Reviews: Roma Cafe, Island Creek, Bolster Snow

| Posted in Reviews, Uncategorized

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Roma Cafe,

The Roma has become cozy and casual, almost homey. The same can be said of the food, which nonetheless remains true to the historic Italian-American theme. Some items still need tweaking…But standout dishes make the experience worthwhile. In particular, quick-sautéed calamari over thick spaghetti, tossed in Tallberg’s phenomenal marinara sauce; and spumoni: a triple-layered indulgence made from toasted pistachio, syrup-soaked Amarena cherry, and dark chocolate ice creams. When the new Roma Café is good, it’s very good – just not yet legendary.

the Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Bolster Snow, and

After my first full meal at Bolster Snow, I was impressed. They offer bold flavors, shining combinations, and take some simple contemporary items and add just a touch of their own hand in them. Basic deviled eggs with truffle? A total winner. Broccoli salad with a hit of lime? Stunning. A vodka lemon cocktail with hints of honey and ginger? An easy-going-down concoction. Try them for drinks and snacks if you want, but I think you just might end up staying for dinner.

the Portland Phoenix has reviewed Island Creek Oyster Shop.

So it feels right to eat like Louis in a nation ruled by his avatar. Island Creek’s pitchers of beer and wine connote abundance rather than déclassé abandon. The oysters themselves reward lordly attention. The Eider Cove from Brunswick are dark and mysterious looking, silky but salty. Winnegance from West Bath were pale, sweet, and meaty. Round little Moody Blues from Damariscotta were a creamy beige. Island Creek’s home oyster is thin and tawny with a mild salt and hint of mineral. They give you cocktail sauce and Tabasco, but unless you’re the type that puts ketchup on steak, ignore them. Salt and brine should reign over any other flavors.

Kindling Fund: Re-Past, Hole History Show

| Posted in Events

A pair of food-relate projects in Maine have received grants from the Kindling Fund:

Bates professor Myron Beasley has received $5,000 for Re-Past: Remembering Malaga.

Re-Past is a site-specific memorial to be held on Malaga Island.  As an intervention in the form of a performative dinner [July 12, 2018], Re-Past will engage the public-at-large to remember the people of Malaga who were evicted from their homes on July 1, 1912, because they were black or mixed-race. This narrative has come to be known as the story best not told in the history of Maine. The performance will be a collaborative event including dancers, a printmaker, a sound architect, a chef and painter/cartographer. Re-Past is a memorial to the dead and the living.

Alexis Iammarino has received $5,000 for Hole History Show: Origins of the American Style Donut.

[To] design, publish, and print a catalogue from a recent exhibition curated by Iammarino called “Hole History Show: Origins of the American-style Donut,” a collection of art, performance and writing that responded to a claim that the hole-in-the-donut was singularly invented by a 19th-century sea captain from Rockport, Maine. The creation of this catalogue will capture the scope of the project with beautifully documented plates of the 64 works of art, reproductions of memorabilia, and over 14 written submissions which include culinary history, poems, short fiction, oral history, and lecture transcriptions. Organizing, installing, and documenting this exhibition brought together people from a broad geography and energized ideas about the origins of the American culinary history. This catalogue aims to become a document of public history to be gifted to regional libraries and historical societies. At the publication’s launch, there will be an interdisciplinary event pairing chefs and artists to invent donut-inspired foods for the public.

The Rekindling Fund “supports artist-organized projects that engage the public and the visual arts in inventive and meaningful ways” and is part of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts’ Regional Regranting Program.

And Without Maine Shrimp…

| Posted in Fisheries

The Maine Sunday Telegram checked in with Portland restaurants to learn how they are adapting to the multi-year closure of the Maine shrimp fishery.

For the fifth year in a row, the sweet little morsels likely won’t appear on Maine restaurant menus. At a time when chefs are more focused than ever on local ingredients, what will they do without these winter delicacies – especially when it looks as if they may never come back?

Highroller Lobster Now Open

| Posted in Openings

Highroller Lobster Co. opened their new brick and mortar restaurant today at 104 Exchange Street. They plan to be open Wednesday through Sunday starting December 6th.

Founders Baxter Key and Andy Gerry launched their first food cart in June 2015, and for this project Key and Gerry have partnered with Peter and Noah Bissell from Bissell Brothers Brewing.

As with other mobile food operations that have opened brick and mortar establishments (Mami, Baharat, East Ender, Bite Into Maine, etc) the expanded space and equipment has provided an opportunity to expand from the original food cart menu and add beer, wine and spirits to the options they offer.

Here’s a look at the menu:

Elda Opening Tuesday

| Posted in Openings, Uncategorized

A new restaurant named Elda (website, instagram) is scheduled to open this Tuesday in Biddeford. The restaurant is in the space formerly occupied by Custom Deluxe at 140 Main Street. Chef/owner Bowman Brown has also expanded into the adjacent space renovating both and adding a bar.

Brown has moved from Salt Lake City where he was the co-owner and chef of Forage (instagram). He was recognized as part of the 2011 class of Best New Chefs by Food & Wine. Additionally, Brown has been a Beard semifinalists in the Best Chef: Southwest category for six years running from 2011 to 2016.

Here’s a look at the menu from Thursday night’s friends and family dinner:

The name Elda is a reference to the Icelandic word meaning ‘to cook’ as well as the name of Brown’s great-grandmother, Elda Whiting Brown.

Under Construction: Legends Rest Taproom

| Posted in Under Construction

Tom Minervino along with his sister Meg and business partner Mike Barton have leased 1000 sq ft of space at 855 Main Street in Westbrook where they plan to open Legends Rest Taproom (facebook, instagram, twitter). 855 Main is located in the same building as Big Fin Poké.

Legends Rest will feature smashed burgers and a rotating selection of local draft beers and will have a full bar.

The Minervino family also founded and operates Samuel Bar and Grill, and Tomaso’s Canteen.

Legends will be working with the creative folks at Might and Main to develop the branding for the business.

Legends Rest will join Quill Books & Beverage and Veranda Thai (672 Main St), both of which are also under construction in Westbrook.

This Week’s Events: Frederiksdal Kirsebaervin, P’Alante Maine, Closing Maine’s Hunger Gap, Beaujolais Nouveau, Sweet Tooth Truffles, 1820 Wines, Thanksgiving List

| Posted in Events, Openings

Monday – Eighteen Twenty Wines will be interviewed on WMPG’s radio show Food Stories, and Bier Cellar is holding a Frederiksdal Kirsebaervin cherry wine tasting. Bier Cellar describes he tastes as “wines [that] live in the union of red wine and Port”.

Tuesday – Restaurants across the state are collaborating in P’Alante Maine to raise money for hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

Wednesday – Mark Winne will be speaking at USM about Closing Maine’s Hunger Gap: Exploring Myths, Realities, Solutions, Old Port Wine Merchants is holding a Thanksgiving wine tasting, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – MJ’s is celebrating the release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau and Petite Jacqueline is holding a Beaujolais Nouveau wine dinner. A Fall wine tasting is taking place at Maine & Loire, and there will be a release party for Same Sun at The Thirsty Pig.

Friday – Oxbow is releasing Native/Wild Barrel Select: 89, Sweet Tooth Truffles is holding a launch party at Fork Food Lab and Eighteen Twenty Wines is opening their tasting room.

Saturday – Falafel Underground is holding a Turkish Pop-up Dinner in Biddeford, Bolster Snow is kicking off their new brunch service this weekend, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thanksgiving – see the our list of restaurants serving Thanksgiving Day dinners.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

Winter Farmers’ Market (Updated)

| Posted in Events

The Golden Dish has posted an article about the upcoming Winter Farmers’ Market which according to the article won’t be located in East Bayside this year.

The market organizers are waiting for the city of Portland to determine which of several sites under consideration will qualify as the new home for the winter market. At this writing, the top contender, however, is the Maine Girl’s Academy on Stevens Avenue.

Updated: The Press Herald has also now published an article about the upcoming location for the Winter Farmers’ Market.

Reviews: Cong Tu Bot, El Corazon, Rose Foods, Bayou Kitchen

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Cong Tu Bot,

Yet even as it makes culinary references to its peers, Cong Tu Bot manages to produce something wholly original. Take the pho ga ($13), a chicken-based soup bowl teeming with flat, fettuccine-like rice noodles and irregular shreds of tender chicken meat. Dobui and Zohn intentionally construct their version of this classic using techniques borrowed from Japanese ramen shops…It is both delicate and decadent – and phenomenally good.

The Bollard has reviewed El Corazon,

I ordered chilaquiles ($10.95), a once favorite dish I hadn’t eaten since leaving California. Piled onto a bed of crisp tortilla chips were two scrambled eggs simmered in a mild red sauce (a green sauce is also an option), topped with crumbly queso fresco and Mexican crema, and served with sides of beans and homefries. For an extra $1.50 the chef added a generous portion of chorizo on top. I had a few minor quibbles — using chips, rather than tortilla strips, made the dish messy and difficult to eat, and a hefty dose of hot sauce was necessary to provide sufficient heat — but otherwise it was very good.

the Portland Press Herald has reviewed Rose Foods, and

The Uncle Leo was a hit. The bagel was crispy outside, soft and chewy inside… The frittata was perfectly round, obviously cooked in a mold, but had just the right amount of lox in it, so the flavors were well balanced – especially with the schmear of herbed cream cheese as a finishing touch. I would order this again…

the Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Bayou Kitchens.

Quick, easy, tasty, and reasonably priced, Bayou Kitchen hits all the marks. They make simple food including cajun favorites that consistently satisfy and also offer items that shock and amaze – particularly those specials – which might just throw a wrench into your usual brunch order.