Under Construction: Matt’s Wood Roasted, Rosemont, Otto Pizza

| Posted in Under Construction

Word surfaced today of several new businesses under construction:

  • Matt’s Wood Roasted Coffee is planning to open a coffee shop in Portland at 567 Congress Street
  • Rosemont Market is opening a new location at 9 Commercial Street. According to a report from the Press Herald, “The 1,500-square-foot, no-frills market will cater to Portland restaurants as well as the public, Naylor said. To help keep prices down, there will be no fancy displays or grocery bags. Customers must bring their own bags, just as they would at a farmers’ market.”
  • According to the Munjoy Hill News, Otto Pizza has opened a fourth location at the corner of Cumberland and Washington Ave to run their new delivery service.

 

Neighborhood Bars

| Posted in Reviews

The Bollard has published a survey of neighborhood bars.

Let’s start out at Mama’s Crowbar (189 Congress St.), a little hole in the wall about a block above Washington Ave. It’s a mother-and-daughter-run joint that specializes in American craft beers. Common tap selections include stouts and ales from the likes of Allagash, Dogfish Head, and Oxbow, the brewery in Newcastle established last year. You won’t find liquor at Mama’s, but you will find nearly three dozen bottled and canned beer options priced between $3 and $7. PBR is not among them, because Mama doesn’t approve of their high fructose corn syrup.

Immigrant Kitchens: Russian Ravioli

| Posted in Cooking

In the latest entry on Immigrant Kitchens Lindsay Sterling learns how to make Russian ravioli from Yulia Converse (read the recipe and see the photos).

My friend’s family only eats meat that he hunts: duck, venison, and moose. Because prime cuts on these animals are so few, ground meat is usually what the family has to work with. I guess I was feeling sorry for them. What’s for dinner? Chili. What’s for dinner? Sausage. What’s for dinner? Chili. What’s for dinner? Sausage. After my latest cooking lesson in an immigrant’s kitchen, I wanted to bust down that family’s door and rescue them, crying, “How about some Russian ravioli?”

Phone/Pad Food Apps

| Posted in General News

The Press Herald polled “local chefs, restaurateurs, food writers, food bloggers [including yours truly] and all sorts of people obsessed with food and dining” on their favorite food related apps and have published the results in today’s paper. As the author Meredith Goad points out, the responses “ranged from popular apps such as Urbanspoon and OpenTable to some that you’ve probably never heard of before.”

 

Review of Roma Pizza

| Posted in Reviews

From Away has published a review of Roma Pizza.

Owner Luca Pizzuti delivers perfectly on the fundamentals of the plain cheese slice, and then, because he can, expands the orbit of his pizza-making prowess to include more exotic toppings and ingredients that each dazzle and delight, all in a thickly-accented singsong that is enough to keep his customers smiling. It’s an honest-to-goodness slice bar, with plenty of piping hot, creative, carefully-made pizzas, ready at almost any time of day. Stop by without agenda, take a seat, and let Luca feed you with whatever is just out of the oven, and whatever he thinks is best. It’s an afternoon well-spent, and is Old Port pizza not to be missed.

3rd Annual Pie and Art Gala

| Posted in Events

A group calling itself the Portland Pie Council is planning an event on January 23rd to celebrate National Pie Day. The gala promises a fun line-up of activities:

  • Synchronized Interpretive Pie Dance
  • Pie Eating Contest (email portlandpiecouncil@gmail.com if you want to participate)
  • Charity Pie Art Auction
  • Pietry
  • Historic Pie Moments
  • Pie Theatre
  • A ranked-choice voted competition for both sweet and savory pies

The 3rd Annual Pie and Art Gala is scheduled to take place January 23, 5:30 until “everyone is too sated to continue” at the Mayo Street Art Center. Tickets are $3 per person and attendees are encouraged to bring pies of their own to enter into the competition.

Also as part of the Portland celebration of National Pie Day, Ned Swain at the prompting of the Portland Pie Council is offering to dress all day in a pie costume if the public is willing to make $500 in pledges for the Preble Street Resource Center.

This Week’s Events: Tequila Dinner, Allagash Dinner, Stout, Peaks Island Gastro Society, Chocolat, Beekeeping

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — Zapoteca is holding a 5-course tequila dinner.

Wednesday — there will be a wine tasting at RSVP and Grace is holding a 4-course Allagash beer dinner.

Thursday — there will be a wine tasting at the Public Market House, and it’s the first day of the Novare Res 12 Stouts After Christmas.

Friday — Dobra Tea is hosting a Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstration.

Saturday — the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Chocolat is on the schedule for movie night at Petite Jacqueline.

Beekeeping Classes
The Honey Exchange is offering a series of Beginner Beekeeping Classes this Spring. The first set of classes starts this week. Call (207) 773-9333 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.