Original Portland is reporting that the Oak Street burrito shop Herb’s Gully “is gone for good.”
Lucky Catch
The new issue of The Maine Switch includes a profile of Lucky Catch Lobster. Lucky Catch provides tourist with the opportunity to try out lobstering in Casco Bay.
That’s the way it works at Lucky Catch Cruises on Long Wharf in Portland. Make a reservation for the lobster boat tour and you’ll have the opportunity to pull lobster traps with the captain, complete with handling bait, measuring the catch, banding the claws and then taking your prize pounders with you when you leave.
My niece and nephew recently visited for the weekend, and when we took them aboard a Lucky Catch cruise with Captain Dave Laliberte and First Mate Brian Rapp it didn’t take long for expressions of awe to take over their faces. At one point we heard: “This is the best thing I’ve done in my whole life” from the soon-to-be 9-year-old.
Papaya King Review
Papaya King has received 3 stars from the Eat & Run column in today’s Press Herald.
The Portland Papaya King serves something called the “Sausage of Mass Destruction,” which is a thick sausage topped with chili, sauerkraut, peppers and cheese for $4.75. I was expecting it to be uncomfortably spicy because of the in-your-face name but found the seasoning just right. You can order this without worry that you’ll have to call the fire department.
The best thing about Papaya King is that it’s open well past midnight, providing a late-night option for hungry Old Port denizens and for folks like me who sometimes find themselves in those weird circumstances where you’re out really late and want a bite to eat.
Sherman's Travel on Portland
The latest issue of Sherman’s Travel magazine profiles Portland calling it “a gutsy little city baits visitors with a second wave of pioneering chefs and a clutch of cool designers”. Fore Street, Hugo’s and Five Fifty-Five are all mentioned. The article also draws attention to what it calls “a second, equally compelling wave of smaller, less-polished restaurants” Caiola’s, Paciarino, Bresca and Evangeline.
Maine Lobster Shacks
Travel’s with Hilary has put together her list of her favorite lobster shacks in the state.
When I eat lobster, I take no prisoners. All that’s identifiable in the carnage left behind are the eyes, antennae, swimmeretes (those feathery appendages on the underside of the body), and dismembered carcass. Finished, I’m literally dripping in lobster juice and goo.
The only place for such a messy operation is a classic lobster shack, a sometimes rough-and-tumble operation that’s usually within sight and scent of the ocean.
Fit to Eat Update
Portland in a Snap has published an update on Fit to Eat. The Old Port eatery was recently bought by Mike Mastronardi who resume includes stints at Five Fifty-Five and the Haraseeket Inn.
“Five Fifty-Five really taught me how to cook,” Mike says of the fine dining restaurant, where he still works Sunday brunch.
Recently he was offered the opportunity to take over the reigns at Fit to Eat, and he jumped at it. He re-opened the shop two weeks ago with a pared down menu and scratch made breads.
Vegetarian Food Festival
Mitten Machen has published an illustrated report on last weekend’s Vegetarian Food Festival.
In the last few months, Portland’s growing appetite for vegan cuisine has made way for a raw vegan restaurant and two dairy-free bakeries. Representatives from the recently-opened GRO Cafe were mobbed by people scarfing down their handmade coconut-filled and chili-laced raw chocolates. Further down the rows of tables, I tried some cornbread and a brownie made by K’s Vegan Treats, a bakery offering whole grain, sugar-free quickbreads, brownies, cookies, and cakes that will open later this summer in the Public Market House.
Jacques de Villier, Farms and Lobster
There’s a really nice profile in today’s Press Herald on Jacques de Villier the owner of Old Port Wine Merchants.
Tell Jacques de Villier what kind of wine you like, what you’re going to drink it with and how much you want to pay, and he’ll give you what you really want.
He’ll probably throw in a good yarn, too, because a love of stories is the other thing de Villier is known for among his regular customers. Some of his ostensibly true tales are a bit hard to believe – was this unpretentious, garrulous wine merchant really in military intelligence? – and he seems to get that. When he senses skepticism about the claim that he graduated from The Citadel, the famous military school in South Carolina, for example, de Villier pulls up a photo of himself in uniform on the computer.
Also in today’s paper is a timely reminder that this Sunday is Maine’s Open Farm Day–think Maple Sugar Sunday but with animals and orchards instead of syrup. There are 100+ participating farms across the state and 11 are here in Cumberland County.
There is also a Bill Nemitz column on the proposed lobster boat tie-up and the price of lobster, as well as a front page story on the recent shooting incident involving a pair of lobstermen.
The shooting appears to be the most extreme example of growing tensions all along the coast as Maine lobstermen and their families face historic financial pressures related to the global recession and a drop in demand. Some lobstermen are trying to organize a mass work stoppage to force prices higher.
North Star Review
Portland Food Heads has published a review of lunch at North Star Music Cafe.
As I said, don’t come to the North Star Cafe looking for a life-changing culinary epiphany. But if you’re in the area and are looking for a relaxing place to chill with a cup of coffee and sandwich, don’t hesitate to give it a try.
Lobstermen May Organize a Tie-Up
According to an article in today’s Press Herald Maine lobstermen are “talking about a possible work stoppage to start as soon as next week.”
Frustrated with prices that continue to sink because of weak demand, lobstermen said they might stay on shore temporarily in an effort to reduce supplies and make their catches more valuable.
Lobstermen have threatened such shutdowns, known as tie-ups, in the past, and some have organized small-scale tie-ups in recent years to protest low prices or reduce excess supplies. But the fishermen also are notoriously independent, and there has not been a large-scale tie-up in decades.