Maine a la Carte has information on how to be part of the Restaurant Impossible remake of Uncle Andy’s.
“Restaurant Impossible” airs on Wednesday nights and the episode featuring Uncle Andy’s will air sometime this summer. We can’t report on the transformation because that would spoil the TV surprise, but YOU can participate.
There are two ways to be involved: As a member of the volunteer crew or as a customer for the grand re-opening on Wednesday, June 11 at 7 p.m.
The Portland Daily Sun has reviewed Timber,
Timber could have served green eggs and ham and the experience would have been great. That is mainly because the of the aura of staff professionalism and the tableside visits from the owners, even when they got slammed and overwhelmed a bit on opening night. Whenever I go into a restaurant I can usually spot one or two servers who are the cream of the crop. The ones who make the operation seamless and make you question if they’re part-owners. Everyone at Timber behaved that way.
and the Bangor Daily News has published an article about Timber.
Noah and Dan Talmatch of The Northpoint opened their second restaurant last week called Timber Steakhouse and Rotisserie on Exchange Street. Offering certified Angus beef in diverse cuts served with sides of batter-fried smoked bacon and a bourbon, whisky, rye and scotch bible to consider, the bold brethren once again have hit upon a winning concept.
The Root has published a report from the coffee house tour I led this past weekend in collaboration with The Maine Brew Bus.
During the tour we visited Coffee by Design, Bard Coffee, Speckled Axe and Tandem Coffee Roasters. We learned about coffee importing and roasting, cross compared brewing methods, got trained on the cupping process, and as you might expect drank a vast amount of caffeine. If that all sounds fun to you then you’re in luck as we’re likely to schedule a repeat performance this Fall. Stay tuned.
Haddockquest has reviewed David’s.
When the sandwich arrived, the first thing I noticed was the well-toasted bun. Finally, a well-toasted bun! This has been an issue in past Haddockquest excursions, and I have to say that David’s really nailed the vessel aspect of things here. After that, things started to go downhill. The small-ish portion of haddock suffered from a soggy, poorly-seasoned batter that lacked flavor and did nothing to stand up against the bun it was served on. It’s a shame, because the fish itself was clearly fresh and had a nice flakiness to it.
Eat Maine has profiled the Portland & Rochester.
All in all the Portland Rochester has become an indispensable staple in West Bayside, offering a variety of different experiences to loyal patrons. The recent update with the menu only furthers the eclectic nature of a pub that should be on everyone’s radar this summer.
The Forecaster reports the Pepperclub is planning to remain in Portland rather than move to Kennebunk.
With the help of real estate brokers and input from customers, Sawyer is now looking for a new home for the restaurant after its lease expires in September.
“We are not looking to move out of the greater Portland area,” [co-owner Melissa Sawyer] said.
Sawyer said the Good Egg Cafe, which reopened about seven years ago as the Pepperclub’s breakfast arm, will also continue to operate.
The Huffington Post has published an interview with Kate McCarty, author of Portland Food.
In your opinion, what is it about the Portland food community that inspires so much creativity?
The low cost of entry and accessibility (e.g. rents, prime space) is attractive to many chefs, as well as our abundant local ingredients like produce, cheese, meat, and seafood. Everyone in Maine is into making things, whether it’s cured meats or beer or blueberry jam. All of the chefs I talked to while researching Portland Food mentioned how supportive and collaborative the food and restaurant industry is. We don’t have the same competitiveness in the restaurant industry that they have even just down the road in Boston. All these factors created this incredible restaurant scene for a city of our size.
The Golden Dish has reviewed Timber.
The double-thick (huge) pork chop had a wonderful glaze of Maine blueberry sauce, more pungent than sweet. It’s local pork, too, though not pastured but corn fed. It had great flavor and was exceedingly tender for such a thick cut. It’s flash-grilled at very high heat, the secret to making cuts like this buttery soft.
Wednesday — the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — several Maine restaurants will be in NYC competing in the Lobster Roll Rumble, and the Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Smuttynose.
Friday — CN Shawarma (facebook, twitter, instagram) is launching their new food truck, the movie Craft is being screened at Allagash, and the first Flea Bites food truck street festival in is taking place at the Portland Flea for All.
Saturday — the 10th Annual Vegetarian Food Festival is taking place as is the Deering Oaks Farmers Market, it’s the 3rd Annual Maine Open Winery Day and Leroux will be having a wine tasting.
Sunday — the 41st Annual Parking Old Port Festival is taking place.
Negroni Week — the Hunt & Alpine club is participating in Imbibe magazine’s Negroni Week charity event. As part of the program Hunt & Alpine will be donating $2 to Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Southern Maine for every Classic Negroni, Barrel-Aged Negroni, and Sbagliato (bubbly negroni) sold June 2-8.
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.
Lolita (facebook, website) is now open at 90 Congress Street. The restaurant is a partnership between Guy and Stella Hernandez, formerly of Bar Lola, and partner Neil Reiter. The restaurant serves a Mediterranean menu, and has an extensive wine list.
For more on the restaurant check-out Blueberry Files, Urban Eye, Spoon & Shutter and Eater Maine for photos from the press event last week.