Charles Bryon, co-owner of The Salt Exchange, appeared on the Fox WGAN morning show to talk about his restaurant and promote the bourbon tasting that took place there last night.
Category: General News
More on Norm's & a Search for Falafel
Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes an update on the closing of Norm’s East End Grill,
“We’re not really closing, we’re moving,” Jabar explained in a telephone interview Monday, adding that the smoker from the Middle Street restaurant would be relocated to Norm’s Bar & Grill, 617 Congress St., and the menu expanded.
and columnist Margo Mallar’s unsuccessful search for Unlawful Falafel takes her to WhaddaPita,
I looked for the falafel cart again this week without success. Because it was Monday? or raining? or I got the address wrong? Some of my colleagues report a sighting at Tommy’s Park, so maybe I’ll try there.
Who knows. But my appetite was whetted for a pita sandwich so I decided to drop by Whaddapita, the new gyro shop on Forest Avenue. I’ve been there half a dozen times in the past month. The place is brightly painted with pictures of walking, smiling pita sandwiches on the wall. It’s really good, fast, affordable and very clean.
More on Norm’s & a Search for Falafel
Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes an update on the closing of Norm’s East End Grill,
“We’re not really closing, we’re moving,” Jabar explained in a telephone interview Monday, adding that the smoker from the Middle Street restaurant would be relocated to Norm’s Bar & Grill, 617 Congress St., and the menu expanded.
and columnist Margo Mallar’s unsuccessful search for Unlawful Falafel takes her to WhaddaPita,
I looked for the falafel cart again this week without success. Because it was Monday? or raining? or I got the address wrong? Some of my colleagues report a sighting at Tommy’s Park, so maybe I’ll try there.
Who knows. But my appetite was whetted for a pita sandwich so I decided to drop by Whaddapita, the new gyro shop on Forest Avenue. I’ve been there half a dozen times in the past month. The place is brightly painted with pictures of walking, smiling pita sandwiches on the wall. It’s really good, fast, affordable and very clean.
Unwrapped Cranberry Island
According to Edible Obsessions, the Food Network show Unwrapped will be filming tomorrow at Cranberry Island Kitchen.
Also there’s some hints that Bobby Flay may be coming to town.
Update: The Food Network has been spotted at Grace.
Lunch Hop on the Chopping Block
The Metro bus service is considering eliminating their free lunch time service known as the Lunch Hop, according to a report in the Portland Daily Sun.
“We need revenue, we need farebox revenue,” explained David Redlefsen, general manager of the Greater Portland Transit District METRO bus service. “We want to eliminate the Lunch Hop.”
and the newspaper has also published a brief profile of the Fishermen’s Grill and it’s owner Tom Hincks.
Farmers Market & Commom Ground Fair
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a pair of articles on the large number of people who go to the Saturday market in Deering Oaks Park,
So have you been to the farmers’ market lately?
I’m talking about the Saturday market at Deering Oaks, the one that has become so successful (yay!) it’s now become a little stressful (boo!) to squeeze through the throngs of humanity, dodging the long lines and the illegal bakers and the lookie-loos – the people who are there only to socialize and excessively fondle the produce without spending a dime.
and the prices of the produce,
This year, I’ll have to find something else to do with the pecorino romano. Why? Because $2 is over my limit.
This year, those tiny bunches of basil at the farmers’ market jumped to $2 a bunch. In case you hadn’t been keeping track, that’s a 100 percent price increase from just a couple of years ago.
as we as an advance report on the food at the Common GroundFair which is taking place this weekend.
“The food vendors, more than any other vendors, really earn their place at the fair,” said Jim Ahearne, fair director for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, which hosts the event. “We don’t make it easy for them.”
Common Ground organizers require that all the food served at the fair, which is now in its 34th year, be Maine-grown and organic whenever possible.
Farmers Market & Commom Ground Fair
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a pair of articles on the large number of people who go to the Saturday market in Deering Oaks Park,
So have you been to the farmers’ market lately?
I’m talking about the Saturday market at Deering Oaks, the one that has become so successful (yay!) it’s now become a little stressful (boo!) to squeeze through the throngs of humanity, dodging the long lines and the illegal bakers and the lookie-loos – the people who are there only to socialize and excessively fondle the produce without spending a dime.
and the prices of the produce,
This year, I’ll have to find something else to do with the pecorino romano. Why? Because $2 is over my limit.
This year, those tiny bunches of basil at the farmers’ market jumped to $2 a bunch. In case you hadn’t been keeping track, that’s a 100 percent price increase from just a couple of years ago.
as we as an advance report on the food at the Common GroundFair which is taking place this weekend.
“The food vendors, more than any other vendors, really earn their place at the fair,” said Jim Ahearne, fair director for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, which hosts the event. “We don’t make it easy for them.”
Common Ground organizers require that all the food served at the fair, which is now in its 34th year, be Maine-grown and organic whenever possible.
Fortune Cookie Museum
The Tuesday Portland Daily Sun includes an article about “offbeat tourist attractions” including the Fortune Cookie Museum located in the Wok Inn on Forest Avenue.
The Museum is housed in glass cabinets with shelves of photographs, explanations and fortune cookie knick-knacks in the lobby of the Wok Inn on outer Forest Avenue. A plaque indicates that the museum was dedicated in 2004 to the “Beautiful People of Maine” by Ricky Yue.
Ricky Yue is one of the partners that opened the Wok Inn in 1981.
October Issues
Both Down East and Maine magazine have just released their October 2010 issues, and both have a number of Portland food articles.
The new issue of Down East includes a survey of brunch spots in Portland, an excerpt from Fresh from Maine a new book by Michael Saunders and Russell French, and the official program guide for Harvest on the Harbor with a Guide to Good Eating in Portland.
The new issue of Maine magazine has a 48 Hours in Portland feature article with a plethora of eating recommendations, an A-List of the best diners in the state (Marcy’s made the list), and a review of Boda.
Neither publication’s articles are available online yet. The magazines should be showing up in subscriber’s mailboxes soon, if they’re not there already. You can usually find copies of the latest issue of Maine magazine in their free distribution rack at Bard Coffee on Middle Street.
Community Gardens & Farm Stands
The weekend edition of the Portland Daily Sun reports on an effort to allow community gardens to run farm stands that sell to the general public.
The planning board will review a proposed draft that would allow produce sales as follows: “A single produce stand shall be permitted on the premises of a community garden for the sale of flowers, vegetables, herbs or fruit produced on the premises; provided that the stand is no more than two hundred (200) square feet in floor area, and that sales are limited to two days per week between the hours of 9:00 am and 6:00 pm during the growing season from June 15 through October 15…”
and an article about G & R DiMillo’s new Great Bite Hope challenge meal which consists of 2 1-lb meatballs and 2 pounds of spaghetti.
Those with eyes bigger than their stomachs will face no shortage of embarrassments should they fail to finish the meal. DiMillo said that the restaurant will feature a wall of shame with photos of the gastro-poseurs, who along with the shame of it all have to pay the $22.95 bill.