PortlandTown has published photos of the contenders in the Neighborhood Store category from the 2010 Phoenix’s Best of Portland readership poll: Colucci’s, Fresh Approach, Micucci’s, Rosemont, and the West End Deli.
Photo Credit: Michael Barriault
Twins, Triplets and Quads
The recent launches of Boda and Sonny’s are reminders that a growing number of Portland area food business are tied together by some degree of common ownership. Some of the connections are readily apparent such as Harding Lee Smith’s three ‘Room’ restaurants which share a single website and others are little less visible.
Note: I’ve continued to keep this list up to date as the business landscape continue to evolve (March 2011).
Here are the budding food empires that I’m aware of:
- The Front Room, The Grill Room, The Corner Room and Boone’s
- Fore Street and Street & Co.
- Five Fifty-Five, Petite Jacqueline and Portland Patisserie
- Nosh and Slab
- Tempo Dulu and Natalie’s (Camden)
- Evo and the Chebeague Island Inn
- David’s, David’s 388 and David’s Opus Ten
- Hugo’s, Eventide Oyster Co. and The Honey Paw
- Bard Coffee and Wicked Joe Coffee
- Aurora Provisions and the Museum Cafe
- Green Elephant and Boda (and a Green Elephant in Portsmouth)
- Local 188, Sonny’s and Salvage BBQ
- Shay’s and the Crooked Mile Cafe
- Maine Beer and Beverage and Market House Coffee
- Pat’s Pizza and Grille 233 in Yarmouth
- Shipyard Brewing, Casco Bay Brewing, Sea Dog Brewing and The Inn on Peaks Island
- Lolita and Hilltop Coffee Shop
- Miyake and Pai Men Miyake
- Novare Res and Liquid Riot Bottling Co.
- Benkay and Kushiya Benkay
- Zen Chinese Bistro and Mediteranean Grill(Freeport)
- Blackbird Baking and Two Fat Cats
- Pom’s Thai Taste and its 3 sisters
- The North Point and Timber
- Bonfire, The Drink Exchange, Dusk and 51 Wharf
- There’s a family connection that links the owners of DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant,and Bruno’s
- And there are the many businesses with multiple locations that have the same name like Coffee by Design, Tandem Coffee and Rosemont Market
There are probably others, what am I missing?
Bar Review of Sonny's
The Press Herald has published a new Bar Guide write-up on Sonny’s.
With the same style of cooking as Local 188, but with that South American flavor, Sonny’s uses local sources, organic foods and humane meat choices. Chances are you have already heard raves about the yam fries ($4), but the acarage (it resembles a black bean and shrimp fritter, $10) also is a nice place to start. It’s cold outside, so try the pozole rojo (chicken stew) for $9 or the mariscada del noche, a portion large enough for two, filled with scallops, mussels and clams.
Bar Review of Sonny’s
The Press Herald has published a new Bar Guide write-up on Sonny’s.
With the same style of cooking as Local 188, but with that South American flavor, Sonny’s uses local sources, organic foods and humane meat choices. Chances are you have already heard raves about the yam fries ($4), but the acarage (it resembles a black bean and shrimp fritter, $10) also is a nice place to start. It’s cold outside, so try the pozole rojo (chicken stew) for $9 or the mariscada del noche, a portion large enough for two, filled with scallops, mussels and clams.
Review of Yosaku
Yosaku has received a B grade in a review that appeared in the new edition of the USM Free Press.
If you’re craving Japanese cuisine, or just looking for a new spot for a night out, be sure to check out Yosaku. Just make sure to go on a day you aren’t in a rush. The food is always great, but the service is 50/50.
The Phoenix's Heart List
This week’s Portland Phoenix features the newspaper’s list of Portland’s most influential people. There’s an entire section devoted to Food and Drink, with a profile of Jay Villani from Local 188/Sonny’s. Members of the Portland food community are also scattered throughout the remainder of the article in the sections for Activism, Business, Letters and Up-and-Comers.
The Phoenix’s Heart List
This week’s Portland Phoenix features the newspaper’s list of Portland’s most influential people. There’s an entire section devoted to Food and Drink, with a profile of Jay Villani from Local 188/Sonny’s. Members of the Portland food community are also scattered throughout the remainder of the article in the sections for Activism, Business, Letters and Up-and-Comers.
Wayside Moving On
Wednesday’s Portland Daily Sun reports on the Wayside Soup Kitchen’s plans to “transition away from the traditional soup kitchen model and into a neighborhood-based meals programming“.
IIK: Vietnamese Papaya Salad
Lindsay Sterling has published another installment in her collaborative ethnic cooking project Inside Immigrant Kitchens. This time she learns from Hop Nguyen of Yarmouth how to make “green papaya salad from Bac Ninh province in northern Vietnam”.
But what’s really amazing is the story how she ended up here. Thirteen years ago in January in Vietnam, she was riding her bike home from English class in a short-sleeve shirt and jeans. The air was smoky, the gutters next to the road filled with trash. All the motorbikes honking their horns looked like a stream of fish rushing to spawning ground. As she came up to the archway at the Temple of Literature she saw a letter that someone had dropped on the sidewalk…
Vegan Chocolates & Worker Pay
Today’s Press Herald promotes the positive health benefits of vegan chocolates. The article includes a list of local establishments where you can find dairy-free food of the gods.
Researchers say chocolate gives us a heart-healthy antioxidant boost, but only if we enjoy it without a side order of dairy. With Valentine’s Day on Sunday, the heart-shaped boxes will be flying off the shelves, but for those of us who want to cater to our loved ones’ tickers (and not just their sweet tooth), we’ll be seeking out chocolates made without milk.
Today’s paper also reports on the results of a study on worker pay in Maine’s restaurant industry.
Using a sampling base of 525 surveyed workers – 1.1 percent of the Maine restaurant work force – the study found that in 2008, 16.3 percent earned a living wage, defined as $17 or more an hour. The largest group – 59.7 percent – fell into the “low wages” category, defined as $8.46 to $16.99 an hour.
The study found that 20.9 percent of restaurant workers earned between $7.25 and $8.45 an hour – a rate that puts them below the poverty line – and 3 percent made less than the then-minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.