Category: Reviews

Thrillist has included the Hunt & Alpine Club on their list of the Best Cocktail Bars in America.

On a recent visit to Hunt and Alpine, I drank an impeccable Green Eyes cocktail (gin, lime, green chartreuse, and egg white) and a throwback Bourbon Renewal made just for laughs, ate their popcorn laced with unicorn dust or whatever, watched a rainstorm pass, and looked around to see 30 other folks all doing the same thing, each of us with a blissed out, grateful look on our faces. Rightfully, Hunt and Alpine is now the Portland institution it has always deserved to be.

Hunt and Alpine Club co-owner Briana Volk has written an eating guide to Portland for Eater Boston entitled, How to Eat and Drink in Portland, Maine, Like a Restaurant Industry Pro.

As someone who has owned a restaurant for seven years now, I have always had a list of places I love to recommend. From the dive bar that serves great food to the restaurant that helped put Portland on the map, these restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, and bars are places you’ll hear as recommendations from others — or see your server/bartender after their shift.

The article highlights: Flood’s, Ruski’s, Little Woodfords, Highroller, Belleville, Oxbow, The Cheese Shop, Rose Foods, Fore Street, Salvage, and Izakaya Minato.

Bon Appetit has included Izakaya Minato on their list of the 24 Restaurants We Couldn’t Stop Talking About in 2019.

Obviously Maine is synonymous with fresh seafood, but everything at this little Japanese bar is treated with so much care, from the perfectly chilled carafes of nigori-style sake to the crispy-on-the-outside, pillowy-on-the-inside tofu. Oh, and the omakase is THIRTY DOLLARS and the perfect amount of food that leaves you feeling full without keeping you in your seat for three hours. They do every little thing so darn right there—it’s a must visit every time I’m in Portland.”

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Enio’s in South Portland.

 It’s hard to imagine anyone not enjoying the Butlers’ home-cooked Italian dishes: homemade pastas, jars of spreads like chicken liver mousse served with freshly baked sourdough and wood-grilled meats like king-sized pork chops drizzled with veal demiglace…Enio’s is the perfect tonic to overdesigned dining rooms and deconstructed desserts – it is a true mom-and-pop operation that, quite simply, feels like home.

The Press Herald has reviewed Vena’s Fizz House.

Eventually, I pried my friend’s drink out of her hands and took a sip, at which point all I could think was “liquid Christmas!” It somehow managed to combine all the flavors in exactly the right amounts, resulting in being able to taste, first, one element, then another, then another, never forgetting that Santa had just delivered you a stocking full of tequila.

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Sun Vietnamese Restaurant, and

With more time to dedicate to labor-intensive, mostly traditional Vietnamese dishes, chef Truc Nguyen has upgraded the quality of her menu substantially. Her banh mi sandwiches, bursting with house-made carrot and daikon pickles and grilled meats or cold cuts, are among the best in the state. Her pho (both chicken and beef) is also terrific, and at less than $10 a bowl, is one of Portland’s best bargains. Having eschewed pastries in its reboot, Sun no longer offers desserts, but its Vietnamese coffee – blitzed with ice and sweetened condensed milk to the consistency of a rough granita – is the sort of sensational meal-capper you’ll crave even in the middle of a Maine winter.

The Blueberry Files has published a first look at Cocktail Mary, Anoche, and A & C Grocery.

I went out last Friday night to visit several new Washington Avenue businesses. A friend who moved away in August was visiting for the holiday and since we both used to live on Munjoy Hill, we wanted to see what’s new in the old neighborhood. On our agenda: drinks at Cocktail Mary, a new cocktail bar on Congress Street, drinks at Anoche, a cider and tapas bar, and dinner at A&C Grocery, a former market turned diner.

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Quiero Cafe.

If you visit, start with a pulled-pork-and-fried-plantain Puerco empanada and move on to aioli-topped yucca fries and either a toasty, chorizo-stuffed choripan sandwich or the uncompromisingly indulgent Colombiano hot dog, loaded with mayo, pineapple salsa and crushed potato chips. Skip dessert, but don’t miss one of the smoothies or milkshake-style juices, especially the bracing lulo, blended with whole milk into an icy, Creamsicle-like treat.

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed The Garrison, and

With his Mediterranean-and-Asian inflected modern American menu, he creates creative plates that underpromise and overdeliver. Everything from Thai-inspired, butter-poached lobster in a sunny coconut curry broth; pulled short rib mounded onto a dark brioche bun with iceberg lettuce and American cheese; and a phenomenal, pseudo-Provencal pappardelle good enough to convert anyone to the pleasures of slow-braised rabbit.

the Press Herald has reviewed The Cider House.

Local spot with a neighborhood feel and not an ounce of snobbery. There’s something for everyone, even your friends who don’t like cider.

Congratulations to the 12 Maine food producers that are  finalists in the 2020 Good Food Awards:

• Beer – Allagash Brewing for their Crosspath and River Trip beers, and  Liquid Riot for their Persuasion and Vinlandic beers
• Charcuterie – A Small Good for their Cider Brined Lonza
• Coffee – Speckled Ax for their Ethiopian Jabicho coffee
• Confections – Black Dinah for their Chevre and Nib Truffle, Chocolats Passion for their Vegan Hazelnut Creme, and Deans Sweets for their Maine Sea Salt Caramel
• Grains – Maine Grains for their Organic Corn Polenta and Organic Pearled Farro
• Honey – Posto Bello Apiaries for their Autumnal Wildflower Honey
• Pickles – Atlantic Sea Farms for their Sea-Chi
• Snacks – GrandyOats for their Super Hemp Blend Coconola
• Spirits – Liquid Riot for both their Old Port Straight Rye Whiskey

The winners will be announced January 17 at a gala in San Francisco.

Little Woodfords has been recognized as one of the Best Coffee Shops in America by Food & Wine magazine.

Portland’s most knowledgeable (and patient) baristas can be found in this sunny shop far up Forest Avenue, away from downtown and the tourists; a thoughtful rotating selection of good coffees makes each visit a potential learning experience.