Deering Oaks Cafe

| Posted in Under Construction

The Press Herald reports that the small “castle” in Deering Oaks may be bid out as restaurant space.

“Our goal is something that is really user-friendly (for) a wide demographic, and all-American (so) everyone can relate to it,” [Cheryl] Lewis said. “We originally thought about crepes, but in the end, it’s really got to be something everyone is familiar with.”

Though the space is small, Lewis is excited about the potential for both indoor and outdoor seating, including a beer garden that would have a couple tap beers and wine, as well as nonalcoholic beverages such as root beer and smoothies.

Under Construction: The Point

| Posted in Under Construction

Jason Loring, co-owner of Slab and Nosh along with Mike Fraser from Bramhall and Nat Towl are launch The Point, a new clam shack on Thompson’s Point, according to a report from the Press Herald.

The restaurant, which will be called The Point, will serve all the fried foods traditionally found at clam shacks, including fried clams, fried oysters and fried scallops, as well as steamers and lobster dinners. Loring said he would serve Rhode Island calamari when it is in season, and three or four versions of lobster rolls, including a tempura-fried lobster roll served with a corn chowder.

Loring & Co plan to open this July with all outdoor seating and kitchen facilities in 2 shipping containers.

Cellardoor Winery has plans to open a tasting room on Thompson’s Point in 2016. See the PFM Under Construction page for a full list of local food businesses in development.

 

This Week’s Events: Mothers & Thieves, Edible Book Contest, Winter Market, Vinland Seder

| Posted in Events

mothersandthievesMonday — there will be a wine tasting at Flock & Vine.

Tuesday — as part of their new pop-up series, Vinland is hosting chefs Ryan Quigley and Tavis Potter for a Mothers & Thieves 7-course dinner.

Wednesday — Black Tie is teaching a cooking class.

Thursday — The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing beer from Liquid Riot, and Sur Lie is holding a wine tasting event.

Friday — the Edible Book Contest entries will be on display at the Public Library and there will be wine tastings at the West End Deli and at Rosemont on Brighton.

Saturday —the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday — Vinland is serving a Passover Seder.

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.

Restaurant Inspection & Food Safety

| Posted in General News

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published an update on the city’s restaurant inspection program,

The paper revealed that many restaurants hadn’t been inspected for years and that, when the city hired its first health inspector in 2011, 19 out of the first 23 restaurants inspected failed – a failure rate of 82.6 percent. Since then, the failure rate has steadily improved. It was 45.5 percent in 2012 (40 out of 88 restaurants), 10.5 percent in 2013 (33 of 314) and just 6.4 percent in 2014 (31 of 482).

and an article on the crack-down on Portland chef’s use of cooking methods such as sous vide.

In recent months, hundreds of pounds of meat have been embargoed by health officials and are waiting in cold storage until restaurants can prove the food is safe. Several restaurants have been ordered to stop vacuum-sealing their meats, cooking sous vide dishes and offering some types of house-cured meats until they develop special hazard plans and in some cases get formal variances from the Maine Food Code.

Review of the Miss Portland Diner

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed the Miss Portland Diner.

The Miss Portland Diner serves all you’d expect at a classic hash house, from scrambled eggs and pancakes to sandwiches and burgers. Ask for a booth in the restored 1949 lunch wagon, and try a traditional Reuben. Stacked with sliced corned beef, sauerkraut, melted Swiss and Thousand Island dressing, it’s a paean to all things deli. Burgers here are good, but sides are even better: ultra-bright and crispy coleslaw, thick-cut potato chips and sweet potato fries with a welcome snap. Definitely try dessert from one of the countertop cake stands. A single slice of homemade whoopie pie cake (a riff on Maine’s official state treat) is weighty and rich, with frosting enough for four.

Review of DiMillo’s

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has reviewed DiMillo’s.

The entrée menu is hardly ground-breaking, and all one can hope for is for it to be wholesome and tasty. Of the two local haddock dishes, I chose the more complicated one instead of the simpler broiled haddock with bread crumbs. I figured, try the more complex version.  So out came a giant piece of haddock stuffed with butternut squash and cornbread covered in a maple-cream sauce. It was so sweet it could have doubled as dessert. The baked potato was served without butter, and the little tub of sour cream with chopped scallions helped to moisten the dry flesh. With it were the predictable spears of broccoli, slightly overdone.

Best Brews: 21 Breweries, 101 Beers, Beer Madness

| Posted in Beer

Boston magazine has published their list of the 21 best breweries in New England. It includes Banded Horn(17), Marshall Wharf(16), Oxbow(6), Maine Beer Company(5) and Allagash(2).

Men’s Journal has posted their list of the 101 best beers in America which includes Bissell Brothers Substance and Allagash Interlude. Portland’s own Greg Norton, owner of the Bier Cellar helped assemble the list.

Finally, Maine Today has kicked off their Maine Beer Madness bracket survey.