A new food cart called The Steam Machine (website, instagram) launched this past weekend.
The cart specializes in “handmade coconut milk steamed buns”.
Business Is Booming
The Press Herald checked in with restaurants across town on the impact Portland being named Restaurant City of the Year. No surprise, business is booming with restaurants and other businesses mentioned in the Bon Appétit are scrambling to ramp up production and add staff to accommodate the enthusiastic surge of new customers.
Portland restaurants, especially those named in Bon Appétit’s September Best New Restaurants issue, have been rejoicing – and reeling – from the after effects of the magazine’s glowing coverage of the city’s food scene. Business is up – way up, in some cases. Summer tourists are seeking out the restaurants mentioned by Bon Appétit, and locals are visiting for the first time, discovering the gems in their own backyard. Social media has exploded with love for Portland, with restaurants gaining hundreds of followers from all over the country, practically overnight.
Hella Good Tacos Closing
Hella Good Tacos owners Josh and Melissa Bankhead have announced plans to close their business at the end of Saturday.
Dear friends and taco lovers,
We are sad to say we have decided to close Hella Good Tacos. We have had a great nearly 8 year run between our cart and brick and mortar.
However Melissa and I have decided it’s time to let go and try something new.
We will be open until end of day Saturday, unless for some reason we run out of food before hand.
Please come in for one last bite and help us off to our next chapter.
Cheers!
Josh
This Week’s Events: Rall Wines, Gin Khao Gun, First Name Basis, Cannabis Dinner, Pizza & Petals, Salt & Sauce
Monday – winemaker Donovan Rall from South Africa will be at Bow Street for a tasting of his Rall and Vuurberg wines.
Tuesday – Good Fire Brewing is hosting the (sold out) Gin Khao Gun family-style Thai dinner.
Wednesday – the Pizza & Petals pop-up dinner is being held at Broadturn, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Thursday – Rosemont is holding an event featuring wines from France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Norway Brewing.
Friday – chef Josh Potocki and guest chef Scott Nicoll will be preparing a “farm to fork cannabis dinner” at Caswell Farm in Gray.
Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Sunday – The Hungry Collective food truck group will be at Thompson’s Point, and a Salt and Sauce dinner is taking place at LB Kitchen.
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.
Reviews: Pizzarino
Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Pizzarino.
I was really impressed with the salad and thought the pizza was good enough to add to my rotation, especially if I wasn’t looking for just a massive pie and nothing else. My only hope would be that service would speed up slightly, though it wasn’t that bad considering I was there on their sixth day. Head there soon and check out a pizza place that’s Italian through and through. Pizzarino adds another to Portland’s list of pizza eateries that have a style all their own.
Under Construction: Roots Cafe
A new gluten-free cafe is under construction in Westbrook. Roots Cafe (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) is located across from the fire station at 20 School Street.
Owners Aimee Fortier, Lorraine Fagela, and Faye Wilson plan to serve a menu of sandwiches, soups, salads and crepes. The building features a childcare area run by Green Tree Ministries where kids can play while adults meet up in the cafe. There’s a large roof top deck as well as an outdoor patio on the ground floor.
Roots Cafe is working with Farm House Coffee Roasters in Winterport on a line of house-labeled fair trade organic coffee. The cafe is scheduled to open in early September.
BA Hot 10: Drifters Wife
Congratulations to Drifters Wife on being named to the Bon Appétit list of the Top 10 Best New Restaurants of 2018.
Under Construction: The Philly Underground
The 5 Spot is building out a space they’re dubbing The Philly Underground in the basement of their sandwich shop on Congress.
The 5 Spot received their liquor license for the space back in June.
Black Boxes Arrived
The custom shipping containers that will be the future homes of The Cheese Shop of Portland (instagram, facebook) and All Those Who Wander(website, facebook, instagram) were installed on Washington Ave earlier today.
The Cheese Shop is planning to open in early September, and ATWW hopes to open in late August/early September.
For more info see these earlier announcements on the two businesses:
- All Those Who Wander (May 14, 2018)
- The Cheese Shop (March 15, 2018)
This Week’s Events: Big Night, Bourbon Certification Class, Flea Bites
Tuesday – the Roma is holding a Big Night themed dinner.
Wednesday – the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Thursday – The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Lone Pine Brewing.
Friday – there will be a wine tasting at Rosemont on Brighton.
Saturday – a Bourbon certification class, a Black Dinah pop-up at LeRoux Kitchen, the grand opening of Forage Market, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market are taking place.
Sunday – the August edition of Flea Bites will be gathering food trucks in Congress Square Park.
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.