Italian Ramen & Restaurant Vegan Options

| Posted in General News

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about Papa’s Juicy Noodles, a packaged noodle dish prepared by the family that opened the first Italian restaurant in Portland,

Enter Papa’s Juicy Noodles, which may never be able to compete with those high-end restaurant selections but will satisfy a nostalgic craving for instant ramen without all the sodium and other bad stuff. Papa’s, produced right here in Maine, can’t be called ramen, actually. Think of it as an Italian version of ramen noodles.

and advice on dining out and eating a plant-based diet.

Yet savvy diners like Woodman know this doesn’t mean a vegan meal is out of the question. As Woodman said, you should always call, “because in my experience they want to bring you in and please you, especially if you are coming with several other people. Chefs can really showcase their skills when preparing a superb vegan dish. It’s one thing to make an excellent meat or seafood dish, but quite another to prepare an excellent vegan entrée.”

This Week’s Events: Distilled in Maine, Flanagan’s, Bastille Day, Food Forest, Clam Festival, Peloton Speaks

| Posted in Events

foodforestMonday — Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti from Piccolo are the featured chefs at this month’s  Flanagan’s Table dinner.

Tuesday — Petite Jacqueline is serving a Bastille Day dinner.

Wednesday — Fred Farber from Maine Craft Distilling and Joanna Corman from Vena’s will be the guest speakers at this week’s Peloton Speaks, Black Tie is teaching a cooking class, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

>Thursday — a Community Idea Night meeting is taking place to “help design an edible park or ‘food forest’ in East Bayside”, there will be a mead and cheese tasting at the Public Market House  and a rose tasting at C Salt, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Banded Horn.

kate2Friday — author Kate McCarty is launching her new book Distilled in Maine at Sherman’s Bookstore, Rosemont is hosting an Italian wine event at Diamond Cove, and it’s the first day of the Yarmouth Clam Festival.

Saturday — Novare Res is holding an event to celebrate the new wave of British brewers, Darren Case of Round Turn Distilling will be at Terlingua for an event featuring their gin and Kate McCarty’s new book, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

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.

Cafe at the Castle

| Posted in Openings

cafeatthecastle2This summer the Friends of Deering Oaks is running a bake sale in the park during the Saturday Farmers’ Market. Baked goods are sourced from Standard Baking, Bam Bam, Ten Ten Pié and C-Salt and the coffee is from CBD.

The bake sale has been getting a steady stream of customers the first couple weeks they’ve been in business from farmers and market customers. Bake sale manager Norine Kotts tells me the hope to soon have some patio furniture set-up at the Castle as well.

The City and Friends of Deering Oaks also hope that having the building open and in use may inspire some local food entrepreneur to lease the space and open a year-round cafe in the park.

Interview with Austin Street

| Posted in Beer

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Austin Street Brewery owners Will Fisher and Jake Austin.

KB: Stylistically you’re all over the place, but your favorites seem to be hop-forward ales and brett-fermented funky stuff, will you focus in more on specific styles once you have the big system?

J: I definitely have plenty more ideas and I know we’ll end up doing new beers at some point, maybe sooner rather than later. But stylistically, yeah, we’ll probably hone in on more light, dry, hoppy stuff, clean fermented, and then just do even more brett stuff. Typically any new beer you see from us now is going be a brett beer, I would say. Maybe push into some more true sour stuff, kind of flirting with the edge with some tart sorts of beers.

Fine Cooking: Sam Hayward

| Posted in Reviews

haywardFine Cooking magazine talked with chef Sam Hayward to get his Portland tips on where to eat and go in Portland. His suggestions include: Browne Trading, Central Provisions, East Ender, Eventide, Harbor Fish Market, Hugo’s, Scratch Baking, Standard Baking and The Lobster Shack.

The article also includes Hayward’s recipe for beer-steamed mussels.

The August/September issue of Fine Cooking isn’t online yet.

Reviews: Terlingua, Marcy’s, Glass

| Posted in Reviews

Pig Trip has published a first look review of Terlingua,

So far, so good. Latin meets barbecue in an interesting menu with that rare combination of ambitiousness and approachability. Strong flavors, strong smoke and mostly reliable textures are good signs going forward.

the Press Herald has reviewed Marcy’s,

…when I need something reliable, without any pretense and certainly affordable, Marcy’s is my go-to place. I hadn’t been in about four years and now have been twice as of late. I’m sure they’ll see me there soon and though I’ll have to stay away from the Twix Muffin (I am not making this up) on their specials board, I am likely to visit the “Pancake Corner” part of the menu…

and the Press Herald has also posted a bar review of the Glass lounge.

Glass Lounge at Hyatt Place is a swanky hotel bar with a retro vibe and great craft cocktails. Good for a daytime drink with friends or coworkers, or a fancy night on the town, Glass’s central downtown location creates a buzzing metropolitan atmosphere, where you will find exceptional service, impressive bourbon and scotch offerings, and imaginative cocktails.