Review of Pie in the Sky Pizza

| Posted in Reviews

The Press Herald has published a review of Pie in the Sky Pizza, the pocket sized pizzeria located on the second floor of the Public Market House.

I sampled the Margherita. I saw it being made, and sat by a window gazing onto Monument Square while it cooked. The crust was more like a bread than your average pizza crust. There were big dabs of fresh mozzarella melted onto the sauce, with tomato slices and a generous portion of basil leaves.

Overall it was a very nice, and filling, lunch for $5.50. I didn’t need one, but I also had a Big Sky oatmeal raisin cookie, which was the size of a small dinner plate.

Review of Silly's

| Posted in Reviews

The Examiner has published a review of Silly’s.

We were impressed with the prices and the portions… both very reasonable. We will be returning for another round of food and fun. But for now, as Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. You have the knowledge, so now take yourself down to Silly’s to let your imagination run wild.

Review of Silly’s

| Posted in Reviews

The Examiner has published a review of Silly’s.

We were impressed with the prices and the portions… both very reasonable. We will be returning for another round of food and fun. But for now, as Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. You have the knowledge, so now take yourself down to Silly’s to let your imagination run wild.

20/20 Charity Wine

| Posted in Events

The Portland Phoenix has published an article about the 20/20 Charity Wine event, a collaborative venture run by five Maine wine distributors.

While the charity component is central to this event, organizers also see this as an opportunity to educate Portlanders about wines from different regions of the world. Many of the wine producers emerging from both Portugal and Spain have moved away from mass production and into specialty, high-quality “terroir” wines, from specific regions with distinct characteristics, says Jon Dietz of Belfast-based Easterly Wines. These specialized wines are what Easterly and the other four small wine distributors who participated in this event hope to bring to the attention of Portlanders.

The first 20/20 (taste 20 wines for $20 dollars) was held March 21 at The Salt Exchange. The next 20/20 will be co-hosted by Cinque Terre and Aurora Provisions and is taking place May 16

Under Construction: Figa

| Posted in Under Construction

Today’s Portland Daily Sun has a report on what’s delaying the launch of chef Lee Farrington’s new restaurant Figa.

At issue is this: although Farrington owns her space at 249 Congress, her water is piped through an adjacent building owned by Alice Dunn. For the previous owner of 249 Congress, a hair salon, Dunn installed a “sub-meter” in the basement that kept track of how much water the salon consumed…Dunn says she’s unwilling to allow Farrington access to water line because she’s worried that higher water usage from the restaurant could create water-pressure issues for her other tenants, who share the water line.

Bella Cheesecakes

| Posted in Profiles

There’s a profile of Bella Cheese Cakes in the Food & Dining section in of today’s Press Herald. Bella’s cheesecakes can be found in Portland at Simply Scandinavian Foods and the Good Eats Boutique and he’ll be debuting a new flavor next weekend at the Chocolate Lover’s Fling.

But other cheesecakes in his repertoire go beyond the standard flavors. Dominicus has a talent for taking the original idea of a food or favorite drink and transforming it into a cheesecake.

If you harbor fond memories of eating a cold orange creamsicle on a hot summer day, Dominicus has an orange creamsicle cheesecake with vanilla wafer crust and whipped cream topping that will whisk you back to your childhood.

NYT: Backyard Farms in Central Maine

| Posted in Farming

The New York Times has published an article about Backyard Farms, a Maine-based hydroponic tomato farm in Madison that operates a 42-acre greenhouse.

When it was built three years ago, the company’s first 24-acre greenhouse in Madison was already the largest building in Maine. This second connected greenhouse, completed last year, brought the total area under glass to some 42 acres, or roughly the size of 32 football fields. Even in the depths of winter, a million tomatoes ripen indoors to harvest each week, snipped from their vines by workers in T-shirts and shorts.

Heiwa Tofu Interview

| Posted in People

Cornucopasetic has published an interview with Jeff Wolovitz, founder of Heiwa Tofu, a Maine brand that is sold in several Portland area stores and restaurants.

Where do you get your soy beans? Are these the same beans that Lalibela Farm is using to make their tempeh?
Bob Reisner in Skowhegan. I’d like to diversify. I’ve talked to Henry Perkins about growing this coming year. Also, Donnie Webb in Pittson. Donnie cleaned Bob’s beans for me this year and would like to try growing soybeans for me. They are all great folks…I use a lot. At least 20,000 pounds this year. That takes roughly ten to twenty acres of land and will make 35,000 pounds of tofu!

Profile of Bogusha and Her Deli

| Posted in People, Profiles

Today’s Portland Daily Sun includes a profile of Bogusha Pawlazyk and her Polish deli on Stevens Ave.

This past week Bogusha Pawlazyk and Andrzej Rzycki  of Bogusha’s Polish Restaurant and Deli on Stevens Avenue have been busy with preparations for the inevitable torrent of customers in search of culinary holiday authenticity. There are pastries from the European Bakery in Worcester: makowiec (poppy seed cake), orzechowiec (walnut cake), cream cakes, and various cheese cakes. Of course there is Easter babka, which celebrates the return of eggs to the diet after the Lenten restrictions in a sweet cake made with more than a dozen eggs yolks.

Thai-o-rama: Pom's Thai Taste

| Posted in Reviews

For the fourth round of the Thai-o-rama (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3) collaborative food writing project, the group tackled Pom’s Thai Taste. There are three locations (2 in SoPo and 1 in the city), but we decided to focus our attention on the one on Congress Street.
Appetite Portland decided to forgo her usual Pom’s order of five flavor noodle soup with crispy duck (“not the best soup in the world, but it’s dependable, hearty, filling and affordable”) to branch out into new horizons on the menu. She writes that the Steamed Butterflies dumplings were a “sticky and overly sweet mess”. However, the Pad Thai was “quite tasty” once lime “begged” from the waitress balanced out the sweetness. Read the Full Review
Edible Obsessions points out that the “Thailand meets Ikea” interior design for the dining room “is bright and cheery without the feeling of being campy or gaudy,” and that “the food also falls into the line of pretty simple and straightforward.” It sounds like the Krah-Tong Thong appetizer, Pad Khee-Mao and desserts were the high point of her meal with the bland Pad Thai being the most notable exception. Read the Full Review
Portland Eats rates Pom’s as “good, solid, Thai food” but that the menu of 694 items (he counted) is too long and that “as good as the food at Pom’s is, it would be even better if the menu was more focused, truly highlighting a small handful of specialties.”. Read the Full Review
Portland Food Heads tried the Paad-Khee-Mao “I’ve always loved drunken noodles, and these were very good; in fact, one of the better plates I’ve ever had.” However on a return trip for some take-out was disappointed by a plate of Crab Pad Thai. Read the Full Review
The Blueberry Files handed this review over to a guest post by her roommate. They both “appreciated the complete lack of kitsch” in the restaurant decor, which enabled them to “focus entirely on the food. Which was, on balance, pretty good.” They enjoyed the $1 sushi but the meal went off course with the “odd consistency” of the non-traditional Crispy Pad Thai. Their Fried coconut ice cream “was a great way to end the evening”.Read the Full Review
Where is Jenner’s Mind rates Pom’s as “some of the best thai food in portland”. The dumplings were “bland” but the Crispy Duck got rave reviews (“i’m drooling just writing about it”). Read the Full Review
My take on Pom’s is that it offers a solid choice for Thai in the city. Like Edible Obsessions and Portland Food Heads, I don’t think Pad Thai isn’t their strong suit. It’s clear from this set of reviews (and the ones linked below) that there’s plenty on the menu to enjoy but that the service still has some room to grow. From the comments of The Blueberry Files and Edible Obsessions as well as my own experience, skipping dessert would be a mistake.
For more on Pom’s Thai Taste also check out these earlier reviews by: