Ice Cream/Gelato Shops

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has published a survey of some of the local gelato and ice cream shops and crowned Catbird Creamery in Westbrook as the best.

Catbird Creamery:  This Westbrook storefront makes the best ice cream of them all.  The texture is the creamiest and richest with such unique flavors as salted chocolate, brown-sugar vanilla, strawberry balsamic and basil green tea.  They serve the ice cream at the shop in handmade cones, in sundaes or by the dish, and they also have a terrific ice-cream sandwich

East Bayside Zoning: Maker’s Market, Community Kitchen, Events

| Posted in General News

Rising Tide and Urban Farm Farmentory have a proposal in to the city to modify the rules for East Bayside to make new types of business activities and events possible in the neighborhood, according to an article in today’s Press Herald.

Now, two local businesses are spearheading an effort to loosen restrictions in the industrial zone so they can host special events, farmers markets, craft markets, artist studios and a community kitchen for food truck operators.

The goal of the changes is to give small-scale producers setting up shop in East Bayside an outlet to connect directly to consumers, said Eli Cayer, owner of the Urban Farm Fermentory, who has been helping to draft the changes.

For more information about the porposal, read this memo from the City’s Planning Department.

This Week’s Events: Spring Cocktails, Allagash Wild, Devenish Natural, Crawfish Boil

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — Bar Lola is holding a 3-course cocktail tasting event.

Wednesday — Old Port Wine Merchants is holding an Austrian wine tasting, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — there will be a beer and cheese tasting at the Public Market House and The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing beers from Brooklyn Brewing.

Saturday — Allagash is releasing some rare coolchip beers for sale, Rosemont and Devenish are hosting a natural wine event, there will be a wine tasting at Browne Trading, the Deering Oaks Farmers Market of 2013 is taking place, Mainely Burgers will be at Rising Tide as part of the brewery’s weekly food truck series.

Sunday — the 2nd Annual Crawfish Boil is taking place at Po’Boys & Pickles and Petite Jacqueline is screening Everyone Says I Love You.

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.

Under Construction: King’s Head

| Posted in Under Construction

As part of a larger article on waterfront real estate, the Press Herald reports that Kings Head LLC has leased a ground floor space in the Pierce Atwood building where it plans to open a gastro-pub.

CBRE-The Boulos Co. announced this week that King’s Head LLC has a lease for a 2,250-square-foot gastro-pub serving high-quality beer and food. King’s Head currently operate pubs in Stowe, Vt., and Athens, Ga., and plans to open its Portland restaurant in September, according to CBRE.

When contacted Wednesday, Justin O’Connor, a partner in King’s Head, said that, for marketing purposes, he is not granting interviews until the pub is ready to open.

Reviews of Hot Suppa & David’s 388

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has published a review of David’s 388,

What I didn’t expect to find was such incredible food managed by a service staff that makes you feel like you’re part of its larger family. That and the daring duo of chefs in the kitchen  makes this place  formidable.

and Lauren Loves to Eat has published a review of Hot Suppa.

Corned Beef Hash, $10.95; +$1.50 for Hashbrown (or grits): The corned beef hash is made in house with shredded corned beef, carrot, potato, and onions. It’s definitely very different from anywhere I’ve ever ordered this. The combination of textures was great, with more crisp pieces, as well as soft and tender parts. Dry and bland, the hashbrown was disappointing.

Rising Tide’s Food Truck Series

| Posted in Events

The Beer Babe has published an article about Rising Tide’s Saturday food truck series.

Until recently, however, Maine has not been able to enjoy the creative and funky foods from mobile vehicles. But recent rule changes have allowed a small fleet of trucks to start spreading out throughout the city, albeit to limited locations and times. As exciting as that is, it takes a few more partnerships before the “food truck culture” will sweep Portland. And this weekend, I think I witnessed a perfect union between two community-focused businesses – breweries and food trucks – as executed by Rising Tide Brewing in East Bayside.

Review of Buck’s Naked

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Buck’s Naked BBQ.

The actual barbecue, on the other hand, seems beyond reproach. The pork ribs in particular were spot-on, with a great char, rich flavor, and just-right tender, fatty moistness. The pulled pork had the right texture, but lacked the same depth of pork flavor, and here we used some of the sauce to good effect. The best of these was a vinegary-peppery version with a black stripe on the red bottle. The beef brisket had a deep rich flavor and was expertly cooked just past any hint of stringiness. The house sausage was more sweet than spicy, with a pleasant smokiness. The chicken was the only disappointment — just a touch dry, with the spice rub stopped cold by the skin. A side of cheesy (and peppery) grits was terrific when piping hot, but the texture went south with cooling.

First Portland Dishcrawl

| Posted in Profiles

Meredith Goad has written about her experience on the inaugural run of Dishcrawl Portland.

Out came the food, a trio of bites designed to give the Dishcrawlers an idea of what’s on the regular menu. There was (from lower left, clockwise) a wild mushroom, goat cheese and truffle oil tartine on crostini; a lamb crepe with curry, cilantro, red wine sauce and vegetables; and a “crepe cake” made with layers of crepes, crab meat, egg, tomato, smoked salmon and shrimp.

Dishcrawl Portland has published a set of 71 photos from Tuesday’s event. The next Dishcrawl is scheduled to take place June 11.

A Tank Away visits East Bayside

| Posted in Profiles

The Boston Globe Tank Away column recently paid a visit to East Bayside. Three Buoys, Silly’s, Tandem Coffee, Rising Tide, Bunker, Maine Beer Tours, Bayside Bowl and Urban Farm Fermentory are all mentioned in the article.

Pulling into Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood, you first notice the earthy aroma of roasted arabica beans mingling with hearty hops. Far from the salty air of the bustling Old Port, this former trucker alley is attracting a new kind of tourist — coffee pilgrims and those seeking craft beer and community…There are no signs to indicate that you’ve arrived in this newly minted enclave, but as Portland becomes known for handcrafted everything, far-flung areas like East Bayside won’t be kept under wraps for long.