place Wednesday night was written up in today’s Portland Daily Sun,

“After participating in Share our Strength Maine’s ‘Taste of the Nation’ benefit for the first time this year and learning about the positive impact the organization is making in our community, I decided I wanted to do more to help,” Desjarlais said in a press release. “… I wanted to share my love of French food and raise money to benefit Share Our Strength. I hope this becomes an annual event at the restaurant.”

Evangeline in Alan Richman’s Blog

| Posted in General News, Events

The Mitra’s Clabber-Fed Poularde and Poached Maine Lobster Tail dish at Evangeline appeared in a recent post on GQ food writer Alan Richman’s blog Forked & Corked. Richman wrote about his personal exploration of “ethical eating” and lists the “top ten ethical dishes, some from restaurants, some from homes or farms, all enjoyed earlier this year during my ethical-eating travels through America”.

In separate news, Evangeline’s Tastes of France dinner, a benefit for Share Our Strength, that takes place Wednesday night was written up in today’s Portland Daily Sun,

“After participating in Share our Strength Maine’s ‘Taste of the Nation’ benefit for the first time this year and learning about the positive impact the organization is making in our community, I decided I wanted to do more to help,” Desjarlais said in a press release. “… I wanted to share my love of French food and raise money to benefit Share Our Strength. I hope this becomes an annual event at the restaurant.”

Under Construction: Canelli’s

| Posted in Under Construction

A sign in the window at 7 Exchange Street is announcing a new Italian restaurant called Canelli’s “Fantastic Food at Fantastic Prices!” that’s under construction. If that address sounds familiar it may be because last Spring it was the site a construction site for Wasabi, a sushi restaurant that never launched. A source tells me that Canelli’s is being opened by a Boston area couple who ran a similar restaurant in Massachusetts for many years.

Just up the street from Canelli’s is the construction site for another Italian restaurant, G’Vanni’s which is going in at the old Walter’s space.

Under Construction: Canelli's

| Posted in Under Construction

A sign in the window at 7 Exchange Street is announcing a new Italian restaurant called Canelli’s “Fantastic Food at Fantastic Prices!” that’s under construction. If that address sounds familiar it may be because last Spring it was the site a construction site for Wasabi, a sushi restaurant that never launched. A source tells me that Canelli’s is being opened by a Boston area couple who ran a similar restaurant in Massachusetts for many years.
Just up the street from Canelli’s is the construction site for another Italian restaurant, G’Vanni’s which is going in at the old Walter’s space.

Under Construction: Mike's Rock 'N Roll Sandwiches

| Posted in Under Construction


There’s been a new restaurant under construction for a few weeks over at 437 Congress Street at the former location of GRO Cafe. Signage is now up and it look’s like it will be a sandwich shop called Mike’s – “We make Rock ‘N Roll Sandwiches”. Info on the Guitar Grave (Mike’s neighbor and owner) website promises “a small menu of fast, inexpensive and delicious items as well as luncheon and drink specials”.