Draft magazine has included The Honey Paw in their list of 10 New Global-Inspired Beer Restaurants.
To select beers that jive with this varied, built-for-sharing menu, the team went decidedly nonlocal with the tap selection, bringing in drafts from Belgium’s De La Senne and St. Bernardus alongside bottled beer made anywhere from Japan to Colorado. The exotic beers, vibrant flavors and even the seating are designed to feel unlike anything in Portland…
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed The Treehouse,
It is no surprise whatsoever to hear that a cook (Gilman is self-taught and refuses to call himself a chef) with such a strong visual sensibility would take the time to plate his food in a style that mimics the natural, almost wild, design of the dining room. That untamed aesthetic extends to other aspects of the restaurant as well: “I create a space that the crew gets to come play in. We all get to do what we love to do and they make up their job as they go along,” he said. Somehow, improbably, it all works – the staff seem happy and the dining room is nearly full every night. So what if normal rules don’t apply at The Treehouse? That’s exactly what makes you want to come back.
the Press Herald has reviewed the Saltbox Cafe,
I started with the crab cake croissant sandwich ($7.95), featuring a hand-made crab cake, a fried egg, shaved red onion, lemon ginger bearnaise sauce and Gruyère cheese on a warm croissant. Sounded a little odd to me, but one bite changed my mind. The crab came through, and was not overpowered by the egg or the cheese. The sandwich was warm, creamy and went down very easily.
The Golden Dish has reviewed Isa,
While other restaurants in town cook up the new and novel, Isa sticks to the basics with a distinctive coddling of cooking techniques and presentation that make their food special.
and Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed The Back Bay Grill.
I think it would be accurate to say that Back Bay Grill’s food was WOW-worthy and the service this time around was what I expected it to be – just brilliant. Now I see the reason why they are a well respected leader in the ever-growing, ever-outstanding food world that Portland offers – because they do pretty much everything right. The atmosphere is also relaxed and appropriate for both a chill, romantic dinner or a slightly more festive “girl’s night out”, as the party sitting next to us seemed to be having.
This week’s Drink Tank gathering at the Open Bench Project explored designing a better lobster trap.
“Everyone associates lobster with Maine, but very few people know how the whole process works,” said Drink Tank co-founder Kate Garmey. “Everybody knows the lobster trap, or has at least seen a buoy, so it’s something we’re all familiar with, but the mechanics of it are a little more mysterious. … So it is an opportunity to learn something. Once you learn all the pain points and all the issues that lobstermen have, it’s really interesting to think about, ‘How could we make that better?’”
The organizers of Maine Startup and Create Week have put out an open call for vendors to participate in their food show.
Get your product in front of entrepreneurs, journalists, consumers, innovators, and investors! The selection process is intended to demonstrate the breadth, depth, and creativity of the region, so this will be a delight for guests and an opportunity to shine for producers.
The deadline for priority selection is May 16th and the final deadline is May 30th.
The Portland Phoenix has released the results from their 2016 readership awards poll. The Phoenix received nearly 8,000 votes across several dozen categories.
You can see the full list of results online. There are categories 30+ food categories from Best Asian Restaurant(Pai Men Miyake) to Best New Restaurant(The Honey Paw) to Best Restaurateur (Jason Loring).
Portland Food Map won both the Best Blog and Best Food Blog categories. Many thanks to all of you who voted for the site!
The Press Herald has published the first installment of a 3-part series authored by Black Dinah owner Kate Shaffer on the experience of moving her business to Westbrook.
I know that it will be over in the next couple of weeks and ultimately that the construction will bring us more business. And in a funny way, the earth-shaking demolition and re-building is an apt metaphor for my own life: I feel blasted from my own foundations, blown away by how much things have changed in the last 10 months.
The Blueberry Files has published a survey of the Portland area food truck fleet.
Forget robins, the true sign of the return of nice weather in Maine is the food truck. Sure, some business owners tough it out year round, but most take the winter off. Now that it’s warming up, chefs are tuning up their trucks and motoring to where people are lounging on the Eastern Prom, drinking beer on brewery’s patios, and spending the day at the beach. Bring on the warm weather and the food trucks!
The Press Herald spoke with 3 vegan chefs who work in non-vegan kitchens about how they balance their job responsibilities and personal diet.
I tracked down and spoke with three vegan chefs who are working in Portland to ask them how they manage it. (A fourth who was on extended holiday in London eluded me.) Among the challenges they face: Needing to taste animal products before they send dishes out of their kitchens, career limitations and the contradictions between strongly held personal beliefs and professional ambitions.
Urban Eye has posted an update on Rossobianco, the wine bar/restaurant David Levi has under construction in Bramhall Square.
A sample menu shared with Urban Eye includes starters such as fried risotto balls with porcini ($5), asparagus, egg, reggiano antipasto ($8) and saffron risotto with marrow ($16). More substantial meals like beef liver and caramelized onions on polenta ($22) and buckwheat pasta, chicken bone broth and chanterelles ($16) will pair with natural wines from Northern Italy.
The Press Herald has published a report on Foundation Brewing’s expansion.
The Portland brewery, located at One Industrial Way in a cluster of craft breweries, is taking over three spaces formerly occupied by Bissell Brothers Brewing. The project will bring Foundation’s total square footage to 7,500 and is paving the way for further expansion in 2017, according to a release from the company.