Timber Steakhouse & Rotisserie (facebook, website) is now open for business at 106 Exchange Street.
The restaurant is run by Noah and Dan Talmatch who also own The North Point.
Update: for additional reporting see Chris Busby article on Timber and how it fits into the local restaurant scene.
Today’s Press Herald includes a report on the new local foods market/butcher shop under construction in South Portland,
[Partners Penny Jordan and Ben Slayton] signed a three-year lease two weeks ago for the building at 161 Ocean St. in South Portland’s Knightville neighborhood, near Uncle Andy’s Diner, Taco Trio and the Legion Square Market (formerly Smaha’s). They also looked at the Willard Beach neighborhood, Slayton said, but the Knightville neighborhood was attractive because it’s close to other grocery stores that already attract food shoppers and is part of an up-and-coming neighborhood.
It’s also interesting to note that Joe Fournier will be joining The Farm Stand as the store’s general manager.
The Press Herald has reviewed the take-out at India Bazaar,
Let’s just cut to the chase: The food was, shall we say, underwhelming. I’d be willing to bet the samosas came out of a package and were the reason for the microwave. The palak paneer, to me, looked and tasted like packaged paneer that had been tossed into thawed-out frozen spinach. As for the butter chicken, it was tender and spiced well, but was, well, just OK. What does it say when the rice was the best part of the meal? It was cooked perfectly.
and Drink-up and Get Happy has paid a return visit to Sangillo’s.
We certainly hope that the City of Portland and Sangillo’s can work out their difference to allow this staple for the locals to remain open, but things aren’t looking so good right now. Don’t miss your chance to experience a great Portland dive-bar before it’s too late.
The Forecaster reports that Taco Trio will be launching a new food trailer this summer.
Pena and Rasmussen will be preparing their authentic Mexican cuisine this summer in the mid-sized trailer, with their sights set on breaking into the blossoming food truck scene in Portland, and beyond.
Their first stop: the 41st annual Old Port Festival.
A new Portland food blog called Haddockquest has reviewed Three Buoys,
I have to say, I didn’t walk into 3 Buoys expecting to enjoy anything about the experience, yet the place nailed everything from start to finish. It’s far too early in the Haddockquest timeline to declare this the best fried haddock sandwich on the peninsula, but it sets a high bar right out of the gate.
and Tea Sensei has reviewed Dobra Tea.
I primarily drink green and oolong, and occasionally an Assam black tea. So this was very different and very delightful. Between the tea and décor, it felt I had escaped into a hidden tearoom in Morocco. Yet within its big menu, one will find high quality teas from Japan, China, India and many other premier tea growing regions.
Memorial Day — Family Feast, Tandem Coffee and Bunker Brewing are throwing a Indonesian themed Memorial Day Bash BBQ in East Bayside.
Wednesday — Central Provisions is holding a beer dinner, The Maine Brew Bus is leading a progressive beer dinner featuring Atlantic Brewing, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — Fishin’ Ships is scheduled to launch at Rising Tide, and the Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Uinta.
Friday — Blue Rooster is kicking off their summer guest chef series with a hotdog designed by Cara Stadler from Tao Yuan.
Saturday — Kate McCarty will be at Sherman’s to sign copies of her book Portland Food: The Culinary Capital of Maine, it’s the first day of Rum Riots, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.
Sunday — Po’Boys & Pickles are holding their 3rd Annual Parking Lot Crawfish Boil, and Hugo’s will be the featured restaurant at this month’s Flanagan’s Table dinner.
Also on Sunday — I’ll be leading a coffee house tour in collaboration with the folks from The Maine Brew Bus. We’ll be visiting: Speckled Ax, Bard Coffee, Tandem Coffee Roasters and Coffee by Design. Visit the Brew Bus site to sign-up.
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.
Two more opening have taken place over the Memorial Day weekend:
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published an article (part 2 of 2) about the history of the Portland Farmers’ Market.
Over the centuries, the market rose and fell, and rose again, along with the fortunes of the city. Over the market’s 246-year lifespan, it has moved at least half a dozen times, operated indoors and out, sometimes at multiple locations, and has almost been extinguished by industrial agriculture and the popularity of supermarkets.
You can read part 1 of this article online.
Old Port Spirits and Cigars (facebook) is opening today at 10 am at 79 Commercial Street in the space formerly occupied by Downeast Beverage.
Old Port Spirits is owned by Jacques deVillier who also runs Old Port Wine further down the street.
Chefs at Vinland and Hugo’s/Eventide are featured in this Wall Street Journal article about the New England local food movement,
Griddled until golden but still tender at the center, it arrived nestled up against crescents of delicata squash, in a pool of sage-scented melted goat cheese that evoked the world’s most rarified Welsh rarebit. A tousle of tiny arugula stems and sunshiny tatsoi blossoms topped it all off. The dish was simultaneously surprising and comforting. It tasted of place and possibility. And like everything else on the menu at Vinland, chef David Levi’s fledgling experiment in Down East cuisine, not one morsel of it had started life more than a few dozen miles from my mouth.