Dobra Tea (website, facebook, twitter, instagram) has announced plans to move to 89 Exchange Street. They’ll be closing their current Middle Street location on August 24 and expect to open on Exchange Street in late September or early October.
For the past several years 89 Exchange Street has been the home of the Aucocisco Gallery.
Family Feast will be serving an Indonesian prix fixe dinner at The Well on Monday June 30.
They’re still planning the details but so far this what the menu looks like:
Tickets are $100 per person. Sign-up online at Eventbrite.
Late last summer DiPietro’s closed their neighborhood market on Cumberland Ave after 69 years in operation. Now the new owner, Markos Miller and wife Heather Nichols, are planning to launch a new bakery cafe and market called Ten Ten Pié.
The name is a Spanish expression which refers to a quick snack or bite to eat.
Miller tells me that Ten Ten Pié will serve freshly prepared pastry (with a multi-cultural twist) in the morning, and a take out lunch menu featuring international comfort food. They also expect to have a small retail market that meets some of the light grocery needs for the neighborhood and healthy grab and go foods.
More details should be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
For the details on all upcoming restaurants, bars, bakeries and food trucks check out our Under Construction List.
Find Eat Drink has highlighted some of the newer venues in town: Blue Rooster, Central Provisions, Hunt & Alpine, Maine Craft Distilling, Miyake Diner and Piccolo.
The Maine College of Art is offering a set of Culinary Arts classes this Summer as part of their continuing education program. Here’s the list of the Summer options:
According to the release:
To help orchestrate this new realm of programming, MECA has engaged the expertise of Culinary Consultant and former Executive Vice President of The International Culinary Center (formerly The French Culinary Institute), Christopher Papagni, Ph.D. According to Papagni, “Some of the best of Portland’s culinary scene has been selected for this first round of MECA classes. Keeping up with new food trends and the rapid growth of artisan talent in Maine, will insure dynamic programming for a long time to come.”
Papagni is now working to recruit instructors for the Fall semester at MECA.
Here are two more food events taking place this week for you to fit into your calendar:
The Press Herald has published a bar review of Boda,
Most of the house cocktails are $8 and all but the Winter Manhattan are under $10. In keeping with an authentic Thai “street food” theme, the drink menu seems to use a variety of traditional Thai spices and ingredients and you get the sense that the drink menu was created with humor and ease.
and a review of the new Mainely Wraps on Fore Street.
There are a lot of places to grab lunch in the Old Port. Some are ho-hum, others are great but maybe serve a little bit more than what you want for just a quick lunch.
Mainely Wraps lies in the happy middle, offering delicious, creative sandwiches fast and at reasonable prices.
Eater Maine has published the first part of an extensive interview with Stephen Lanzalotta.
The concept of Sicilian street food is a unique one in these parts. What should we expect to see?…We want to bring a fresh meeting place — not that that hasn’t been done, there are other places where people meet — but the idea is to take this ancient culture and make it viable in the 21st century. It’s like, Hey, this is a hip aspect of Sicilian culture — sharing a bite with someone else and lingering, or not. That’s the beauty of it. You can grab a bite here and go out, or linger and get several things and make a meal.
Update: Part 2 of the interview is now available on Eater.
The Press Herald has reviewed Ernie’s Pool and Darts,
The bartenders are friends or family members of owner Ernie Rouleau, and if you’re a new face, they’ll welcome you with a warm smile and quick run-down of the menu. There’s no happy hour, but none of the drinks are more than $4 (Natural Light and Busch Light are always $1 on tap) and the bar food – like the steak ’n cheese and meatball sub – are all made to order (unless you grab a bag of chips or a candy bar for a $1). The kitchen space is small, but there might be some steak sizzling on the grill, a handmade personal pizza cooking in the oven and a soft pretzel plumping in the microwave.
and this week’s What Ales You Column reports on a collaboration between Gritty’s and Deschutes Brewing Company from Portland Oregon.
Getting back to the Bachelor Bitter. This is a clear but unfiltered bitter, a West Coast style but with English roots evident. It is hoppier than other Gritty beers, but not overpowering, and balanced, with a good amount of malt in the finish.
It is only 4.8 percent alcohol by volume, so it is a session beer, although a highly flavorful one.
Both Gritty’s and Deschutes were founded in 1988 and are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year.
The Brewers Association has released data that shows Maine’s beer industry have the 4th highest economic impact per capita in the nation at $324.36 per person. The economic impact is “derived from the total impact of beer brewed by craft brewers as it moves through the three-tier system (breweries, wholesalers and retailers), as well as all non-beer products that brewpub restaurants sell.”