Category: Reviews

For this months collaborative food blogging project the group is once again collaborating with our good friends at Rabelais Books to do a Summer series of book reviews. Having read the groups reviews I think the book that most appeals to my reading interests in Texas Eats although that might just because it makes reference to The Federal Writers Project in the Introduction.

Edible Obsessions – Texas Eats by Robb Walsh

He starts in East Texas and the Gulf with delicious seafood recipes and traipses across the state and ends with a nod to the diverse contributions from Thai, Vietnamese and Indian cultures to the Texas food scene. He contributes even more space to the influence of Czech and German immigrants of Central Texas. Every chapter is dotted with anecdotes and first hand stories about the dishes, some by the people who created them.… read the full article

From Away – Street Food by Susan Feniger

Susan Feniger is joie de vive personified. She’s a cook who seeks to introduce her audience to new worlds through food. She’s been doing this with her West Coast restaurants for decades, and with this title, cements her place in the cookbook author pantheon. It’s infectious, her love of food and life and humanity. These “irresistably crispy, creamy, crunch, spicy, sticky, sweet recipes” are bound to become part of my repertoire. I can’t wait to make my way through Street Food one page at a time.… read the full article

The Blueberry Files – Apron Anxiety by Alyssa Shelasky

Apron Anxiety features the slightly troubled times in a young, upper-middle class, white woman’s life, the most challenging being her existential strife over love and work. OK, so not every memoir has to be about war, famine, or poverty, but after a while, the author’s complaints become a little grating. … read the full article

Vrai-lean-uh – People’s Pops by Jordi, Carrell and Horowitz

There’s a fair argument to be made that popsicles don’t require a cookbook so much as a popsicle mold, a working freezer, and a low-to-moderate spirit of experimentation. It also has to be said that I am much less likely to give a cookbook the benefit of the doubt when they have the phrase “brooklyn’s coolest pop shop” on the cover. But I do love popsicles, and summer is approaching.… read the full article

Bresca has received 4½ stars from the Taste & Tell in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram.

Bresca’s small menu and frequently changing wine list seem carefully curated to take advantage of seasonal ingredients and make the dining experience harmonious. The intimate atmosphere and service match the outstanding food not only in quality but also in mood and tone. To my mind, Bresca belongs at or near the top among Greater Portland’s fine-dining restaurants.

The Bollard has published a bar review of Amigo’s.

Though Amigos is not my first choice for cocktails, it’s consistently been my choice for getting a drink. No bar has seen me pass its threshold more often without paying me to be there. Amigos is all about atmosphere and familiarity. Regulars are the rule, not the exception. That speaks volumes and recommends the place more than any particular mixed drink.

From Away has published a review of the El Rayo Cantina.

Almost across the board, traditional Mexican dishes are completely reconsidered and reinvented from the ground up at Cantina El Rayo, requiring you to set aside your expectations for the way a dish “should” be. Sometimes, as with the “ERC Burger” or, to a lesser extent, the pozole, this works exceptionally well, combining flavors and unexpected presentations in a way that delights the senses. Even if a few dishes are less successful, the sheer creativity on display in their preparation makes you happy to have sampled them…

Down East has published a review of Zapoteca.

And while there are plenty of low-heat options on the menu, Zapoteca’s chili-powered flavor combinations are the main attraction. Ceviche veracruzano, for instance, comes in a tall martini glass surrounded by a tangle of fresh tortilla chips. Fresh white fish is “cooked” in lime juice and served with a spicy salsa of tomatoes, jalapeños, and green olives. Among the entrees, which include a local beef filet with garlic chipotle mashed potatoes and an ancho chipotle sauce, the pork carnitas should not be missed. Pork shoulder is braised until it falls apart, then pressed, cut, and crisped in the wood oven and served with pickled red onions, black beans, and homemade tortillas. It’s comfort food, Mexican-style.

From Away has published a review of Amato’s in the form of an open letter to the Meatball Parmigiana Sandwich.

Can you believe it’s been almost three years since we met? I have to confess that it wasn’t exactly love at first sight, if I can even find it within myself to believe in such a thing anymore. When we first met, I was going through kind of a weird time in my life, and there you were, ready to fill the emptiness inside of me…

Eat Maine has published a review of the tasting menu at David’s.

Turin appears bearing the next dish in our progression. It is a fresh, sweet lobster tail that has been delicately poached in apple and leek butter, served alongside spring pea risotto, with a pea tendril and apple slaw to add a pleasant crunch. The tart, lively acidity and lemon-grapefruit flavors of the Lucien Crochet Sancerre effortlessly cut through the richness of the buttery lobster, making for yet another very successful pairing.

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Miyake.

In these muted surroundings it is the food that pops — with gorgeous presentation, colors both brilliant and pale, and an undiluted clarity of flavors. Small details charm as well — like the lovely handmade china and the rock on which you rest your chopsticks. The menu offers a chef’s omakase of five or seven courses, or you can make your own meal out of salads, soups, rolls, small plates, and large plates — the last of which include several chef’s-choice plates of nigiri and sashimi. We mixed and matched ourselves, but I defy you to watch the striking omakase plates go by and not calculate when you will go back and try it.