Category: Profiles

Sun: Soakology & Shima

| Posted in Profiles, General News

Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes a report on Shima’s new lounge area,

Feel like sweet-roasted red pepper? How about Maine shrimp fritter, sauteed prawns or calamari “a la plancha”? The list goes on, including additional entrees and appetizers, ranging from antipasto to cheese plates, from Japanese roast pork to salmon and haddock.

and a profile of the “foot sanctuary and teahouse” that is Soakology,

I’m brought a black almond tea, steamed with milk and honey and “Four Feet” of chocolate. Footprint-shaped wafers of chocolate from Coastline Confections in Cumberland are melted on slices of baguette and sprinkled with seasalt, the perfect internal reinforcement for the detoxifying that the Belgian cocoa is supposedly doing to my blissed out tootsies.

Sun: Soakology & Shima

| Posted in Profiles, General News

Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes a report on Shima’s new lounge area,

Feel like sweet-roasted red pepper? How about Maine shrimp fritter, sauteed prawns or calamari “a la plancha”? The list goes on, including additional entrees and appetizers, ranging from antipasto to cheese plates, from Japanese roast pork to salmon and haddock.

and a profile of the “foot sanctuary and teahouse” that is Soakology,

I’m brought a black almond tea, steamed with milk and honey and “Four Feet” of chocolate. Footprint-shaped wafers of chocolate from Coastline Confections in Cumberland are melted on slices of baguette and sprinkled with seasalt, the perfect internal reinforcement for the detoxifying that the Belgian cocoa is supposedly doing to my blissed out tootsies.

SoPo Eats

| Posted in Farming, Profiles, Reviews

There have been some new additions to the dining scene in South Portland:

  • Cambridge Coffee Bar and Bakehouse is just across the bridge on Broadway where the Freaky Bean used to be located. It’s owned by Vicki Cambridge who explained to Mainebiz that she, “learned to cook from her grandmother, says she has ‘gained a baking reputation in the community, and having a shop of my own was a logical next step.’ “
  • A new Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Hanoi is giving SoPo pho-fans a way to satisfy their cravings without having to leave their hometown. Where is Jenner’s Mind writes that the pho “certainly rivals the pho at both Thanh Thanh and Saigon”
  • Willard Scoops opened last year and is getting praise for “raises the bar for gourmet ice cream in the Portland area”. Portland Eats writes that he especially “like how some of the ice creams at Willard Scoops use salt to good effect, such as in the chocolate sea salt ice cream and the salt caramel and salt caramel nut ice creams”
  • There’s even someone who’s started raising hops in South Portland.

Cliff Island Store and Locavorian Island Eating

| Posted in Cooking, Profiles

The new issue of Working Waterfront includes a profile of Pearls Seaside Market and Cafe which is run by Steve and Johanna Corman on Cliff Island in Casco Bay.

Johanna prefers to work the cafe. While neither she nor Steve had formal restaurant experience, Johanna grew up on Apple Acres Farm in South Hiram, where she ran the gift shop and created gourmet apple products that were eventually picked up by Dean & Deluca. In the morning she bakes goods like cinnamon rolls and egg sandwiches-without a stove. “We don’t have the right ventilation system for an oven, so I do it all on a griddle!” she says. Other highlights on her menu are homemade pizza (the feta and spinach pie was delicious) and the B.L.L.T, a classic bacon, lettuce, lobster and tomato sandwich.

The newspaper also features an examination of the intersection between locavorism and island living by food historian Sandy Oliver.

slanders, and everyone else, used to be so much better at producing food for themselves, especially vegetables, milk and eggs. Pigs, cows and chickens dotted our landscape, as well as the occasional beef critter. In this, we were hardly different from mainlanders. Some of this urge is creeping back, at least here on Islesboro, and a fine looking steer moored to a spike graces the yard of a neighbor about a mile away. We hear about chicks being hatched and, despite last year’s disastrous gardening seasoning, a few new gardens have been created and fenced in.

Havana South Three Ways

| Posted in Profiles, People

There’s some new material on Havana South, the Wharf Street restaurant that opened earlier this week:

  • PortlandTown has published photos of several dishes (Moqueca, Rack of Lamb, Chile Rubbed Yellow Fin, etc) that are now on the menu. (There’s also a few images of Mura, Shima’s new bar/bistro space)
  • The July issue of Maine magazine includes an article penned by Samantha Hoyt Lindgren about owners Deidre Swords and Michael Boland and the restaurant’s chef Jason Casey. (The new issue also provides advice on where to grab a bite on Peaks, Chebeague and the other islands in Casco Bay, and a guide to the best in Maine ice cream.) The July issue isn’t online yet but you can usually find a free copy at Bard Coffee.
  • Maine Ahead magazine has published an interview with chef Jason Casey and his recipe for Moqueca.

Local Sprouts Profile

| Posted in Profiles

The Portland Daily Sun has published a profile of Local Sprouts,

People have become members of the community-supported kitchen, and they are often excited to preserve their access to local foods “and excited about the educational work that we do as well in addition to just cooking food. We’re more than just a restaurant, we’re really about teaching people and connecting the community and really also building a movement for local foods and local control in our communities,” [worker-owner Jonah] Fertig said.

Local Sprouts Profile & A Wedding Garden

| Posted in Farming, Profiles

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Local Sprouts Cafe/Bomb Diggity Bakery,

The counter service restaurant is sure to give both ventures a boost. While anyone can walk in and purchase off the menu, those who plan to be regulars may want to consider investing in a community-supported kitchen membership. When members dine at the cafe, their meals are deducted from the paid-in-advance balance, and they receive a 10 percent discount.

and a feature article on a couple in Central Maine that are growing/raising all of the food that will be served their wedding this September.

“But then we also really just like providing for our own needs,” Davis said. “We make our own maple syrup and we brew our own beer and we’ve smoked our own bacon. We cut our own wood. We’re not the kind of people who just sort of sit around. We like to be active and doing things, so we thought this would be a good project for the summer.”

The paper also published a survey of the food and drink to be had at last nights celebration/commiseration parties held by gubernatorial candidates.

Some candidates went frugal – opting to gather in the campaign office and munch on chips – while others spared no expense at posh destinations with lavish drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Local Sprouts Profile & A Wedding Garden

| Posted in Farming, Profiles

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Local Sprouts Cafe/Bomb Diggity Bakery,

The counter service restaurant is sure to give both ventures a boost. While anyone can walk in and purchase off the menu, those who plan to be regulars may want to consider investing in a community-supported kitchen membership. When members dine at the cafe, their meals are deducted from the paid-in-advance balance, and they receive a 10 percent discount.

and a feature article on a couple in Central Maine that are growing/raising all of the food that will be served their wedding this September.

“But then we also really just like providing for our own needs,” Davis said. “We make our own maple syrup and we brew our own beer and we’ve smoked our own bacon. We cut our own wood. We’re not the kind of people who just sort of sit around. We like to be active and doing things, so we thought this would be a good project for the summer.”

The paper also published a survey of the food and drink to be had at last nights celebration/commiseration parties held by gubernatorial candidates.

Some candidates went frugal – opting to gather in the campaign office and munch on chips – while others spared no expense at posh destinations with lavish drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Harbor Scoops Profile

| Posted in Profiles

The Munjoy Hill News has published a Business Beat profile of Harbor Scoops, the new ice cream shop at the corner of Cumberland and Washington.

There was a steady stream of customers this afternoon when Harbor Scoops officially opened for the summer season. Jordon Fischer, “lead” ice cream scooper kept busy on his first day on the job. The much anticipated ice cream shop had a “soft opening” several weeks ago and is now fully staffed and selling the local favorite – Smiling Cow Farm Ice Cream.

Three Days in the Sun

| Posted in Under Construction, Farming, Profiles

There have been several food articles in the Portland Daily Sun this week. On Tuesday the newspaper reported on the collaboration between Sparrow Arc Farm and Bar Lola on a CSA for the central Maine farm in Portland,

This means the impending CSA will include a wide, eclectic sampling of the 300 varieties of veggies grown at Sparrow Arc, including heirloom tomatoes and cornichons, a type of baby pickling cucumber. “We will be able to offer a really mind blowing amount of veggies to our CSA,” said Linehan.

on Wednesday there was a profile/history of Micucci’s.

Miccucci Grocery Company launched in 1949 and was located in the trunk of Leo and Iris Micucci’s car. Licensing and the official launch came a couple of years later in 1951 so the family splits the difference and says the company began in 1950. From Middle Street to Commercial then to its current home, Leo and Iris moved the location but kept the name.

and on Thursday there was a report on the soon-to-open Bayside Bowl,

A draft menu offered a promise of relatively high-end food for $15 and less. Bayside Bowl plans to serve Focaccioa bread pizzas, mini chicken chimichangas, veggie stir fry, garden burgers as well as traditional hamburgers and cheeseburgers, crab and lobster cake dinners, reuben sandwiches, fish, grilled rib eye, roasted lemon chicken, cocoanut curry chicken poppers, grilled wings, fries, hush puppies, and a variety of kids’ dishes and desserts.