Restaurateur Jason Loring has announced that he and business partner Michael Fraser are “taking over Gepetto’s and the side bar at Sugarloaf and will be opening 2 new restaurants.”
Reviews: Bayside Bowl, Local 188, Little Giant, Yobo, Tipo
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Bayside Bowl and 33 Elmwood,
Its new outdoor rooftop deck is an absolute stunner, with a bar and an Airstream trailer that serves as a taco truck. Unfortunately, the food seems occasionally like an afterthought, lagging behind the standard set by the modern, often elegant spaces that make up the business. Among the better dishes are the tender cactus taco and Bayside’s vegan interpretation of a Reuben sandwich, the Rachael, made with smoky tempeh and tangy sauerkraut. Steer clear of the gloppy, oversauced tot poutine, which our server described as “unforgettable.” She’s not wrong.
the Portland Phoenix has reviewed Little Giant,
The LG Burger & Jojos (read: burly, delicious steak fries) served as the evening’s entrée, a no-frills take on the diner staple topped with American cheese, pickled grilled red onion, iceberg lettuce and BBQ mayo. Though a bit on the small side, the burger’s sheer and undulating juiciness made up for any perceived size discrepancies demanding bite after blissful bite. I left full and happy.
The Bollard has reviewed Yobo and Tipo,
The classic bibimbap ($15) is a solid choice — a combination of beef or tofu with rice (fried to a delicious crisp on the bottom of the hot stone bowl), veggies, a runny egg yolk and gochujang (red-chili paste) that you mix yourself. If there’s a taco special, order that too. The pork belly and local uni (sea urchin) tacos ($12) were the tastiest dish on the table one Thursday night.
Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Local 188,
On the other hand, the mushrooms had me at “hello”. One bite of the voluptuous oyster shrooms was enough to know I was in fungal heaven. I noticed the pickled shallots immediately and then a little romesco. My next bite added a couple slices of almond and there was something about the nut flavor that covered the mushrooms in a calmness, muting a little of the vinegar and blending everything together. I found it entrancing.
Lolita Chef Participates in Harvey Dinner
Lolita Chef de cuisine Kimmo Meronen is returning to Texas for a reunion dinner with other former coworkers at *17 Restaurant in Houston. The dinner is a benefit “providing emergency assistance funds to those in Houston’s hospitality community affected by the storm”.
Tickets for the event and donations can be made at at agricolehospitality.com.
Erin French, The Lost Kitchen
Forbes has published an article about Erin French, chef/owner of The Lost Kitchen.
At The Lost Kitchen in Freedom, Maine, owner Erin French begins imagining dinner at 7 a.m.—but first, she checks the weather. The evening’s courses, crafted with ingredients from nearby farms, pastures, fields and waters, need to suit the season and the temperature. Maybe it’s fried green tomatoes in the summer or whole-roasted trout in the spring. Forecast in mind, she’ll design her menu based on the produce en route to her kitchen and the food she’d prefer on her own dinner plate.
Under Construction: Crown Jewel
Alex Wight, manager of the much loved Flanagan’s Table series in Buxton, has purchased the General Store on Great Diamond Island where she plans to open a restaurant called Crown Jewel.
Crown Jewel will be open seasonally starting Memorial Day 2018 through Columbus Day. Rocky Hunter has joined the team as the chef for the restaurant. Hunter was formerly the Vegetarian Chef de Cusine at David’s Opus Ten.
Wight plans to share more detailed information later this month but has hinted that there will “undoubtedly be elements of Flanagan’s Table incorporated into Crown Jewel” so we can hope the guest chef series will be starting back up on the island.
Apple Map and Calendar
As part of their seasonal Apple series, the Press Herald has published a map of orchards that stock heritage apple varieties, a guide to when various apple varieties are in season and a new article by Sean Turley about heritage apples.
At the same time average apple consumers are strolling through orchards, there’s a manic search under way by apple obsessives on the hunt for unconventional and heirloom varietals that grow in small quantities across the state. Whereas most orchards in Maine grow only McIntosh, Cortland and, occasionally, Macoun, there are other orchards that provide a dizzyingly diverse array of varieties, from the latest creations provided by university agricultural experiment stations to apples that have been grown continuously in New England since the colonial era.
Bruno’s Pasta Co.
MaineBiz has published an article about Bruno’s Pasta Company.
Napolitano, the general manager of Bruno’s Restaurant and Tavern, bought the extruder — a machine that makes rounded and hollow pasta — for a few hundred dollars. That purchase spurred the idea and now new state-of-the-art equipment imported from Italy is making ravioli by the batch in the Bruno Pasta Co.’s new commercial kitchen on Read Street in Portland.
Vogue: A Perfect Weekend Away
Vogue has published an article on where to eat, shop and stay in Southern Maine.
Portland was once thought to simply be a small, weather-worn coastal city playing second fiddle to big shots like Boston, but this has thankfully changed. This gem of a city is now a major destination for those looking for incredible food, small-batch breweries with cult followings, and amazing independent shops that will tempt you to blow your weekend budget in a ten-minute period. And if Portland isn’t enough, the rest of southern Maine presents ample attractions like cute coastal towns and hikes offering vistas that make breaking a sweat very worthwhile.
The article mentions Central Provisions, Little Giant Market, Fore Street, Drifters Wife, Urban Farm Fermentory, and Allagash, Foundation, and Austin Street breweries.
New Maine Apple Column
The first of this Fall’s weekly apple column was published today in the Press Herald.
Heirloom apples, though, are another matter. They are beguiling subjects of intense adoration for many people because they have so much more to say. Each one offers insights into our region’s history, its values, its sense of community and the interplay between the landscape that surrounds us and the terroir of the food we consume. Oh, and they often taste great, too.
You can follow columnist Sean Ryan Turley on instagram at The Righteous Russet.
Under Construction: Elda
A new restaurant called Elda (instagram) is under construction in the space formerly occupied by Custom Deluxe in Biddeford. Chef/owner Bowman Brown has also leased the adjacent storefront and is in the process of renovating and connecting the two spaces. Overall Elda will seat 32 including an 8-seat bar in the addition, and four seats at chef’s counter looking into the open kitchen.
Brown has moved to Maine from Salt Lake City where he was the co-owner and chef of Forage (instagram). He and co-founding chef Viet Pham were recognized as part of the 2011 class of Best New Chefs by Food & Wine. Additionally, Brown has been a Beard semifinalists in the Best Chef: Southwest category for six years running from 2011 to 2016.
At Elda Brown plans to serve a menu “driven by seafood and vegetables with a focus on seasonality and New England ingredients”. Diners will be able to choose from a 10-12 dishes or go with a set nightly 4-course menu. The bar program will include “a small selection of rotating seasonal cocktails based around house infusions, tinctures, bitters, and shrubs as well as a vibrant food-focused wine, beer, and cider” options.
The name Elda is a reference to the Icelandic word meaning ‘to cook’ as well as the name of Brown’s great grandmother. Chef Brown plans to open Elda by the end of October.