Allagash Bottle Releases

| Posted in Events, Beer

Allagash is holding a double bottle release on Saturday:

  • Coolship la Vigne, a spontaneously fermented beer made with with freshly pressed St. Croix and Sabrevois grapes from Maine Coast Vineyards in Falmouth, Maine. Allagash describes the beer as ” tart and funky with rounded notes of wine and apricot. The finish is both crisp and dry”.
  • Saison Gratis, “a tart and fruit-forward beer that’s hopped in our coolship and then open fermented”.

There’s a single bottle limit for the La Vigne and a 2 bottle limit for the Saison Gratis. Doors open at 10:30.

Best BBQ: Noble

| Posted in Reviews

Food & Wine has included Noble Barbecue in their list of the Best BBQ in Every State.

There’s an infectious enthusiasm twin brothers Ryan and Richard Carey bring to the table at Portland’s Noble Barbecue, but people aren’t showing up at this one-time taco shop for the good vibes alone—that’s just a happy add-on to a menu of some of the best smoked meat this town has most likely ever seen.

Maine Med Buys Pizza Villa Building

| Posted in General News

The Press Herald reports that Maine Med is

buying the building that houses Pizza Villa, a neighborhood institution in Portland’s West End for more than 50 years, as part of its $512 million expansion. The hospital said it has no immediate plans to change the property and will work with longtime owners Tony and Phil Regios, who are planning to retire, to find a new operator.

Best New Restaurants in America: Elda

| Posted in Reviews

Bill Addison, Eater‘s national roving restaurant critic, has included Elda in his list of the 18 Best New Restaurants in America,

Biddeford has one of the country’s most lovable diners, one of the nation’s great food-focused bookstores, and now it has Elda. Chef-owner Bowman Brown uprooted himself from his award-winning restaurant, Salt Lake City’s Forage, to return to New England, where he began his career. His approach is a paradigm of current modern American cooking: a short menu revealing Brown’s restless creativity; an exquisite sense of place with seafood and vegetables; and a style that doesn’t land on any one cuisine but shows off all kinds of imagination and chops.

3 Brewery Expansion for Freeport

| Posted in Under Construction, Beer

Three new breweries on Route 1 near Maine Beer Company are in various stages of development.

Brad Nadeau who started developing Stars and Stripes Brewing Co. (website, facebook, instagram) late last year has leased space in Freeport at 8 Varney Road where he plans to open a 2,000 sq ft brewery later this Fall. For more info check out this article in The Forecaster.

Mast Landing (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) is working on a project to build a 6,000 sq ft brewery at 475-491 US Route 1. The new space will include a 2,000 sq ft deck. You may remember, Mast Landing’s owners originally planned to open in Freeport before finding their current building in Westbrook, so this is a homecoming of sorts for the brewery.

A third brewery is being considered for a 15,300 sq ft lot at 392 US Route 1. Details are scarce at this point, but plans do call for a 2-story brewery to built on the site.

Stars and Stripes, Mast Landing and the proposed 3rd brewery will all be located near Maine Beer Company, potentially creating a new beer destination in the Portland area.

Parlor Ice Cream

| Posted in People

Cherry Bombe has published a Q&A with Parlor Ice Cream founder Jacqueline Dole.

Any industry mentor or person who inspires you?
Jeni Britton Bauer. At Cherry Bombe’s Jubilee in 2014, she said four words that I reflect on almost every day: “I just did it.” Life is too short to continuously ask permission from others—it’s up to you to learn what you need to do and how you need to make it happen. No one will do the work for you, so it’s up to you to learn how to overcome all the obstacles that a path to your passion will hold. Everything from day-to-day to damage control, Jeni handles with grace and gusto.

Two Lights Plural

| Posted in Under Construction

Hugo’s alum and Old Orchard Beach native son Chase Lovecky will be launching a new restaurant in London called Two Lights (instagram). In addition to Hugo’s Lovecky has worked at Jean George and for David Chang before moving to England and becoming part of the team, and eventually leading the kitchen, at The Clover Club.

Coincidentally, another former member of the Portland restaurant community, Chris Gatchell, moved to Chicago late last year where he helped open a restaurant also called Two Lights (instagram) earlier this summer.

The Hungry Collective

| Posted in Events

A group of food trucks and carts calling themselves the Hungry Collective are organizing a set of mobile food events throughout the rest of the year. On the schedule already are:

  • July 29 at Rising Tide Brewing
  • August 26 at 219 Anderson Street in Portland
  • September 9 at Bunker Brewing
  • October 14 at 1 Industrial Way in Portland

Participating in the Hungry Collective are: Thainy Boda, Falafel Mafia, Little Bee ICe Cream, Eighty-Eight Donuts, Mami and Tacos del Seoul.

This Week’s’ Events: Pop Up Picnic, Gross Confection Bar, Honey Paw x Palace, Hungry Collective, Dine OUT for Equality

| Posted in Events

Monday – Wayside Food Programs and Cultivating Community are holding the next Pop Up Picnic at Payson Park Community Garden.

Tuesday – Gross Confection Bar is holding a pop-up.

Wednesday – Gross Confection Bar is holding a pop-up, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Friday – The Honey Paw will be holding a pop-up dinner in Biddeford in collaboration with Palace Diner, and there will be a wine tasting at the Rosemont on Brighton Ave.

Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – The Hungry Collective (Thainy Boda, Falafel Mafia, Little Bee ICe Cream, Eighty-Eight Donuts, Mami and Tacos del Seoul) is holding an event at Rising Tide Brewing.

2nd Annual Dine OUT for Equality – the event is scheduled to take place on August 22nd. Restaurants that want to participate and support the EqualityMaine Foundation can learn more on their site.

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.

Independent Ice Co. Open

| Posted in Openings

The Independent Ice Company (website, facebook, instagram) opened Saturday night serving a list of house cocktails, whiskey flights and with an extensive bottle list of whiskeys, bourbons, scotches, and ryes.

Independent Ice is located at 52 Wharf Street and will be open Sunday at 4pm. They’ll be closed Monday and will reopen Tuesday when they hope to have their kitchen up and full food menu available