Eater Maine has published some details on the renovations underway at Hugo’s.
May 2013 Monthly Stats
The 10 eateries looked up most often in May on Portland Food Map were:
- Outliers (16)
- Blue Rooster Food Co. (1)
- Bresca (6)
- Enio’s (3)
- In’finiti (2)
- Eventide (10)
- The North Point (4)
- Little Tap House (5)
- Union Bagel (-)
- The Porthole (>50)
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Eventide: Review and Beach Greens Foraging Expedition
What’s the Soup has published a review of Eventide.
Eventide is a restaurant not to be missed whether it’s for a beer and oysters on a Saturday afternoon or a full dinner to experience all it has to offer. The owners are innovative and continually looking for new creations.
In an unrelated piece, The Root has written about a recent outing to forage for beach greens with Eventide chef Andrew Taylor.
Still, within a few minutes of searching the shore for wild edibles, we had found four different edible beach greens. I felt overjoyed, as if Robert Louis Stevenson himself had mapped out our expedition and more buried gold was further down the beach.
Another version of the beach foraging article appeared on the Huffington Post.
Local Sprouts…Coming Up With Solutions
The Portland Daily Sun has published an article about Local Sprouts.
Took a while for me to disavow myself of my fondly-held notion that Local Sprouts is the reincarnation of The Gate, the long-haired hippie freak guitar strumming anti-establishment coffeehouse that I frequented in Longfellow Square in the 1960s. The Gate was almost directly across the street from where Local Sprouts is located today, and there are definitely similarities between the two, but there is an essential difference…We came up with a basket full of criticisms but were woefully short of solutions. Coming up with solutions, though, seems to be what Local Sprouts is all about.
Immigrant Kitchens: Congolese Mini-Waffles
In the latest entry from Immigrant Kitchens, Lindsay Sterling learns how to make Congelese Mini-Waffles from Ariane Kambu Mbenza (read the story, get the recipe and see the photos).
Reviews of Union Bagel, Bite into Maine, David’s and Supreme Pita
Dispatch has published a review of the new Union Bagel shop on Cumberland Ave,
Union Bagel offers a short menu of freshly made, organic bagels with a variety of cream cheeses to choose from. Choices included sesame, onion, salt and poppy but I went for the garlic bagel with olive cream cheese in hopes that nobody would want to talk closely with me for the remainder of the morning. Perfectly toasted with just the right amount of spread, the bagel was warm and soft inside with crispy garlic bits on the outside. Deeelish.
On a Roll has published a review of Bite into Maine,
Get to the roll! Solid roll and great value. Currently we are eating hard shell offshore bugs fetching about 8 bucks a pound. This should warrant a $16 dollar lobster roll in this beautiful setting. My textbook roll was $13.95. We also had their grilled tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella sandwich for just south of 5 bucks- this was delicious and a bargain.
the Press Herald has published a bar review of David’s,
I have been to David’s for a couple of happy hours in my days working downtown. The restaurant, which has received many accolades, should also be applauded for its drink menu. The bar offers about a dozen specialty cocktails and martinis that go beyond the traditional drink.
and a review of Supreme Pita.
Bottom line: Supreme Pita is fine for what it is, especially for all those hungry college students. If you’re craving stellar Greek food, though, save your money for the Greek festival.
Projection Futility
For her weekly Portland Daily Sun column Natalie Ladd looks at the futility of trying to predict when a restaurant will be busy or not.
These things are in addition to the obvious method of comparing sales and head counts. I’ve seen many places with flow charts and graphs, all intended to make food and alcohol ordering, and doing the kitchen and front-of-the house schedule a snap. Contrary to all the “what ifs” and basic common sense, these things just don’t always hold true when predicting how busy it’s going to be. In other words, betting on the timing of the financial peaks and pitfalls of the restaurant business would be foolish for a gambler and chalk up a win for the house at Oxford Casino.
Food Trucks: Urban Sugar Mobile Cafe
A new food truck called 
Urban Sugar Mobile Cafe is under development. Owners Valeri and Kevin Sandes will be serving a range of made to order sweet and savory mini gourmet donuts both traditional and more innovative flavors.
Their 70’s vintage ice cream truck (aka Rosie) is currently undergoing renovations. The Sandes plan to launch sometime in the beginning of July and operate on a year-round basis both on the streets of Portland and for catered private events.
Under Construction: Fizz & Compass Rose Restaurant
A new business called Fizz is under construction at 345 Fore Street. Owner Johanna Corman she plans on opening Fizz as a “mixology shop and natural soda/mocktail bar”. The small shop will include both a retail space selling bitters, syrups and cocktail making equipment, as well as a small bar that serves house made sodas. The store is likely to be open by mid-summer.
Corman is seeking out and stocking local products such as the Blueberry Bitters produced by Sweetgrass Farm in Maine and Royal Rose Cocktail Syrups as well as those from farther afield. Originally from Maine, she and her husband Steve moved back to the state in 2008 and run the general store on Cliff Island.
A business card in the window at 339 Fore Street indicates that the space is the future home of Compass Rose Restaurant. The owners are Tony and Rose Kratovil.
Under Construction: Black Cat Coffee
I stopped by The Honey Exchange Friday to pick-up some equipment and spotted the brown paper and signage for Black Cat Coffee at 463 Stevens Avenue in the space formerly occupied by Good Eats Boutique.
I talked with co-owner Jenny Siler who along with her husband Keith James Dunlap are launching the new coffee shop. Their plan is to create a neighborhood coffee shop for that part of town. They’re talking with a number of local roasters but haven’t made a final decision about whose coffee they’ll use.
The pair just signed the lease last week and are working their way through a very long task list to convert the space. They hope to be open by early August.