This Week’s Events: Vermouth 101, Makers Market, Twilight Dinner, Portland Brew Festival

| Posted in Events

Wednesday — the Old Port Wine Merchants is holding a Vermouth tasting to “demystify this timeless beverage”, the Makers Market is taking place at the Urban Farm Fermentory, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — Chris McClay from Modern Vegan Cooking School is the featured chef for the weekly Twilight Dinner at Turkey Hill Farm, and The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing beer from Shipyard Brewing.

Friday — it’s the start of the 3rd Annual Portland Brew Festival and there will be a wine tasting at Rosemont.

Saturday — the Portland Brew Festival continues, there will be another wine tasting at Rosemont, 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.

Review of The Porthole

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of The Porthole.

The Porthole has cleaned up its act, and it remains a fun downtown fixture for both locals and tourists. Drinking a cold beer on the patio and listening to live music is a great way to spend a sunny afternoon, but the dining experience can be uneven. Food is generally well-executed and tasty, but the more foodie-inclined menu, pricing and presentation feels incongruous with many aspects of the space. Manage expectations, and you’ll likely enjoy yourself.

How to Spend It: Eventide

| Posted in Reviews

How to Spend It, a website run by the Financial Times of London, has posted a review of Eventide.

Eventide – the transition between day and night – is an apt name for the bustling oyster bar in the Old Port of Portland, Maine, where I happily whiled away an evening sampling some of America’s finest oysters. At its central granite bar, shuckers’ labours make for great theatre and briny Winterpoint Selects are the house speciality. As oyster season is nigh, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Review of Otto Pizza

| Posted in Reviews

The 207 Foodie has published a review of Otto Pizza.

I have to commend Otto for great, if not awe inspiring, artisan pizza. There is a reason, ladies and gentleman, that Otto is known in all of Portland for being the BEST. Who else puts mashed potatoes on a pizza and makes it taste good?

Interview with Mike Keon & Anthony Allen & 2013 Honey Crop

| Posted in People

The Press Herald has published an interview with Mike Keon and Anthony Allen, owners of Otto Pizza.

Q: What’s next for Otto Pizza?
A: Allen: We like what we do now, but the idea of growing bigger probably means we’d be working for someone else, and we look at each other and say, “Why do we want to do that?” We added four locations last year, and this year we’re down to two and next year is going to be for retrenching and making sure every line on our notepad gets more attention and every product gets more scrutiny. It’s time to just fine-tune things.

Also in today’s paper are articles about the dismal 2013 Maine honey crop,

Bees and beekeepers have been struggling through one of the worst summers for honey production in Maine in recent memory.