[Recently former] Bon Appétit editor Andrew Knowlton landed in Portland yesterday and is eating his way around the city. So far he’s visited:
Big Tree Hospitality, the restaurant group that includes Eventide, Hugo’s and The Honey Paw, has launched their newest venture, the Little Spruce Baking Company (instagram).
Baked goods went on sale yesterday at the Saco River Farmers’ Market in Biddeford. The options included a Pizza Croissant (tomato jam, ricotta, peperoni), Moonstruck (egg, maitake mushroom, mustard greens), PB&J Croissant (strawberry jam, peanut glaze, sprinkles) and Sourdough loaves.
Yet another reason to visit Biddeford on top of Rabelais, Palace, Elda, Sweet Cream, 2 distilleries, 2 breweries, etc.
The Portland Phoenix has put together their list of the Ten Best Soups in Portland.
Suffice to say, Portlanders have it pretty good when it comes to floating nutrition. Soups (and their numerous variations) have long been used to coax comfort out of even the most arduous days. Whether it’s an oncoming cold, the end of a relationship that should’ve worked or anything in-between, few things bring pause to life’s anxieties more readily than a bowl of hot liquid and whatever may have ended up getting added in the process.
What are your favorites, what would you add to the list?
The April edition of Portland Magazine includes a review of Drifters Wife,
The entire dinner is a testament to Jackson’s imagination and skill, with mostly locally grown and raised ingredients. We dab bread in the last of the sauce and leave nothing behind but the bones.
Mainebiz has published an update on Brickyard Hollow Brewing in Yarmouth.
Brickyard Hollow is owned by Brad Moll and Frank Grondin, both of Yarmouth, and will be the town’s first craft brewery. It will also have a full bar and food and a covered outdoor beer garden. The name comes from early in the village’s history, when a depression in the land was filled and became a town gathering place.
A new business called The Cheese Shop of Portland (instagram, facebook) is under development. Owners Mary and Will Sissle plan to locate on Washington Ave with a target opening date in late June.
The Sissles met when the pair worked at Cowgirl Creamery in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most recently they were on the staff at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge where Will was the international cheese buyer and Mary worked in the shop and handled their media relations. Mary Sissle is a originally from Maine having grown up in Cape Elizabeth. Will Sissle is an ACS Certified Cheese Professional.
The Cheese Shop will be one of the first businesses to be located in Black Box, a retail space slated for the corner of Washington Ave and Marion Street built out of shipping containers. Developer Jed Harris has conceived of Black Box as a start-up space for new retail businesses.
The final list of nominees for the 2018 James Beard Foundation awards were released today:
11 Maine semifinalists were announced in February.
The awards ceremony will take place on May 7th in Chicago.
Related information:
The Press Herald has published an article about Union’s chef Josh Berry and the year he spent eating a vegetarian diet,
Berry has long wanted to experiment with his diet so that he could get firsthand experience of what it’s like to live with food restrictions, and could embrace the trend of meatless meals. He figured the exercise would help him improve the menu choices at the restaurant, too.
Having completed a year as a vegetarian, Berry has switched over to a gluten-free diet in 2018.
Quill Books & Beverage (facebook, instagram), the new bookstore/bar/coffee shop located at One Westbrook Common in Westbrook is now open and plans to hold a grand opening this Saturday.
Owners Matthew Irving and Allison Krzanowski will be serving cocktails as well as bagels, baked goods, yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast, and sandwiches and salads for lunch, as well as a line-up of toasts, cheeses and charcuterie. The bookstore will stock a “diverse selection of carefully curated gently used books, including many recent titles” and will host “author and poetry readings, book clubs, and a weekly board game night”.
The new Veranda restaurant in Westbrook, Veranda Kitchen & Bar, is scheduled to open on March 20th.
This will make the fifth location of the Veranda business group. The original restaurant, Veranda Thai, opened in the space that had been formerly occupied by Espans Quick Lunch on Veranda Street in May 2008.
The GM of the Veranda group recently leased retail property in South Portland so it looks like a sixth location is in the works.