Supreme Pita is now open on Forest Ave, they’re located in the space that was formerly occupied by Whaddapita on the corner of Fessenden Street.
According to the Whaddapita website, they’re still in the process of moving to South Portland.
This Week’s Events: Smoked Beer, Allagash Dinner, Brew Pub Cup, Beer & Cheese Tasting
Tuesday — Local Sprouts is hosting a local foods networking breakfast.
Wednesday — Slow Food Portland’s delegates to Terra Madre will share their experiences at Slow Food’s potluck dinner.
Thursday — there will be a tasting of smoked beers from Germany, Denmark and the US at the Bier Cellar, Vignola is holding an Allagash Beer Dinner, and the Brew Pub Cup is taking place The Great Lost Bear.
Saturday — wine tastings are taking place at Browne Trading and the Rosemont Market, Vignola/Cinque Terre is holding their 6th Annual Beer & Cheese Tasting (30 bbers, 30 cheeses, $30) and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.
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.
Pocket Brunch: Baller Brunch
The January Pocket Brunch took place at Broadturn Farm in Scarborough on Sunday. James Beard award winner Rob Evans was the guest chef for the meal:
- Soup – Maine sunchoke, fried egg yolk, black truffle and beef tongue grabiche
- Salad – spicy gravlax, trout roe, Maine potato, creme fraiche, and pistachio marmalade
- Meat – gold encrusted fois gras, smoked apple butter, apple chips, quince, pickled apple and black bread
- Egg – sunnyside duck yolk, mortadella, brussel sprout hash, saffron-tobasco hollandaise
- Dessert – Broadturn yogurt parfait with almond milk tapioca, blood orange and couscous granola
Premeal bites were accompanied by coffee from Tandem Coffee Roasters and menu of custom cocktails from the Bearded Lady.
The Golden Dish has published a review of Sunday’s Pocket Brunch.
David Zwickerhill was at the brunch with his camera and has posted an extensive set of photos online.
Review of Zen Chinese Bistro
pArts has published a review of Zen Chinese Bistro.
We’ve waited a long time in Portland (and surrounding area) for not even great Chinese, but DECENT Chinese. When I first learned they were opening, I was disappointed to see the menu was, essentially the same American/Chinese food offered at every other Chinese eatery. My disappointment turned to joy upon realizing that though the dishes shared the same names, the versions of these dishes at Zen were head and shoulders above anything I’ve had anywhere else in Maine since the departure of the now-defunct “Stir Crazy” (great food, strange atmosphere, unfortunate name).
Review of Bayou Kitchen
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Bayou Kitchen.
From start to finish, the Bayou Kitchen was a warm and casual respite from the winter chill.
Service was a perfect blend of friendly and sassy, and the food prepared with an expert and subtle hand. Flavors were layered, and the menu showed an intelligent blend of options — each representing the Louisiana theme, but not catapulting it into caricature.
I will be back, earlier next time, to linger and savor.
Lunch @ Bresca
Wines; Tasted! has published some additional details on Bresca’s new lunch service, including a photo of the menu and tasting notes from his lunch.
The sub was huge; rich, gooey, dripping with ricotta and stewed tomatoes. The meatballs were only lightly spiced to show off the excellent elegant flavor of the meat. By the time I’d finished that I was vaguely uncomfortably full and felt like a nap. Best of all the menu seems really well priced. $12 for a huge and delicious meatball sub consumed relaxing at Bresca seemed like a steal!
Haitian Dinner, Others Profile and Perspectives from Former Restaurant Staff
Friday’s Portland Daily Sun included a report on the Culinary Immersion Feast series that taking place on Thursdays at the Museum of African Culture,
If you’re hungry to learn about Haitian culture, and don’t mind feasting on a meal while delving into a Haitian-themed art exhibit, the Museum of African Culture may offer the perfect pairing. The museum is serving culinary immersion feasts, where the meal is an extension of the art on exhibition.
a profile of Others! in Monument Square,
At Others! a great deal of intent is evident in all aspects of the operation. The effect on the environment is a prime consideration, to be sure. The coffee stirrers, believe it or not, are strands of uncooked organic spaghetti. Bio-degradable coffee stirrers. And the to-go coffee cups and lids are state-of-the art bio-degradable as well. You wouldn’t believe the research Brad did to come up with them.
and perspectives from former restaurant workers on their old careers in the hospitality industry.
Nancy Farrell-Baker, Portland, 29. “I’d still be waiting tables if I hadn’t just had a second child. Even though my husband works days and my job was mostly nights, it was too stressful. He sells cars and does pretty well, but I still made more money and loved the people I worked with. Yeah, that’s the hardest part, not being around such great people.”
Development in East Bayside: Bomb Diggity and Pure Pops
This week’s edition of the Portland Phoenix features a behind the scenes look at the new 5,000 square foot space being developed in East Bayside by Eli Cayer, owner of Urban Farm Fermentory.
Exploding out of the mind of Portland idea-man Eli Cayer, 39, and with financial backing from his Urban Farm Fermentory, is the conversion of a former East Bayside taxi garage into a home for food processors and preparers right on the Portland peninsula.
With his eye ever fixed on the Next Big Thing for the Forest City (he’s had his hand in everything from public transit to community engagement to booze), Cayer is not only projecting the February 1 opening of the yet-to-be-named new space, which will house an expanded space for Bomb Diggity Bakery and an all-natural fruit-popsicle maker — he has also offered the Portland Phoenix a behind-the-scenes look at how ideas like this one arise, develop, change, adapt, get wrecked, get salvaged, and ultimately, if the stars align, actually happen.
Review of Kushiya Benkay
The Golden Dish has published a review of Kushiya Benkay.
Kushiya Benkay is a very intimate and likable restaurant. The wait staff is good and so very gracious. And the food is not complicated by the usual kickshaws of more sophisticated, trendier fusion fare found in so many other places around town.
Changes at Bresca
According to a report on Maine a la Carte, Bresca started serving lunch yesterday.
The new lunch menu will be “smallish,” and the chef will change it up when she gets an idea of what guests prefer, but she promises there will always be a good price point for the quality of the food. Most of the dishes on Wednesday’s menu were between $9 and $12.
That’s not all. She’s also planning to make pastries for eating in or take-out (think tarts, eclairs, etc.), and Bresca will probably start opening even earlier when that part of the plan is ready to launch. Desjarlais has floated similar plans in the past, but says she has now found “the nerve” to actually make the changes. She said she wants the new version of her restaurant to grow organically, and hopes to find her own niche in the Portland lunch scene.