From Away has published a review of Flatbread.
My salad was a revelation. I am not even exagerating. It’s totally sublime. Baby spinach, golden beets sweet as heliotropism itself, goat cheese that isn’t too rank and tangy – you know how goat cheese can be, with an orange-hued Japanese-inspired dressing, all gingery and delicious. I want to live inside it, or at least, very nearby.
The new Maine magazine began showing up in subscriber’s mail boxes this week. It’s the magazine’s Food Issue and it includes 31 Maine chefs sharing their passion for food and dining, an A-List of 6 Sunday dining spots, a 3-day guided tour of mid-coast oysters, an article about Rod Mitchell from Browne Trading and a Q+A with yours truly about Portland Food Map. The articles aren’t available online yet but you can pick up a copy at your local newsstand.
Stanley T. Bennett II, Chairman and CEO of Oakhurst Dairy died Wednesday. Bennett was the grandson of the dairy’s founder.
Bennett, who was diagnosed last summer with pancreatic cancer, was remembered Thursday as a champion of agricultural initiatives and a generous supporter of nonprofit organizations, especially those that support children or a clean environment.
He took over as president of Oakhurst in 1983, after his father’s retirement, and oversaw a continuing expansion of the business and aggressive investments in clean-energy technology such as solar power.
For further details see the obituary that appeared in The Forecaster, and for more insight into Bennett read the tribute to him published in the Maine Sunday Telegram.
Slow Food Portland has announced the winners of the inaugural Young Food Writers Competition. Zoe Popovic (grade 4), Ellie Sapat (grade 7), and Ali Perkins (grade 12) were the first place finishers in each of the 3 age brackets.
The winning essays will be read at this year’s Slow Food Portland Writers Night which is taking place on March 10 at SPACE Gallery. You can buy tickets for the event at Brown Paper Tickets.
The Cookie Jar received 4 stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald. The article had this to say about the chili,
It was outstanding. It was full of flavor and texture and packed with corn, different varieties of beans, chilies and peppers. It was fiery hot, in a sweat-inducing way. It cleared my sinuses. But it wasn’t offensively hot. It didn’t burn going down. The heat lingered and offered a late bite.
The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Hugo’s.
In recent years Hugo’s has introduced both a bar menu and an à la carte dinner menu, which have made the restaurant more accessible to locals. But this winter they are offering a midweek tasting menu that is not be missed: $42 for six courses. That is half the regular price; a third of what you would pay for a comparable meal in New York; and about equal to an appetizer, an entrée, and a split dessert at any upscale restaurant in Portland. For most incomes dinner out at a formal restaurant is a rare treat and a splurge. Right now Hugo’s midweek menu offers the most splurgy satisfaction for your money.
The Natural Foodie column in today’s Press Herald highlights the ability to easily locate vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dining options on the Maine Restaurant Week website.
“The first year we didn’t offer it and we had a great number of e-mails, Facebook requests and calls asking for special diets,” said Jim Britt of gBritt PR, which organizes Maine Restaurant Week. “We put out a request to restaurants, and they agreed they’re seeing a continually increasing number of requests from guests for vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian dishes.”
Maine Restaurant Week is scheduled to take place March 1-12.
Every so often when a new restaurant at is under construction at 653 Congress Street you can catch a glimpse of the old Neon Diner sign (see this recent photo by Corey Templeton). That’s the case now as Gogi, a new Asian fusion restaurant, get’s set to install their new street sign in the old Neon Diner frame. I’ve heard that Gogi hopes to open in March. The Neon Diner was in operation 1991-1995.
Vrai-lean-uh has posted an endorsement of Freeport Knife Company’s knife sharpening service,
I really highly, highly recommend Freeport Knife Co. They’re on Route 1 on the way to LL Bean, near Pet Pantry. I was expecting to go in and get some grief about the state of my cutlery, kind of like when the haircutter picks up and drops strands of my hair and says, “So, when was your last haircut?” But no! They were totally nice and they sharpened my knives in an hour for $2 a piece and the store is really fantastic.
Today’s Press Herald reports on changes to the menu at the Clocktower Cafe which is located in City Hall.
Boynton said the cafe’s revamped menu, which features not only leaner and healthier food but also information on the number of calories in the sandwiches, soups and other food, helps her make better choices about her midday meal.
“It’s made me more calorie-conscious. It’s definitely made me more aware about what I’m eating,” said Boynton, a city lawyer.
This is a follow-up the article on the same topic published last August.