Brunswick’s Tao Opening Restaurant in Portland (Updated)

| Posted in Under Construction

Cara Stadler, chef owner of Tao Yuan restaurant in Brunswick, will be opening a Portland restaurant this Spring, according to a report from Maine a la Carte.

The West End Deli is moving, and a restaurant featuring Chinese dumplings is already under construction in its place. Chef Cara Stadler, who owns Tao Yuan in Brunswick…confirmed today that the basement of the building at 133 Spring St…is being excavated and the space will be reconfigured into a single-level restaurant. It is expected to open in April or May…

Update: There’s been some question about where the West End Deli is moving to. A reliable source tells me that they plan on moving a couple blocks away on Congress Street.

Review of Hunt and Alpine

| Posted in Reviews

Peter Peter Portland Eater has published a review of the Portland Hunt and Alpine Club.

We finished up and paid. I walked out happy. Portland Hunt and Alpine Club is a great new choice in Portland for a drink after work with some apps or a pre-dinner visit any time. I believe that in a city saturated with restaurants that have bars, a bar that has a smallish restaurant but is focused on drinks is the type of place that can add something to the culture…

Tour of Tours & a Halloween Taste Tour

| Posted in General News

MaineToday.com has assembled a tour of Portland food tours: Maine Beer Tours, Wine Wise, Maine Foodie Tours, The Brew Bus and Portland Taste Tours,

A food and drink tour of Portland may seem like something designed just for visitors, but if you want to learn about this city’s new restaurants, food producers, breweries and distilleries — or want a distinctive experience you might not get on your own — don’t turn your nose up at letting a guide lead the way.

and The 207 Foodie has shared her experience on the Halloween tour run by Portland Taste Tours.

I recommend anybody who A. Loves food, B. Wants to try new food, C. Enjoys a good tour and D. Wants to explore the Portland food scene to check out a Portland Taste Tour. Trust me, this is something you will not regret.

Review of Little Bigs

| Posted in Reviews

The Bollard has published a review of Little Bigs.

The sign out front advertises “Delicious Hand Foods to Go.” Inside you’ll find an ever-changing variety of pastries, from turnovers to homemade pop-tarts, as well as plenty of savory treats you can eat and still feel reasonably good about yourself. The bacon and cheese “egg pie” (you’d probably call it a quiche, and you’d be right) is a nearly perfect breakfast food, right down to its crispy, salty potato crust. At lunchtime you can get hearty hand-pies and pastries stuffed with ingredients like steak and root vegetables or spinach, artichoke and goat cheese.

Under Construction: Bar Lola Next

| Posted in Under Construction

The Forecaster interviewed Stella Hernandez, co-owner of Bar Lola, about the plans she and husband Guy have to close Bar Lola and open a new restaurant.

The new eatery will offer “a bit more diversity” in its menu, although the precise nature of the cuisine is still being determined, according to Hernandez.

“We’d like to step outside the structure (of Bar Lola) and create more freedom for our diners and for ourselves,” she said. “But the way we approach food and the way we approach service won’t change.”

Locally Sourcing Thanksgiving Ingredients

| Posted in Cooking

November is here and the Thanksgiving articles are starting to hit the presses. First out of the gate is a piece by C.Z. Cramer entitled Amore Locavore in this month’s Portland Magazine.

We live in the best of times here for the renaissance of a traditional, locally raised and grown, genuine Thanksgiving. We can recreate the gourmet version of the Pilgrim experience, as if those wilderness decades of green bean casseroles with canned cream of mushroom soup, marshmallow-capped yams, and frozen Midwestern birds never happened.

Bresca and the Honey Bee & Scratch Baking

| Posted in Reviews

The Blueberry Files has written about her visit to Bresca and the Honey Bee,

We were most looking forward to desserts at the Snack Shack since Krista’s desserts at Bresca were always amazing. She told me she was looking forward to the slower pace of the fall to focus on desserts, in particular pastry. I had a hard time narrowing down my choices, since there were several tiers of pies, cookies, and tarts. (I wanted all of the fruit tarts.)

and The Golden Dish has written about a recent visit to Scratch.

The drill on a Sunday morning is unmistakable. Parking along Willard Square during the bagel hour is difficult.  Then once you’re inside and have been lucky enough to get your stash of bagels (they sell out in minutes), your next hurdle is to wait on line, often 20 people deep–to check out.  Worse yet is arriving to find empty bagel bins, only to wait for the next batch out of the oven.