El Rayo had a friends and family preview dinner Friday night at their beautiful new restaurant in Scarborough. They plan on opening to the public on Sunday.
7 Portland Dining Needs
Social Social has posted a list of “7 dining options Portland seriously needs“.
Below, you’ll find the chasms in the Portland food scene that, if filled, would go a long way to solidifying Portland’s national reputation as the dark horse food mecca of America.
But just before we begin, if you’re wondering why this post is here in the social section, I can explain. I want to harness the very power of the Internet (AKA social media) to help make Portland a foodier paradise. Hopefully this little list will get the discussion going, leading to some real, tangible and delicious changes here in Portland, Maine.
The list is assembled for Social Social by guest blogger, Bret Willis, the author of Drunch.it.
Maine Farmland Trust Journal
The Maine Farmland Trust has launched a new quarterly publication.
Through Maine Farms, we aim to convey some of what’s happening here, both on the farm and off. Maine is a national leader in the “local foods” movement that is revitalizing farms and communities. Today, farming in Maine is growing and is poised for further growth. It’s a time of experimentation, change, and promise.
Review of Dancing Elephant & News from Empire
The Golden Dish has reviewed Dancing Elephant in Westbrook.
But here’s the good news: The food is actually pretty good and probably the best example of Indian cooking in Greater Portland.
The review also reports a bit of unrelated news about Empire.
Empire Chinese, known for its dumplings and Cantonese stir fry, has announced the hiring of a new stir-fry master, Wei Sook, who hails from the world-class kitchens of Hakkasan MGM Grand in Las Vegas…New stir-fry dishes will be introduced in the coming weeks at Empire Chinese. This is truly exciting to have such a master Chinese chef cooking in Portland.
Maine Seaweed Festival
The inaugural Maine Seaweed Festival (website, facebook, twitter, instagram) is scheduled to take place later this summer at SMCC on August 30, 2014.
Maine seaweeds are poised to play a major role in the growth and sustainability of our local economy and global health. The Maine Seaweed Festival will highlight the diverse uses and benefits of seaweed, while celebrating all of the dedicated harvesters, farmers, fishermen and processors that continue to invest their efforts in creating a viable and vibrant seaweed industry, here in Maine.
The Festival will include a seaweed focused dinner. “Dishes served will all revolve around sustainability and restorative practices of the sea and focus heavily on locally sourced varieties of Maine seaweeds”
Vignola/Cinque Terre
Eat Maine has published an article about Vignola/Cinque Terre.
This fall will mark Skawinski’s twentieth journey to Italy to visit Vignola’s purveyors. On each visit, he is accompanied by a small contingent of his cooks and servers. Skawinski started the trip to show his staff a good time, but also so they could be armed with knowledge of the region and could maintain relationships with the family-run operations they work with year round. Maintaining a strong connection to regional origins is a very important element of Italian cookery.
Anapurna’s Thali Food Cart & the Thai Culinary Studio
Today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Anapurna’s Thali, a vegetarian food cart in East Bayside.
At the new Annapurna’s Thali vegetarian food cart in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood, the flavors have roots in the Himalayas.
Owner Gloria Pearse spent part of last summer on a vegetarian farm in Kotabagh, India. The farm sits in the foothills of the famous mountain range near the border with China and Nepal. While there, Pearse, a long-time vegetarian, was able to learn traditional vegetarian recipes from the cook.
Today’s paper also has an article about the Thai Culinary Arts Studio in Yarmouth.
Limanon, a native of Bangkok, is an environmental lawyer embarking on a new path in life, one in which she will teach traditional Thai cooking to Mainers. She’s calling her new business the Thai Culinary Arts Studio. In addition to regular cooking classes, Limanon plans to offer group dinner party classes and, eventually, culinary travel to Asia.
Del Ducato/Oxbow Beer Dinner
Piccolo will be holding a beer dinner on July 21st in collaboration with Oxbow and Italian brewer Birrificio Del Ducato. The 6-course dinner will feature beers from both brewers including a set of limited releases from Oxbow.
Del Ducato’s brewer, Giovanni Campari, will be attending the dinner. He’s visiting Maine to work with Oxbow on a collaboration beer.
The dinner is $100 per person, call Piccolo at 207-747-5307 for reservations.
Maxim: A Man’s Guide to Portlandia East
The new issue of Maxim includes an article about visiting Portland. It recommends Eventide, Fore Street, Hunt & Alpine, In’finiti and The Great Lost Bear.
Maxim also checked in with Joe Ricchio who suggested a day of noshing that starts with Saigon followed by stops at Miyake, Central Provisions, Hunt & Alpine and the Snug.
The article isn’t yet available online.
Bon Appétit Article Now Online
The Bon Appétit article about Maine is now online, expanded to include some additional destinations as well as recommended Maine beers and recipes from restaurants.