The Bangor Daily News has posted a video tour of Veranda Asian Market.
And you can get stuff that’s definitely not in your average local grocery store, like Vietnamese mints, Chinese celery, Thai basil, Thai okra and an array of bok choy and cabbage-like greens. There’s fish, like blue marlin, spanish mackerel and giant featherback, found only in Southeast Asia. There’s quail eggs, duck eggs and black chicken, which is indeed a chicken that’s completely black, right down to its bones…
The Golden Dish has published a review of Caiola’s.
Commandeering the kitchen is co-proprietor and Chef Abby Harmon who makes this all happen. Her kitchen is like a laboratory of invention—the whole kit and caboodle of culinary cause and effect that isn’t so easily classified. But attempting to I’d have to resort to words like Mediterranean-influenced with a dash of Downeast home cooking and a serious dose of comfort food savoir faire.
The annual Food Issue of Maine magazine arrived in subscriber’s mailboxes yesterday. Inside you’ll find:
Taking his cue from this week’s feature article on New England groundfishing, Portland Phoenix restaurant critic Brian Duff has sampled fish dishes at Three Buoys, Taqueria Tequila, Old Port Sea Grill and Taco Escobarr.
At Taco Escobarr they give seasoned pieces of firm pollock a very light fry. A white sauce adds just a touch of tang, some slaw lends a bit of sour, and thin slices of radish give some bitterness. At three for $10 they run a bit more money, but you get them on house-made corn tortillas — which have good flavor but could use a touch more sear on the grill.
The North Point, a small bar and cafe opened tonight. The North Point is located at 35 Silver Street immediately adjacent to the Crooked Mile Cafe.
Today’s Press Herald includes an overview of Maine Restaurant Week. The food event will be taking place March 1-10.
This is the fifth year of Maine Restaurant Week, and while there are some interesting changes in store, its basic structure will stay the same. The breakfast cook-off and the other major event of the week, a cocktail-and-dessert competition called the Signature Event, are extremely popular and usually sell out. These parties haven’t changed much because the basic formats have not yet gotten (pardon the expression) stale.
Also worth noting is a new blog from the Press Herald. The Beer Babe is written by Carla Companion. Her most recent post is a review of the beer list at Pai Men Miyake.
I chose a Hitachino Nest Commemorative Ale “Zymatore”, which is relatively rare even at Belgian beer bars. A third party – with agreements with many famous brewers – takes small batches of amazing beer, and then ages it in barrels – in this case Zinfandel barrels, and each release is unique and complex…
Portland Daily Sun columnist Natalie Ladd has written about a night when everything went well . . . except the tips.
So why were the tip so overwhelmingly bad?
It stands to reason there should be a direct correlation between customer satisfaction with the big three: Food, Atmosphere and Service (FAT) and a handsome gratuity. Typically that’s how it plays out, but that night, I just couldn’t figure what was going awry. There was the paper napkin upon which somebody wrote, “Fantastic Service! We had a great time,” and left a little over ten percent of their check.
The semi-final list of nominees for this year’s James Beard Awards were released today. Four Maine chefs and restaurants made the list:
- Fore Street for Outstanding Restaurant
- and for Best Chef Northeast:
- Krista Kern Desjarlais at Bresca
- Brian Hill at Francine Bistro
- Melissa Kelly at Primo
Final nominees will be announced on Monday March 18 and the awards ceremony takes place May 3 & 6 in New York City.
For reference, here are the Maine semi-finalist from 2012, 2011 and 2010.
Two Maine donut shops have been included by Saveur in their list of the 50 Finest Donut Shops in America: Frosty’s, founded in Brunswick with a shop in South Portland, and Congdon’s in Wells.
The list was part of a extensive series of donut articles. The historical timeline of donuts (1600s to 2011) includes mention of Maine’s Captain Hanson Gregory and his invention of the donut.
Articles from the new issue of the magazine aren’t yet available online.
The nominations are in and it’s now time to cast your ballot in the Portland Phoenix Best of Portland Readership Poll.
There are a plethora of Food and Drink categories (Bagels, Bars, Barbecue, Beer Selection, Brewpubs, Brunch, etc) to vote on as well as sections for City Life, Arts and Entertainment, and Shopping.
Portland Food Map along with From Away, Map & Menu, Mister Meatball, and the The Blueberry Files are all contenders in the Food Blog category.
Final results are usually made public in April at the Port City Music Hall.