The Golden Dish has published a review of Hugo’s.
As a main course I had local hake with pickled fennel and red pepper. Accompanying the fish was an incredible rendition of brandade: the filling enclosed in a beautifully wrought breaded coating. The fish was perfectly cooked and it made me a fan of hake forever.
Wednesday — 6 restaurants are participating in the Infusathon, the Urban Farm Fermentory is teaching a kimchi workshop, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — the Great Lost Bear is showcasing brews from Redhook and Widmer Brothers.
Saturday — the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place, and Whole Foods is holding a VeganFest with store-wide sampling of vegan foods and a cookout to benefit Cultivating Community.
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.
Foley’s Bakery is scheduled to open Monday morning. Ed and Molly Foley who founded Foley’s and operated it for 5 years (1997-2002) are reopening the bakery in Monument Square.
The Phantom Gourmet has published a review of Silly’s.
Located in Portland Maine, Silly’s is as wacky as it is tasty. Owner Colleen Kelley has decorated the restaurant with crazy lights, fun toys, interactive games, and hundreds of photos.
The menus are kept in lunchboxes. The water is served in wine bottles. The beer is poured into old fashioned tin cups. And when it comes to the food, anything goes.
15 Exchange Grille received 2 stars from today’s review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.
The raw space is attractive, and this location is a high-traffic one. But Portland is a community of high standards of cuisine, and Mainers want their dine-out dollars to be well spent.
Simply put, the food here needs to improve in many respects. Management would do well to get professional advice on how to entice off-season locals as well as summer tourists to this enviable location in the Old Port.
The Golden Dish has published a review of the new Sebago Brewing location on Fore Street.
Yet it also offers Portland diners a much needed option: a casual dining spot with decent, moderately price food in a space that is modern, light and uplifting. None of this changes the fact, however, that the chain’s standard menu items that rely on phrases like “piled high” and “heaping” which are very accurate descriptions indeed.
John Golden’s food blog also recently posted a profile of Gingko Blue.
Portland Town has published two sets of photos from the Italian Life Expo. Today is the last day of the expo, check www.italianlifeexpo.com for a schedule of activities and to buy tickets.
According to a report from the Portland Daily Sun, the Cactus Club has been sold to David Cram, owner of the Spring Point Tavern.
Cram said he has already hired a well-known local chef to run the new restaurant, which will serve “American gourmet” style food. On weekends, he’s hoping to have blues and jazz musicians perform.
“It’s something Portland needs,” Cram said of the new restaurant, “and it’s a step up from what I own now at the Spring Point Tavern.”
The Bollard has published a review of brunch at District,
My friend’s spinach-and-cheddar omelette ($8) was also outstanding. She particularly appreciated the top-shelf sharp cheddar and the nutty, delicate wheat toast baked on premises. Her side order of bacon ($3) was cooked just right — thick and meaty, yet still somehow light and crispy.
Gogi received 3 stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald,
Despite our criticisms, we recommend you give Gogi a try. They are trying to do something different, and it’s worth checking out. Would I eat there regularly? Probably not; at least not without some tweaking of the tacos. But I would go back for a late-night, early-morning meal.
From Away has written up Amato’s Spaghetti Calzone,
It was a celebration of contrasting texture; each bite of spaghetti was wrapped with warm, buttery, lightly crisped pizza dough. Any spaghetti that fell off my fork could be mopped up with the corner part of the remaining crust. Finally, I was able to pick the whole thing up, dip my spaghetti calzone into the included plastic container of additional sweet marinara sauce, and smile…
and the Phantom Gourmet has published a review of Grace which received an overall score of 87.
Next, bone-in tenderloin was simply divine, a succulent hunk of beef served with sinfully creamy potato gratin and fried greens beans, doused with silky red wine sauce. Praise be to cod…the pan-roasted cod, that is—paired with baby artichokes, briny clams, olives, and tender fingerlings.
Today’s Press Herald includes an article about the Infusathon, a fund raiser/bartender competition taking place next week,
How about a cold-smoked corn and horseradish cocktail? Or a Cajun-seasoned grilled okra infusion?
You can taste these creations and more Wednesday at a bar-hopping benefit in Portland that’s being called an “Infusathon.” Bartenders from more than a half-dozen restaurants are being asked to come up with a specialty cocktail infusion that will be paired with a bite from the restaurant’s chef.
Tickets are available online, $15 per person.