A new venture called Maine Cocktail Tours is now offering guided walking tours of the city’s cocktail bars. The 2½ tours visit 5 different bars and provide details on “the history the cocktail, old stories of Portland’s past and how the foundations of prohibition began at City Hall.”
For more information visit mainecocktail.com or MCT’s Facebook page.
Eventide has made it on to Find Eat Drink’s list of the top 50 restaurants in North America to eat at in 2013.
From big cities to tiny towns, Texas BBQ to Vancouver dim sum to a Maryland crab shack, here are 50 North American restaurants the Pros think are worth going out of your way to dine at in 2013. Some are new, some are classic, some are trendy, some off the beaten path, but all serve delicious food.
According to a report in today’s Press Herald, the zoning variance sought for a restaurant on York Street was denied.
Potential investors vowed Thursday to keep pursuing their dream of opening a small upscale restaurant in the West End after the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals denied a request to waive off-street parking requirements.
The Golden Dish has published a review of The Corner Room,
While the Corner Room is not exactly like being on Little Italy’s Mulberry Street I’m glad to have rediscovered this stylish Old Port dining venue, where the food, drink and good times are almost always on the menu.
and Eat Maine has published a review of Sea Glass.
The menu at the Sea Glass is simple, traditional, and executed perfectly. The food mirrors the setting in perfect harmony—they are both simple, yet elegant. Familiar, yet spectacular.
The Press Herald has published reviews of Rosie’s,
As it has for many people, Rosie’s became our regular pub. We appreciated the familiarity of the place, the casual nature of the space and the friendliness of the staff. The quality of the food and beer selection were givens, but not our motivating factor for going there. We just liked the place and how we were treated.
and Gritty’s.
I could be wrong, but I feel like Gritty McDuff’s (fondly known to most as just Gritty’s) is a fan favorite of the Old Port. It’s one of those bars that kind of feels like home despite its size and how many people it serves on a daily basis.
This week’s Portland Phoenix includes an article about Port Clyde Fresh Catch and Salt & Sea, the state’s 2 Community Supported Fisheries.
To boost the stocks of endangered fish, instead consume Maine’s underutilized ones, perhaps by joining a community-supported fishery, or CSF. It’s the same concept as community-supported agriculture, where members pay farmers a lump sum in advance for weekly baskets of vegetables. Port Clyde Fresh Catch launched the country’s first CSF, a shot in the arm for Maine’s last ground-fish fleet between Portland and Canada.
Chef David Levi will be leading a Nixtamalization workshop at the upcoming Portland Permaculture potluck dinner on January 15.
Nixtamalization is the ancient indigenous American technique of slow cooking mature, dried corn in a powerful alkaline solution, effecting an almost magical change in the flavor, aroma, texture, and nutritional properties of the corn. The process was used by all indigenous American corn eating cultures (think “traditional tortillas!”), and dates back at least three thousand years.
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about the overuse/misuse of the word artisanal,
Even real artisans need to lay off the word artisanal for a while. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that you are trying to do the right thing, and we do appreciate your craftsmanship. But do we really need to know that the bread you just made came from wheat sown by your great-great-grandmother Clara and was made with a recipe passed down from generation to generation in a Mason jar stored under the floorboards of your Uncle Ned’s log cabin? (Was that an artisanal log cabin?)
an article about Roger Doiron and Kitchen Gardens International, and a piece about a new locally produced cookbook.
Neighbors are opposing plans for a second restaurant development on York Street. The new restaurant would be adjacent to Outliers.
Residents are concerned that another restaurant/bar will be too much, too soon, for the neighborhood, which was once disturbed by unruly, late-night crowds at the former Popeye’s Ice House bar. That notorious tavern, which had the tail of an airplane sticking out of its roof, closed in 2008 after repeated clashes with neighbors.
Portland Daily Sun columnist Natalie Ladd offers some observations from working on New Year’s Eve.
1) People Get Engaged. Next to the hotel near that little chapel run by the flying Elvises in Vegas, restaurants are a popular place for this rite of passage. Unlike Valentine’s Day, most of the dolled up women seem surprised. There is usually applause from surrounding tables and tears flow freely. Mine included.