Interview with Joe Catoggio

| Posted in People

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Joe Catoggio, co-owner with his wife Diane of the Bayside American Cafe.

LO: Can you tell me a little bit about the menu?
JC: We inherited a brunch menu. As I said, he’d [Roger Bintliff] been winning “Best Brunch” quite often. We largely stayed with that same theme. We just tried to refine it a little bit, change it up about 15-20 percent every year … bring in some new items, lose some items. We’ve downsized the menu a bit so we could focus more on specials. The Louisiana Bayou Benedict (grilled andouille sausage, homemade corncakes, two poached eggs and spicy Cajun hollandaise sauce) was a special that we created for a benefit for Hurricane Katrina. It became a menu item directly after that because it was just so popular. It’s one of our biggest sellers. … We’re very well known for our corned beef hash. We created a special last summer, which was a cinnamon bun pancake, and that’s taken off unbelievably.

Reviews: The Honey Paw & Back Cove BBQ

| Posted in Reviews

The Press Herald has published a bar review of The Honey Paw,

John Myers, the Paw’s bar director, is deft at making unique craft cocktails that will quickly become your new favorite drink. Head to the Paw for imported, rare beers from Japan, Germany, Belgium and France. Local beers will be available, but the focus here is not on local beer. Expect a crowd every night, great service, superb food and drink.

and a review of Back Cove BBQ & Pizzeria.

The bulk of the menu, of course, is made up of sandwiches, wraps and pizzas, many of which feature meats that are barbecued on site, in a smoker in the parking lot. The sandwiches, wraps, burgers, dogs and assorted entrees start at $7.99, with add-ons like bacon or cheese costing extra. The restaurant recently started offering combo deals for $9.99 that includes fries or slaw and a free drink with the entree.

Review of Figgy’s

| Posted in Reviews

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Map & Menu have reviewed Figgy’s.

Sometimes in Maine, great fried chicken and biscuits can be a little hard to find. Palace Diner has its delicious-but-infrequent Fried Chicken Fridays, while Tandem Bakery has its amazing loaded biscuits for breakfast, but as a good southern boy at heart, every now and then I just find myself hankering for a few pieces of fried chicken and a homemade buttermilk biscuit. Thankfully, Figgy’s has stepped in to fill that void in my stomach, and boy do they do it with style.

Photo Credit: Map & Menu

Paul Trusiani, 81 (Updated)

| Posted in People

Paul Trusiani (article, obituary) passed away Saturday at the age of 81. Trusiani founded Paul’s Food Center on Congress Street in 1975.

In his early years, Trusiani worked for Hannaford Brothers Co. as a buyer, retail counselor and head of procurement. He went on to work as vice president and general manager of Martin’s Foods before deciding to establish his own company, Paul’s Food Center. He operated the business with his former wife, Annamarie Ross Trusiani. The partners have 12 to 15 full and part-time employees.

Their son, Jim Trusiani, said the family has no plans to sell or close the business.

“The family’s intent is to continue to run the store the way Dad did,” his son said.

Update: For additional information see this article from the Portland Phoenix.

Under Construction: Little Jamaica Food Truck

| Posted in Under Construction

littlejamaicaEater Maine spotted this Facebook post by Little Jamaica on a new food truck they have in development.

Little Jamaica is also adding a second food cart to their fleet which will be located in Old Orchard Beach. In addition to presumably serving food, the owner plans to use the truck as the “mother ship on the move keeping carts supplied”.

Growth of Maine Beer Industry

| Posted in Beer

The Bangor Daily News has published an article on the growth in the Maine beer industry.

New crowds are trekking to hidden places across the state, such as Bigelow Hill in Skowhegan, where chocolate chili stout is paired with wood-fired pizza, and to Marsh Island Brewing Co., which is located in an Orono auto repair shop where wheels are aligned and Downrigger IPA is brewed and bottled under the same roof.

Breweries in Maine are revving up so fast and furiously that Sean Sullivan, executive director of the Maine Brewers’ Guild, is having a hard time keeping up with marketing material.

Breakfast at the Blue Rooster

| Posted in Reviews

The Bollard has published a breakfast review of the Blue Rooster.

The Blue Rooster is an excellent example of Portland’s reasonably priced, yet top­shelf, eateries. With its menu of creative sandwiches that change seasonally, bacon­wrapped hot dogs and handmade tater tots, this tiny Old Port outpost has been my favorite local sandwich shop since it opened in 2013. Now that they’re also serving breakfast I can finally put that love into words and share it here in The Bollard.

Closing of Mama’s CrowBar (Updated)

| Posted in Closings

The new issue of The Bollard includes an article on the closing of Mama’s CrowBar.

It might be easy to let a bar in a city full of them close without much acknowledgement, shrugging and muttering something like, “Oh well, guess that’s how business goes these days.” But Mama’s was not just a bar. This place had a significant impact on its rapidly changing neighborhood, on the landscape of craft beer on the peninsula, and on the community that gathered around its taps. And the CrowBar isn’t simply going out of business. Its closure is the culmination of a long and tangled legal battle between Henley and the building’s owners — which is a particularly painful way for a well-loved establishment to meet its demise.

Today is Mama’s official last day in business.

Update: the Press Herald published an article on Tuesday about Mama’s CrowBar.