Forecaster columnist Edgar Allen Beem writes this week about his personal path to a locavorian point of view.
Small local farms, family gardens, locally owned, independent businesses. If the 21st century turns out to look more like the 19th than the 20th, it may well be a good thing. I have seen the future and it resides in the past.
Eat well, my friends. Eat local.
Otto’s mashed potato, bacon and scallion pizza has made it into the Food Network Magazine’s list of the 50 best pizza’s in the nation. (via the Press Herald)
For much of the year, Maine weather demands serious comfort food, and Otto Pizza’s co-owners, Mike Keon and Anthony Allen, were determined to deliver it: They created a pizza topped with mashed potatoes, meatloaf and gravy. Customers didn’t go for it, but when the two edited the toppings to this perfect combo — buttery mashed potatoes, bacon and scallions — it became an instant best-seller.
The 10 eateries looked up most often in July on Portland Food Map were:
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month
Wednesday — the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — the South Portland Farmers Market is taking place in the afternoon.
Friday — it’s the opening day of the 4th Annual Roguepalooza at Novare Res and there will be a wine tasting at the West End Deli.
Saturday — it’s the opening day of 86th Annual St Peter’s Italian Bazaar, there will be an Italian wine tasting at LeRoux Kitchen, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place. It’s the last day of the Roguepalooza at Novare Res.
Sunday — Dobra is teaching a class on green tea and it’s the last day of 86th Annual St Peter’s Italian Bazaar.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.
Here are a few updates on restaurants under construction in Portland:
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes the results from the Press Herald readership poll and a set of PPH staff recommendations.
From Away has published a review of Local 188,
Why we waited so long to eat there, I don’t exactly know. We didn’t want to be disappointed? Our fears proved misguided, once again. We had a great night out in their dining room, and walked back to our apartment, sated and sober.
Eat Here. Go There. has published a review of Hot Suppa,
All in all, I think it’s a great place to treat yourself and the ones you love to some Southern style soul food. It’s a little off the beaten path so I don’t think it’s been fully discovered for dinner yet. I can’t wait to go back!
Earlier this week the Press Herald published an interview with Rick Micucci from Micucci Grocery.
Q: What are your earliest remembrances of the store?
A: I grew up here. My three brothers, two sisters and I played here as children. And, I’ve been working here full time since high school. When we got our driver’s licenses, we helped our father make deliveries to customers. My father was always looking for good deals on quality food. I remember times when he’d buy an entire (train) rail car full of canned tomatoes. He’d ask my brothers and I to grab a few of our friends and unload the freight car into a truck and haul it back to the store. Sometimes it would take us two days to finish the job.
The Bollard has published a review of the Blue Burrito Cafe in Westbrook,
When you think of Mexican food, one of the last words that pops into your head is “Westbrook.” One trip to Blue Burrito Café will change that.
From Away has published a sandwich review of The Cheese Iron,
This is not your lunchbox’s ham and cheese. Smoky ham, taleggio, sweet chutney and basil, grilled on crusty baguette. This is the sandwich I have been wanting all year, maybe all my life.
The Golden Dish has published a review of the Falmouth Sea Grill which is sibling of the Old Port Sea Grill in Portland,
Connolly has definitely taken the menu to a higher culinary standard, a middle of the road goodness that’s easy to like.
Is it a menu or a dining experience meant to send you to the moon? No. And that’s OK. Not every meal needs to wow and dazzle. But in such a fun, convivial setting, you couldn’t ask for more.
Portland Bar Guide has published a review of the new Sebago Brewing on Fore Street.
The beers serve as an embodiment of various places and experiences in Maine. The most popular with customers is the medium-bodied Frye’s Leap IPA ($4 for a pint; $5 for 22 ounces), but many staff members and beer connoisseurs (me included) prefer the malty Runabout Red. You need only look to the wall over the raised booths to see the painted labels of the year-round craft beers and five seasonal brews. If the smorgasbord of beer choices overwhelms you, you can always try the sampler ($5), which offers a selection of five 4-ounce glasses.