Category: General News

The Portland foodie blogosphere is awash with Valentine’s Day recommendations today. Part of that is intentional as the O-rama blogging crew takes a slight detour from burgers to coordinate on the topic of V-Day first date recommendations. Vrai-lean-uh and Stephen Cooks also exercised a fine tuned sense of editorial timing and posted their own Valentine’s Day thoughts today so I’ve included them in the summary below.

Appetite Portland – a set of recommendations compiled by AP and her husband for a night out with 6 celebrity dates.

James Franco – to Novare Res Bier Cafe, then Sonny’s
With roles as diverse as Sean Penn’s lover in Milk, the partier in Pineapple Express, and the outdoor adventurer/survivalist in 127 Hours, sexy Franco can’t be pigeon-holed. And, as a PhD candidate, he attends poetry classes at Yale. What’s hotter than that? I’d get him a little tipsy with a few 10% beers at Novare, then spice up the evening with Sonny’s Latin-inspired entrees. We’d keep the night sizzling by sipping pepper-infused tequila at Sonny’s bar .… read the full article

Chris2fer – Chris and his partner went to The Salt Exchange for an early Valentine’s Day dinner.

I started with Crab Cakes (spicy!), moved on to Sweet Potato Soup (the highlight of the meal), had Poached Pear Salad for the first time (goat cheesy!) and finished with the Stuffed Chicken (a leg (boo)). George had Potato Croquettes (eh), Brocoli and Scallop soup (awesome!) and the “Local And Sustainable Daily Fish Preparation” (fine).…read the full article

Edible Obsessions –a retelling of how she first met “the missus” and a strong recommendation for Miyake as a Valentine’s Day destination.

My brain kept going back to Miyake. I could actually picture us having our first date there. I could see us sitting at the bar, because you MUST sit at the bar, sharing a bottle of sake and enjoying ourselves immensely. There is a nice intimacy to being at that bar, sitting next to–instead of across from–the person you’re on a date with. You have the honor of watching Chef Miyake behind the bar, hands and blade moving so effortlessly and delicately, as he prepares your meal. It’s conversation. It’s beautiful.…read the full article

From Away – Jillian shares how she and Malcolm first met, and recommends Caiola’s for a first date night.

The first night we went, there was a carousing group of fifty-something couples drinking copious amounts of red wine and getting boisterous. Immediately, we felt at ease. It’s like a gathering of family or a sprawling dinner party, where you can be private at a table for two, but not feel alone or stranded in a sea of stuffy white tablecloths and unpronounceable wine. I would arrive early for a first date and order a martini, and try and appear mysterious. This illusion would instantly be shattered the moment I stumbled over my high heels en route to the bathroom, but at first glad glance I might be alluring. In this familial atmosphere, one would feel at ease with the attractive person you met over a bottle of Tide at the neighborhood laundromat (is it pathetic or adorable that my imagination in this realm is as developed as a Hollywood romcom’s hackneyed meet-cute?)…read the full article

Stephen Cooks – tips for planning a romantic dinner for two at home complete with a set of 9 recipes to choose from.

I like to do a meal that’s thoughtfully planned, lovingly prepared and served on a picture-perfect table. For me this this is so much more personal and meaningful a celebration than a restaurant meal, especially since so many of us have good restaurant meals on a fairly frequent basis.…read the full article

The Blueberry Files – recommends Local 188 for a first date on Valentine’s Day for the casual atmosphere, good food and reasonable price point.

And that one little word, “first,” changed everything. I would NOT recommend taking your first date to an expensive, romantic restaurant! First dates should be more casual. Plus, on a first date, you’ll be nervous. And when I’m nervous, I tend to drink really fast. So, don’t risk becoming “that guy” by being all drunk and loud in a tiny restaurant!…read the full article

Vrai-lean-uh – recommends going to Pai Men Miyake and saving the “real Miyake” for a second date.

I think the new Miyake would be a good option, with the following caveat: think really carefully about whether you want to order a noodle soup on a first date. Slurping noodles together could be a bonding experience: hey, we both splattered broth on our shirts! It could also be incredibly uncomfortable. If you think the noodle slurping will be uncomfortable, or that you might not be able to pull it off with the required aplomb or good humor, by all means, suggest that the two of you share a bunch of the small plates, which I think are better than the ramen anyway.…read the full article

Where is Jenner’s Mind – recommends Benkay as the spot that she and Seth head to when they want a romantic dinner for two.

the thing that really makes this a romantic dinner for two is the price. all this for $70! and for those of you out there who do go out to dinner for valentine’s day, you can get it all for $60! go to benkay’s website and print out the coupon and get $10 off from february 8th to 14th. normally benkay is one of those great restaurants that always has a table open, but for valentine’s day you will likely need reservations. other spots we find to be romantical are salt exchange and bar of chocolate. …read the full article

My own Valentine’s Day first date advice would be to do a multi-destination meal. Eating your way across several restaurants let’s you assemble a really varied and outstanding dining experience, tapping into the very best that each spot has to offer. The walks between one restaurant and the next would give you and your date a chance to talk and get to know each other better. I’d start off with the Winter Point oysters at Old Port Sea Grill, head on over to Fore Street for the mussels, then up Munjoy Hill for a couple small plates at Bar Lola and finish up the night at Bresca for the 3-course dessert options they have planned for Valentine’s day.

Post a comment and tell us your Valentine’s Day first date recommendations.

The Portland Phoenix offers advice on the menu for your Super Bowl party,

But keep in mind, when it comes to hosting such an event, there are some culinary standards to abide by. First of all, healthy means nothing. It’s not that there isn’t some nutritional value to be found on Super Bowl Sunday, it’s just that it doesn’t matter. Health is a non-issue, so disregard it immediately before contributing to such a party. And, frankly, the messier the dish is to eat, the better.

and recommendations on where to source your Super Bowl eats from.

The Maine Committee on State and Local Government met this morning to consider HP 59, An Act To Designate the Whoopie Pie as the State Dessert. The bill defines a whoopie pie as “a baked good made of 2 chocolate cakes with a creamy frosting between them”.

MPBN aired a report on the Whoopie Pie initiative this evening,

And at least once a year, connoisseurs of the whoopie pie from all over the country travel to Davis’s Piscataquis County to attend the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft. Davis says there nothing frivolous about the economic impact it has on the region.

As it turns out, demand for whoopie pies is up. “Whoopie pies have been on the rise for several years and no one can pinpoint exactly the reason,” said Amos Orcutt, of the Maine Whoopie Pie Association. Yes, there is such a thing.

MPBN also has posted a recording of the official Whoopie Pie song on their site.

The Portland Daily Sun published a whoopie pie article on Tuesday which delved into the competing claims between Maine and Pennsylvania,

“Clearly Maine has fired the first salvo in what future generations will refer to as the Whoopie Pie War of 2011. The question is, will we pie-lovin’
Pennsylvanians defend our whoopies,” said one commenter on a PennLive.com article about the Maine bill.

Tuesday’s Press Herald article on the whoopie pie legislation has more detail on the proposal to make blueberry pie the state dessert,

On Monday, at a hearing before the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee, Rep. Donald Pilon dismissed whoopies as “frosting delivery vehicles” and suggested that wild-blueberry pie deserves to be the state’s official dessert.

Down East magazine conducted an informal poll of their Facebook fans on the question of whoopie pies vs blueberry pie. Blueberry pie won out, 28 to 13.

The Portland Phoenix has kicked-off their 2011 Best of Portland readership poll. The Phoenix has a a 2 step process:

• Step 1, nominate candidates you think are an especially good fit in any or all of the categories
• Step 2, based on the nominations, the Phoenix will publish a ballot next month summarizing the top nominees from each category for us to vote on.
• The final results are usually published in April.

There are a plethora of food and drink categories (Bagels, Bars, Barbecue, Beer Selection, Brewpubs, Brunch, etc) there’s even one for food blogs. A list of the 2010 winners is available online as a reference.

Yesterday’s Locavore column in the Portland Daily Sun was about the Community Kitchens local access cable TV show. Each episode the show visits and interviews cooks in their own kitchen. January’s episode of Community Kitchens was an interview with the creator’s of Otto Pizza. The article isn’t available online but you can watch full episodes of the show at the Community Television Network website.

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a detailed look at the dueling cocktail events happening on February 28: The Signature Event and the 2nd Annual Bartender’s Bash,

The confusion even trickles down to the bartenders themselves. Both events have John Myers.

John Myers from Fish Bones American Grill in Lewiston will be at the Cold River Bartenders Bash.

Another John Myers, a popular bartender at the Grill Room who lost last year’s top prize by just a whisker, will be at the Signature Event. (Did he jump ship this year since he won’t be at the Bartenders Bash? Or did he stay loyal by sticking with the Maine Restaurant Week event? It’s like a Zen koan, isn’t it?)

and the story of one woman’s efforts to make consumers aware of partially-hydrogenated oils in packaged foods.

The story told how a woman was going to her local grocery store and turning around products that contained trans fat so the nutrition label, rather than the product logo, was showing. [Erin] Judge was struck by the simplicity of the action, and began doing it in Maine.

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about a newly formed coalition to fight food insecurity,

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that 195,000 Mainers — nearly 15 percent of the state’s households — struggled with food insecurity in the period from 2007 to 2009. “Food insecurity” is defined as having difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for one’s family.

and a new Maine at Work article, this time reporter Ray Routhier spends the day making sandwiches at Amato’s,

How much ham? How much cheese? Which vegetables?

I was relieved when sandwich maker Brenda Billings showed me the little flip cards that list all of the ingredients of Amato’s sandwiches — and pizzas — along with the amount of each item.

Mainebiz reports on a joycott—the opposite of a boycott—taking place at the Public Market House next month.

The joycott works by encouraging locals to patronize a single business on a single day, and in return, the business pledges to reinvest a percentage of that day’s profits into environmental upgrades. After approaching several markets, Sullivan says the Public Market pledged the highest amount—51%.

The family, friends and colleagues of Chef Bob Smith have set-up the Chef Bob Smith Fund for Education in Farming and the Culinary Arts to “honor the memory of his skill as a cook, his generosity of spirit, and his contribution to Portland’s food community.”

Organizers have announced that the money will be used to provide grants to individuals who want to further their knowledge of food and farming, and the grants will be “awarded at the discretion of Cultivating Community’s Board of Directors.”

Here are the details on making a donation:

Send a check made out to ‘Cultivating Community’ to the address below, and be sure to indicate “Chef Bob Fund” in the memo line. You can also donate directly via the Cultivating Community website, www.cultivatingcommunity.org, and click “Donate Now”, and write “Chef Bob Fund” in the in honor of section.

For more information, please contact Craig Lapine at 207-761-GROW.

Cultivating Community
P.O. Box 3792
Portland, Maine 04104-3792

The discount pricing of Maine Restaurant Week is still a couple months away but there are some pricing specials out there now for anyone who blew their restaurant budget over the holidays:

• Bar Lola – a 5-course prix-fixe menu, Wednesday-Saturday, $39.
• Boda – late night menus items are half off on Sundays from 9:30 – 1 am
• Browne Trading has declared January Cheese Month and is offering a 10% discount off all cheese in their store.
• El Rayo – $1 oysters, Monday nights.
• Five Fifty-Five – $1.55 oysters & drink specials, Thursdays nights at the bar.
• Grace – happy hour from 5-6:30 Tuesday through Saturday, featuring bar food and drink specials including $15 bottles of wine
• Hugo’s – the 6-course blind tasting menu, normally $85 per person, is $42.50 on Tuesday through Thursday from now until March 31.
• Pom’s Thai Taste – $1 sushi, Monday & Tuesday.
• Ri-Ra – half priced burgers on Wednesday nights.
• The Great Lost Bear – Monday and Tuesday nights are Short Beer Nights when you can get a 23 ounce draft for $4.25. You can find a full list of happy hour specials on Portland Taps.
• The Salt Exchange – 3-course prix fixe for $30.
• There have been a number of discount offers for Portland area restaurants in the past few weeks on Dealitious and Groupon (but not this morning). Living Social has an offer today for Local 188 a $50 certificate half off for $25. Another local coupon site, The Maine Deal now is offering $10 gift certificates to Gorgeous Gelato for $5.

What’s missing from the list? Post a comment and share what you know.