The November issue of The Bollard included a bar review of the East Ender.
If you haven’t visited the East Ender yet, I urge you to check it out. Get there while you can still get a table.
Under Construction: Lamplighters Tavern
Lamplighters Tavern is the newest entry on the Under Construction list. Owner Henry Steinberg plans on opening a “coffee, tea, beer, dessert and snack shop” at 21 Pleasant Street. Many years ago 21 Pleasant was the location of Jim Ledue’s restaurant Alberta’s.
Thanksgiving Wine Advice
Looking for advice on selecting the perfect wine(s) for your Thanks giving dinner?
Then you’re in luck. Four different websites have posted their thoughts on makes for a good wine for next week’s holiday:
- Mister Meatball has a set of wine and beer selections provided by sommelier Scott Tyree and home brewer T.H. Strenk.
- Wines; Tasted! has posted his take on how to select a good wine for Thanksgiving.
- Wine Wise has also weighed in with advice on what characteristics make for a good Thanksgiving wine.
- The Appel on Wine column in the Press Herald has assembled Thanksgiving wine recommendations from Maine wine retailers.
For more advice on preparing your Thanksgiving dinner or escaping the kitchen and eating at out on the turkey day check out the PFM 2011 Thanksgiving Resource Guide.
Reviews of Ohno Cafe and Plush West End
Today’s Press Herald includes a review of the Ohno Cafe (4 stars),
It may have taken me a while to find my way to Cafe Ohno, but they had me at hello and at first bite.
and a bar review of Plush West End.
At the suggestion of Sean Steinmark, our bartender for the evening, I tried one of Plush West End’s most popular drinks, the Stargazer cocktail ($9). The drink blends citron and mandarin vodkas with white cranberry juice and something called luster dust, topped with a beautiful purple orchid. Not usually a fruity-drink imbiber myself, I could easily have drunk two or three of these. They were that delicious.
Immigrant Kitchens: Vietnamese Beef Stew
In the latest entry on Immigrant Kitchens Lindsay Sterling learns how to make Vietnamese Beef Stew from Quang and Minh Nguyen (read the recipe and see the photos).
I learned this stew from two brothers from Cam Ranh, Vietnam. Their names are Quang and Minh Nguyen. The soup’s name is Bo Kho, but they pronounce it Ba Kah. Their mother used to stay up until midnight making it so she could sell in the morning in front of their house. People in Vietnam eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, at parties and everyday. After a couple months of eating Kix, Grape Nuts, and Special K, the brothers called their mom in desperation and had her tell them over the phone how to make the soup.
Best Culinary Bookstore
Bon Appetit has recognized Rabelais as one of the 7 Best Culinary Bookstores in America.
Husband-and-wife owners Don and Samantha Lindgren preside over this bookstore-cum-foodie hub, where the shelves are stocked with cookbooks old and new, rare and commonplace. Here, you’ll find The Kitchen Directory and American Housewife (c. 1841) alongside the just-published Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook.
The Honey Exchange
This week’s Food & Dining section in the Press Herald features an interview with Phil and Meghan Gaven, owners of The Honey Exchange on Stevens Ave.
“This is a spring honey from a hive in Ferry Village, and this is the fall honey from that same hive,” Meghan Gaven said. “So the same bees in the same place, just different times of year, made these two different colors and flavors of honey.”
A recent selection at the tasting bar included a honey made by a police officer/beekeeper in Wells and a basswood honey from Pennsylvania that is “everything I like about honey but with the volume turned way up,” Phil Gaven said. “It’s real crystalline and brilliant.”
Maine Culinary Podcast: The Porthole & Shipyard Brewing
For the third and final podcast in their series on Maine Beer Week, the Maine Culinary Podcast has posted an interview with chef Paul Dyer from the Porthole and Jay Silevinac, the brewhouse manager at Shipyard.
Farmers Market: Raw Milk & Hard Cider Sales
According to reports from the Press Herald and Portland Daily Sun, the Recreation and Health Subcommittee has endorsed a change that allow the sale of raw milk and hard cider at the Portland Farmers Market. The issue now must be approved by the City Council to take effect.
Raw milk and certain locally-sourced alcoholic beverages could soon be found at the Portland Farmer’s Market alongside local beets, honey and other produce.
The city council’s Health and Recreation Committee yesterday endorsed a proposal to allow fermented beverages such as beer, mead and hard cider to be sold at the twice-weekly farmer’s markets as long as they meet existing standards.
The committee also endorsed a separate measure allowing unpasteurized milk to be sold there.
Review of Fore Street
The Golden Dish has published a review of Fore Street.
With some of the best wait staff in town and a stellar kitchen staff, Fore Street is still one of Portland’s most admired restaurants with an iconic joi de vivre that makes dining here an event.