Map & Menu has published a review of Empire Chinese Kitchen.
First up were the delicious peking duck buns (my personal favorite) and the har gow (one of a few of the gluten-free options on the menu). It’s a standard rule of thumb for me that pretty much anything served in a steamed bun will be awesome, and the savory peking duck didn’t disappoint – I’d highly recommend trying it…
Photo Credit: Map & Menu
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about the 2013 apple season and the paper’s annual guide to apple picking in Maine that dozens of varieties from Baldwin to Wolf River.
“Last year we not only had a freeze, but we had hail in June, so this year is 100 percent better than last year,” said Ellen McAdam of McDougal Orchards in Springvale. “But even if we had had a good crop last year, this year is looking beautiful. The size is great, the color is great, the apples taste really good. It’s a wonderful year.”
Friends Brian Ericson and Bo Bigelow have launched an audio food blog called Booze, Fish & Coffee. They plan to seek out and
tell tales of delicious things: the best and freshest seafood, the finest local brews (beer, coffee, and others), and the off-the-beaten-path bars, bakeries, restaurants and farmstands where the locals go.
For their first two sessions they’ve published reviews of Salvage BBQ and Blue Rooster Food Company. They’re both well worth the time (approx 20min per episode) to listen to.
Bar Lola, Fore Street and Hugo’s have all made it on to the 2013 OpenTable list of 100 top restaurants that are Fit for Foodies.
The top 100 were selected among 15,000 OpenTable customers in the US based on restaurant customer ratings during the past year.
“These restaurants put the wow factor in everything they serve,” says Caroline Potter, OpenTable Chief Dining Officer. “Through pure imagination and ingenuity, they’re taking culinary creativity to another level with delicious dishes that are as fun to eat as they are to share on social media.”
Chief Dining Officer…what a great job title.
Portland Portland Peter Eater has published a review of Elsmere BBQ,
Now it’s official – the Portland area has a new BBQ restaurant that is ready to serve your BBQ needs. Go now so they stay in business. I want to make sure this one is around for a while. They deserve to be and I can only imagine everything will continue to get even better as they hit their stride. After all, they just opened.
and The 207 Foodie has published a review of Empire Chinese Kitchen.
Empire is worth trying. If you A. Love Chinese food, B. Need dim sum in your life, C. want to try something new or are just curious, then Empire is for you. Having a dim sum restaurant in Portland, Maine just shows how great of a food city we live in, so take advantage of another new place to try!
A new restaurant called Oscar’s New American (facebook) is under construction in Yarmouth in the space formerly occupied by the Sea Grass Bistro. Chef/owner Nick Krunkkala was formerly the chef at Fog Bar and at Rock City Cafe in Rockland. According to Oscar’s Facebook page they hope to open this month, and are
…a farm to table concept focusing on local ingredients. We make everything in house from our bread to our ice cream. At Oscar’s we try and give the diner the most unique eating experience with our menu changing weekly.
Tuesday — Local Sprouts is hosting the monthly local foods networking breakfast, and the IfAA is kicking off their dinner series.
Wednesday — there will be a Pretty Things tasting at the Bier Cellar, the Makers Market is taking place at the Urban Farm Fermentory in the afternoon and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place in the morning.
Thursday — there will be a Malbec tasting at the Public Market House.
Friday — it’s the first day of the Common Ground Fair and BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe is holding a wine dinner.
Saturday — there will be a wine tasting at Browne Trading, it’s the 2nd day of the Common Ground Fair, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.
Sunday — Zapoteca is holding a tequila dinner, the 14th Annual Trail to Ale is taking place, it’s the last day of the Common Ground Fair.
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.
Otto Pizza is running a pizza box design contest. The student who provides the winning entry will see there design on Otto’s boxes throughout New England and their school will receive $1,000 donation to support art education.
Another pair of new restaurants have submitted liquor license applications to the City Council:
Piccolo (website, twitter) opened tonight at 111 Middle Street, the former home of Bresca. Piccolo is the creation of chef/owners Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez.
I went for dinner with some friends tonight and had a fine evening. If you stop by for dinner try out the melanzane or sarde appetizers, and the porcellino and pasta fatta entrees. You can see the current menu online on Piccolo’s website.