Today’s Press Herald reports on an innovative collaboration between USM and Maine breweries.
She began using beer as a testing medium to teach chemistry. Now Benedict is in charge of the school’s new Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Research Laboratory, which started with a $488,514, three-year seed grant from the Maine Economic Improvement Fund. The lab has partnered with the Maine Brewers Guild to provide testing and training for breweries and brewmasters.
Big J’s Chicken (website, facebook, instagram) opened earlier today on Thompson’s Point. It’s set-up as a BYOB restaurant which means you’ll be able to grab a 4-pack from Bissell or a bottle of rye from Stroudwater next door and bring them into Big J’s for your meal.
Big J’s also expects to do a brisk take-out business. They’re launching mobile apps for both iOS and Android that enables patrons to place an order and pay online so pick-up is streamlined. There’s even a take-out window that connects into Bissell Brothers in case you want have your fried chicken dinner in the tasting room.
Here’s a look at the menu:
Big J’s will be open 5 days a week Wednesday through Sunday, 11-8.
Nicholas Nappi and fellow Local 188 restaurant group colleague Gary Bowcott are holding a pop-up for Black Cow on September 5th to share their “vision for a return to good old days of the soda fountain”. The menu for the pop-up will include burgers, fries and ice cream floats.
Nappi and Bowcott have been working on their project to launch a “re-imagining of the classic soda fountain” for the last year. Nappi is current a consulting chef for the restaurant group and in the past has been the chef de cuisine at Local 188 and has worked at Eventide and Hugo’s.
Tickets for the Black Cow pop-up are for sale on BrownPaperTickets.com for $20 per person.
Condé Nast Traveller recently called out 158 Pickett Street Cafe as one of their staff secret favorite destinations that they have, until now, kept to themselves. According to Managing Editor Paulie Dibner,
I usually keep this one to myself—it’s a ballsy move, as a New Yorker, to recommend a bagel outside of the city but the food (well, the bagel sandwich) at 158 Pickett Street Café is spectacular, and the coffee is fresh.
It’s totally out of the way, but is right near the water—as well as Bug Light, a charming lighthouse—so you can get sandwiches to go and sit outside or hang out in its backyard. It’s typical of coastal Maine, around South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough, where there are tons of wonderful food gems that are well worth a quick drive.
Tuesday — Rhum and Sur Lie are collaborating on a Summer Luau.
Wednesday — The Great Lost Bear will be featuring beer from Saco River Brewing, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Thursday — the Maine Farmland Trust is holding Agrarian Acts concert and dinner at the Deering Grange, and there will be a beer and cheese tasting at the Public Market House.
Friday — Palace Diner will be holding Fried Chicken Friday at Oxbow.
Saturday — Slab is hosting a Hoof Hearted Brewing tap takeover, and the Saturday Farmers’ Market will take place.
Sunday — Wolfe’s Neck Farm will be the site of the Farm to Fork Fondo, a ” farm to table cycling event”.
Highroller Lobster — Highroller Lobster will be serving a pop-up dinner at Bao Bao on Monday, August 29.
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.
The Press Herald has published a bar review of the Munjoy Hill Tavern,
Munjoy Hill Tavern has big shoes to fill, but seems to be off to a decent start with several beer selections on tap, Sutter wine, happy hour specials and a small but growing pub menu including French fries, chicken tenders, pizza and other snacks. There are three TVs that dominate the room, but if you’re looking for a place to watch the Olympics or a game, this is a good option. The bar only takes cash, but there’s an ATM inside.
Drink Up and Get Happy has reviewed happy hour at The Honey Paw,
The tap wines are a Gruner, always a hit with us, and a rose. The special cocktail of the day was a delicious concoction of lime, cucumber, and gin. It was well worth the $7. They also have a great beer list so after the cocktail we ventured off the specials list to enjoy a Rosee de Hibiscus by Brasserie Dieu de Ciel.
and Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Rossobianco.
Rossobianco offers a light, casual atmosphere that will be accessible to all types of eaters. Good for a snack and wine or a hearty meal of pasta or steak and beer, they are giving Italian cuisine a different look than anywhere else in Portland. If my first impressions are correct, Rossobianco is going to get busy and stay that way, because their food is absolutely magnificent. When you go – and go soon – start with a bunch of the risotto balls – everything there is a worthy offering, but one of those definitely won’t be enough.
Erin French’s book The Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom, Maine is now available for pre-order with an anticipated publication date of May 2017.
The book is described as “An evocative, gorgeous four-season look at cooking in Maine, with 100 recipes” and will be available in hardcover and as an e-book.
The Golden Dish has reviewed Rossobianco.
As the newest restaurant to open this summer, I’m glad it didn’t get overhyped, giving it time to gain its footing. But I think there’s much to expect from its very able chef, and the attentiveness of its co-owners who are set to make this place sparkle.
The Bangor Daily News has published a article about Botto’s Bakery,
Overseeing the process that plays out night after night is Stephen Mathews, the second-generation owner of the family-run bakery founded in 1949. Chances are if you’ve had a lobster roll or hamburger, sandwich or sub in southern Maine, you’ve tried Botto’s. It supplies rolls to 20 clam shacks, but delis and sandwich shops are its bread and butter.
The Press Herald has interviewed Christopher Kimball about his new venture, Milk Street Kitchen.
“This is not really about me cooking Thai food or Cantonese or Moroccan food,” Kimball said. “It’s just about finding techniques and combinations of flavors, or ways of thinking about cooking to expand the repertoire. I’m not trying to cook somebody else’s food. Here’s the difference: Instead of going in the kitchen and taking an oatmeal cookie and making it 45 times, I’m starting somewhere else in the world to learn from somebody and listen to what they have to say and trying to figure out how I can adapt that back here.”
Kimball will be kicking off a cross-country Culinary Mystery Tour on the stage of the State Theater on September 8. Tickets are available online.
