Category: General News

The Forecaster has published an article about Little Bigs and their Sunday sales of cronuts.

Updated: The Press Herald has also published an article on this topic.

The Portland Phoenix has kicked-off their 2014 Best of Portland readership poll. The Phoenix readership poll is a 2 step process:

• Step 1 which just started, nominate candidates you think are an especially good fit in any or all of the categories
• Step 2, next month the Phoenix will publish a ballot summarizing the top nominees from each category for us all to vote on

There are a plethora of food and drink categories (Bagels, Bars, Barbecue, Beer Selection, Brewpubs, Brunch, etc) to make nominations in there’s even one for food blogs. A list of the 2013 winners is available online as a reference.

If the 2014 polls follows the same schedule as past years then the final results will be made public in April at a live event at the Port City Music Hall.

The Portland Daily Sun has a report on last night’s City Council subcommittee review of proposed changes to rules regulation food trucks.

The Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday supported policy initiatives that would amend the request for proposals process used for the city’s parks to allow food trucks to cluster and use the space and fix a requirement that proscribes what types of food can be served; amend the ordinance related to Compass Park that bars food service in that area; and recommend the city dedicate four spaces on Congress Street adjacent to Lincoln Park for trucks.

The changes no go before the full City Council for final approval.

After several hours of presentations from the bar, the police and the public last night, the City Council decided to delay a final vote on Sangillo’s liquor license until the April 7th meeting.

For more information on last night’s meeting see articles in today’s Bangor Daily News, Press Herald and Portland Daily Sun.

For additional perspective on the Sangillo’s issue read this piece by Samuel’s Bar & Grill owner Sam Minervino published by Eater Maine.

Sprudge has posted a Good Coffee Lover’s Guide to Portland,

Beautiful Portland, Maine! As discussed previously in these pages, this jewel of the Northeast is a city of food, and within these food-filled streets is a growing need for coffee. Here’s a snapshot guide to the coffees of Portland—almost entirely roasted in the city itself—bearing in mind we may have been too dizzy from frites endorphins after lunch at Duckfat to remember every single cafe.

and The Root has published the final in their series of interview with local roaster. This final piece is an interview with Will and Kathleen Pratt from Tandem.

“What drew us to wanting to do this in the first place, was we loved how cafes could create that sense of community,” said Kathleen. “Just knowing your regulars and people who come in the door, so when we were planning and building out the space we said we really want this to feel welcoming and inviting like you are walking into our home. That this is some place you can come and meet people and the Wi-Fi thing was definitely a conscience effort. We didn’t want people to be on their computers. We wanted people to talk and engage.”

The Portland Daily Sun has posted an article by lobsterman Chris Shorr entitled “Why is Sangillo’s in the crosshairs?”

So my question is, why would the police single out Sangillo’s? If they are so concerned with putting a stop to late night hooliganism and violence, why wouldn’t they focus on the bars in the Old Port first?

Perhaps it’s because as a police force, they recognize that they will never be able to effectively corral the after hours trouble makers in the Old Port. So they might as well feign diligence by blaming a single blue collar establishment for a struggling neighborhood’s problems.

The Save Sangillo’s campaign has set up a facebook page at facebook.com/SaveSangillos.

The Save Sangillo’s campaign has launched a Facebook page to bolster support for the popular neighborhood bar. Go “like” the page to show your support for the bar.

The campaign got a boost today when Eater Maine published an impassioned pro-Sangillo’s editorial from Snug owner Margaret Lyons,

Every neighborhood needs a Sangillo’s. There is a contingent that requires a certain type of bar. Whether that continent be Donald Sussman or Timmy Noname, they need a place where they can just have a gee dee drink … for cheap. Sangillo’s is not a charity endeavor for hipsters or an outreach project. They don’t need salvation. They need the opportunists to shut the f*** up and for their neighbors to circle the wagons. For what it’s worth, The Snug has Sangillo’s back.

and an essay on the from preeminent Portland bartender John Myers on “why Sangillo’s is a great neighborhood saloon“,

Those kinds of places, with that kind of vibe, I fear, are not long for this world. Sangillo’s is one of them, though.

A great neighborhood saloon like Sangillo’s reminds me of a geologist plunging his tap into the earth and pulling up a striated sample of rocks and dirt and compacted debris. He can read history in a 2-foot plug of dirt. I’ve watched the neighborhood change over the decade or so I’ve been in Portland just by watching the people change in that bar.

USA Today has posted a short list of small cities “culinary zeal”.

Sprudge has published an article about the coffee service at Hugo’s and the restaurant’s partnership with Tandem Coffee Roasters.

But what’s most unique here—besides being served an amuse course of a single, roe-topped french fry—is, you guessed it: the coffee. Wish to follow your meal with a seasonally paired coffee brewed for you on Chemex? Or a meticulously made syphon, theatrically prepared at the bar, thermocouple and all? Or simply a cup of delicious French press coffee? In partnership with new-kid-on-the-block Tandem Coffee (our friends and partners here at Sprudge), Hugo’s has transformed the finale of an already transformative dining experience.

An article in today’s Press Herald explores why Sangillo’s decided to stop serving Rémy Martin and Hennessy.

Are cognac drinkers troublemakers?

That would seem to be the premise behind a Portland bar’s ban on two kinds of cognac – Hennessy and Rémy Martin – as the owners try to convince city officials that they are making the place safer.