This Week’s Events: Beer I, Incredible Breakfast Cook-off, Maine Restaurant Week, My Father’s Garden

| Posted in Events

Wednesday — Maine Beer Company is releasing Beer I.

Thursday — the Public Market House is holding a beer and cheese tasting.

Friday — Maine Restaurant Week is holding the Incredible Breakfast Cook-off.

Saturday — there will be a Marshall Wharf tap takeover at Novare Res, and the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday — it’s the first day of Maine Restaurant Week; check the MRW website for menus and pricing at all participating restaurants. MRW is holding the Chef-Am Bowling Tournament, and there will be a screening of My Father’s Garden at MECA.

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.

Review of Otto Pizza

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Otto.

The vibe is casual and the crust memorable at Otto Pizza on Cottage Road in South Portland. Embrace your inner glutton and order the 16-inch Pulled Pork & Mango: It’s sweet and spicy and ample enough to satisfy two or more. Craving classic comfort food? Try the Meatloaf and Mashed Potato, a filling take on a family favorite – minus the ketchup. Otto does offer cannoli for dessert, but it’s the pies that shine here. Consider skipping the sweets and saving room for an extra 12-inch pizza instead.

Under Construction: Evo (Updated)

| Posted in Under Construction

Evo(twitter, website, facebook) has applied for a  liquor license. They are on the agenda for the City Council’s meeting on Monday.

According to the material supplied with the application, the owners plan to serve a menu of “Eastern Mediterranean Cuisine”. A draft menu (pages 74-75) was supplied with the supporting paperwork. Here’s an excerpt.

evo_menu

The full floor plan (1st floor show below) seems to show a mezzanine area for additional seating. You can find some concept sketches for the space on Evo’s facebook page.

evo_floor plan

Update: The Golden Dish reports the chef Brandon Hicks will lead the kitchen staff,

Executive chef is Brandon Hicks, who also oversees the kitchen at the Chebeague Island Inn as well has having had a solid background at some of New York’s top-rated Michelin starred restaurants. Executive sous chef is Matt Ginn, formerly executive chef of Five Fifty-Five in Portland as well as L’Espalier in Boston.

Interview with Paige & Chris Gould

| Posted in People

Eater Maine has published an interview with the owners of Central Provisions, Chris and Paige Gould.

If you don’t remember opening night that well, do you have a most memorable service in here?
CG: I think the three times we got standing ovations from the whole restaurant.

PG: Yeah, that was pretty intense.

CG: Somebody, like a four top, would stand up and start clapping, and then the whole restaurant would just start clapping about the food and the service and the drinks. Those nights stick out to me a lot because I’ve never seen that happen in a restaurant, and it’s happened three times here.

PG: It’s cute, he blushes.

Review of Congress Squared

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has reviewed Congress Squared.

Service is excellent and prices at dinner huddle around the $25 range for entrees. With restaurant week starting next month, this is prime time to reacquaint yourself with Congress Squared’s new chef and its impressive menu of contemporary American fare. All of which makes C2  eminently qualified as a pivotal member of Portland’s Arts District dining.

Maine Shrimp Sample Harvest

| Posted in Fisheries

The Press Herald has a report in the ongoing sample harvests of Maine shrimp.

The record price stems from scarcity. Just like last year, the commercial shrimp season remains closed because of low stocks. The shrimp that sold at auction Thursday were caught by one of the three Maine fishermen involved in a sampling project to help state biologists track the timing of egg hatch, size, gender and developmental stages of the shrimp.

Interview with Larry Matthews

| Posted in People

As part of its ongoing Deep Dish series, the Portland Phoenix interviewed Larry Matthews, chef/owner of Back Bay Grill about where he likes to eat out.

With kids and a busy schedule (he’s often cooking the food at the Grill himself, as he is now) Matthews doesn’t get out much. When he does, he goes to Five Fifty-Five for mussels. Or for steak. Or for anything, really, that his friends, Five Fifty-Five co-owners Steve and Michelle Corry, and their team whip up.

Weather’s Impact on Restaurants (Updated)

| Posted in General News

Today’s Press Herald reports on the negative impact the large number of snow storms are having on Portland restaurants.

Most of all, downtown restaurant owners dread parking bans. The owners are particularly upset that the city declared a 36-hour parking ban last weekend for a storm that dropped 2.3 inches of snow. The ban began at 10 a.m. Saturday – Valentine’s Day – prompting some restaurant managers to ask city officials to keep the tow trucks away until closing time. The city honored the requests.

The city in practice doesn’t begin towing cars downtown until 1 a.m., but many people don’t know that, so business suffers.

Update: The Forecaster and WMTW have also posted reports on the snow’s impact on restaurant sales.