Under Construction: King’s Head

| Posted in Under Construction

As part of a larger article on waterfront real estate, the Press Herald reports that Kings Head LLC has leased a ground floor space in the Pierce Atwood building where it plans to open a gastro-pub.

CBRE-The Boulos Co. announced this week that King’s Head LLC has a lease for a 2,250-square-foot gastro-pub serving high-quality beer and food. King’s Head currently operate pubs in Stowe, Vt., and Athens, Ga., and plans to open its Portland restaurant in September, according to CBRE.

When contacted Wednesday, Justin O’Connor, a partner in King’s Head, said that, for marketing purposes, he is not granting interviews until the pub is ready to open.

Reviews of Hot Suppa & David’s 388

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has published a review of David’s 388,

What I didn’t expect to find was such incredible food managed by a service staff that makes you feel like you’re part of its larger family. That and the daring duo of chefs in the kitchen  makes this place  formidable.

and Lauren Loves to Eat has published a review of Hot Suppa.

Corned Beef Hash, $10.95; +$1.50 for Hashbrown (or grits): The corned beef hash is made in house with shredded corned beef, carrot, potato, and onions. It’s definitely very different from anywhere I’ve ever ordered this. The combination of textures was great, with more crisp pieces, as well as soft and tender parts. Dry and bland, the hashbrown was disappointing.

Rising Tide’s Food Truck Series

| Posted in Events

The Beer Babe has published an article about Rising Tide’s Saturday food truck series.

Until recently, however, Maine has not been able to enjoy the creative and funky foods from mobile vehicles. But recent rule changes have allowed a small fleet of trucks to start spreading out throughout the city, albeit to limited locations and times. As exciting as that is, it takes a few more partnerships before the “food truck culture” will sweep Portland. And this weekend, I think I witnessed a perfect union between two community-focused businesses – breweries and food trucks – as executed by Rising Tide Brewing in East Bayside.

Review of Buck’s Naked

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Buck’s Naked BBQ.

The actual barbecue, on the other hand, seems beyond reproach. The pork ribs in particular were spot-on, with a great char, rich flavor, and just-right tender, fatty moistness. The pulled pork had the right texture, but lacked the same depth of pork flavor, and here we used some of the sauce to good effect. The best of these was a vinegary-peppery version with a black stripe on the red bottle. The beef brisket had a deep rich flavor and was expertly cooked just past any hint of stringiness. The house sausage was more sweet than spicy, with a pleasant smokiness. The chicken was the only disappointment — just a touch dry, with the spice rub stopped cold by the skin. A side of cheesy (and peppery) grits was terrific when piping hot, but the texture went south with cooling.

First Portland Dishcrawl

| Posted in Profiles

Meredith Goad has written about her experience on the inaugural run of Dishcrawl Portland.

Out came the food, a trio of bites designed to give the Dishcrawlers an idea of what’s on the regular menu. There was (from lower left, clockwise) a wild mushroom, goat cheese and truffle oil tartine on crostini; a lamb crepe with curry, cilantro, red wine sauce and vegetables; and a “crepe cake” made with layers of crepes, crab meat, egg, tomato, smoked salmon and shrimp.

Dishcrawl Portland has published a set of 71 photos from Tuesday’s event. The next Dishcrawl is scheduled to take place June 11.

A Tank Away visits East Bayside

| Posted in Profiles

The Boston Globe Tank Away column recently paid a visit to East Bayside. Three Buoys, Silly’s, Tandem Coffee, Rising Tide, Bunker, Maine Beer Tours, Bayside Bowl and Urban Farm Fermentory are all mentioned in the article.

Pulling into Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood, you first notice the earthy aroma of roasted arabica beans mingling with hearty hops. Far from the salty air of the bustling Old Port, this former trucker alley is attracting a new kind of tourist — coffee pilgrims and those seeking craft beer and community…There are no signs to indicate that you’ve arrived in this newly minted enclave, but as Portland becomes known for handcrafted everything, far-flung areas like East Bayside won’t be kept under wraps for long.

Reviews of In’Finiti & Duckfat

| Posted in Reviews

The Press Herald has published a bar review of In’finiti,

Not feeling too adventurous to delve into a house cocktail, I flipped to the beer section of the drink menu. In’Finiti features eight house brews on tap and another eight “guest taps.”

I had recently seen a post on the bar’s Facebook page about E=mc2 IPA, and decided to try it…

and Lauren Loves to Eat has published a review of Duckfat.

Poutine, $6.50 (with farm fresh egg, + $2): The best, and I mean best snack/side dish I’ve experienced this year. I was excited to try this after reading all the reviews, but was still taken by surprise at how incredible this poutine was. Props to the bf for totally going against my wish of not adding an egg (fries with gravy and cheese sounds like a very complete dish already), and requesting the addition anyway. The Belgian fries are topped with house made duck gravy, Vermont cheddar, and fresh chives. With all the deliciously strong flavors, this dish managed to never taste too salty. 

The Holy Donut is Hot

| Posted in Reviews

The Holy Donut is top of the list of Eater National’s list of the Hottest Doughnut Shops in America.

Portland has a few solid doughnut options, but The Holy Donut is the newcomer that has gotten a lot of buzz. Even Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree let Tom Colicchio try a doughnut when he was lobbying in DC. These are Maine potato doughnuts and flavors include things like bacon and cheddar stuffed doughnuts, tart cherry and more.

Press Herald: Food Trucks

| Posted in Profiles

Today’s Press Herald Food & Dining section has a feature story on food trucks and some of the regulatory issues that still need to be addressed.

The presence of a few food trucks downtown will be a huge step forward for this food-loving city, which struggled over the regulations and made the whole process way more complicated than it needed to be. We should celebrate the fact that the city has finally embraced an idea that will make life here just a little bit better.

But don’t crack open the Champagne too fast.

The paper also includes a detailed directory of the food trucks now in operation and under development.