Portland Bar Guide has published a review of Mathew’s.
What happens at Mathew’s stays at Mathew’s. And if you want to slum it for a night or longer – perhaps 30 years – you go on ahead.
Author: PFM
Vegetarian El Rayo Review
Diet for a Small City has published a review of El Rayo from a vegetarian’s perspective.
The menu included a good number of vegetarian choices. I was disappointed to see, however, that most vegetarian options lacked protein; by this, I mean that few to none of the vegetarian entrees featured beans and/or rice. For example, the one vegetarian burrito is described as: “Grilled portabello mushrooms, caramelized onions & poblano peppers with salsa.” This sounds delicious, but these ingredients force health-conscious vegetarians to order side dishes.
Public Markets
The now defunct Portland Public Market and its successful spin off the Public Market House make an appearance in this article from GOOD about a national rebirth in public markets.
Across the United States, the public market concept may be undergoing something of a renaissance—coinciding with an increase in farmers’ markets, direct-to-consumer food sales, and smart growth initiatives in downtowns.
Grace & The Corner Room
Grace plans on opening tomorrow. According to the restaurant’s blog they were aiming for a soft opening but word spread fast. The blog goes on to say that they’ll be opening with a limited menu “while we work some kinks out and get product in”. Portland in a Snap has published a profile of the restaurant and wrote, “The menus will emphasize small plates and appetizers, but with plenty of entree-sized meals. The goal is to keep prices below $30, with the apps falling in the $8-$12 range.”
A call to The Corner Room confirms they also plan on opening tomorrow.
Both restaurants probably already have a full reservation book for Thursday evening. For reservations you can reach Grace at (207) 828-4422 and The Corner Room at (207) 879-4747.
Saskatoons, Rare Books and the 4th
According to today’s Press Herald, Old Ocean House Farms will be selling Saskatoon berries at the the Saturday Farmers’ Market in Deering Oaks. Today’s paper also includes a note about a new rare book catalog from Rabelais, and an article about the traditional Independence Day meal of salmon and peas.
Salmon and peas on Independence Day is an old Maine tradition that hearkens back to the days when wild salmon were plentiful in the state’s rivers, and peas were a tasty summer holdover of the traditional English diet. Old-time Mainers didn’t plan to celebrate the Fourth this way; wild-caught salmon and home-grown peas were simply the foods that were available at this time of year after a long, hard winter and cool spring.
June’s Stats
The 10 eateries looked up most often during the month of June were:
- El Rayo (3)
- The Salt Exchange (-)
- Paciarino (2)
- The Farmer’s Table (1)
- Local 188 (13)
- Miyake (10)
- Bresca (4)
- Veranda Thai (18)
- Papou’s Kitchen (>50)
- Hugo’s (12)
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Maine Food in The Globe
This past weekend’s Sunday Magazine in The Boston Globe featured a list of “50 Food Finds”. Included in the list were Allagash, Eve’s, Browne Trading, Standard, Hugo’s, and Five Fifty-Five. Black Dinah Chocolate from Isle au Haut, the Robinhood Free Meeting House in Georgetown and When Pigs Fly in York also made the cut.
Also in The Globe’s food section is an article about Linda Bean’s new venture, Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll. Bean recently worked with the West End Neighborhood Association to create the 61-foot lobster roll at this year’s Old Port Festival.
English on Morning Living
Nancy English, author of Chow Maine and the restaurant critic for the Maine Sunday Telegram, will be appearing on the morning radio show Morning Living this Thursday.
Satellite radio listeners can tune in to “The Dish” on Morning Living to hear me talk about Maine’s wonderful restaurants and more. I will be a guest on Morning Living July 2 at 8:30 a.m., broadcast by Martha Stewart Living Radio, channel 112 on the Sirius Satellite Radio Network and channel 157 on XM Satellite Radio.
Another El Rayo Review
El Rayo received 5 stars in a new review from Chris2fer.
We decided that this was our new favorite Mexican eatery. It has a charming neighborhood feel, but a little hipstery. Not bad hipster, good hipster. The food though – the food is amazing. Very fresh, very healthy, very tasty, very different. We loved it.
Under Construction: Maine Bean Cafe
As you can see from this photo the Maine Bean Cafe is doing some renovation before opening in the old Portland Coffee Roasters space on Commercial Street.