Portland Bar Guide has published a review of The Grill Room.
Upscale while still being casual, highly recommended and conveniently located in the heart of the Old Port, The Grill Room is another winner in the trio of “rooms.”
Whoopie Pie Awards
According to a report in the Portland Daily Sun, a pair of Portland businesses won awards at last week’s Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft. Anania’s won in the Best Traditional Whoopie Pie and Cranberry Island Kitchen won in the Most Original category. (The Sun article isn’t available online yet).
PortlandTown has published a beautiful set of photos of the bakers at Cranberry Island at work and some additional details on the bakery and the competition.
Photo Credit: Michael Barriault
June 2010 Monthly Stats
The 10 eateries looked up most often in June were:
- Katahdin (29)
- Boda (1)
- Miyake (11)
- Soju (7)
- Bar Lola (6)
- El Rayo (51)
- Paciarino (10)
- Bresca (8)
- Five Fifty-Five (14)
- Local Sprouts (-)
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Michelle & Steve Corry on Fox
Michelle & Steve Corry appeared on Fox’s Good Morning Maine show Wednesday morning to talk about their restaurant Five Fifty-Five and a new cookbook, Fresh from Maine that the restaurant is appearing in (along with Bar Lola, Caiola’s Cinque Terre, Fore Street, Hugo’s, Old Port Sea Grill, etc) . Fresh from Maine is authored by Michael Sanders and illustrated by Portland photographer Russell French.
Michelle & Steve Corry on Fox
Michelle & Steve Corry appeared on Fox’s Good Morning Maine show Wednesday morning to talk about their restaurant Five Fifty-Five and a new cookbook, Fresh from Maine that the restaurant is appearing in (along with Bar Lola, Caiola’s Cinque Terre, Fore Street, Hugo’s, Old Port Sea Grill, etc) . Fresh from Maine is authored by Michael Sanders and illustrated by Portland photographer Russell French.
SoPo Eats
There have been some new additions to the dining scene in South Portland:
- Cambridge Coffee Bar and Bakehouse is just across the bridge on Broadway where the Freaky Bean used to be located. It’s owned by Vicki Cambridge who explained to Mainebiz that she, “learned to cook from her grandmother, says she has ‘gained a baking reputation in the community, and having a shop of my own was a logical next step.’ “
- A new Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Hanoi is giving SoPo pho-fans a way to satisfy their cravings without having to leave their hometown. Where is Jenner’s Mind writes that the pho “certainly rivals the pho at both Thanh Thanh and Saigon”
- Willard Scoops opened last year and is getting praise for “raises the bar for gourmet ice cream in the Portland area”. Portland Eats writes that he especially “like how some of the ice creams at Willard Scoops use salt to good effect, such as in the chocolate sea salt ice cream and the salt caramel and salt caramel nut ice creams”
- There’s even someone who’s started raising hops in South Portland.
Immigrant Kitchens: Congolese Bean and Rice
Lindsay Sterling has published the details of another ethnic cooking adventure on her blog Immigrant Kitchens. This time around she’s learning how to make Congolese Bean and Rice (intro, photos, recipe) from Constance Kabaziga of Kinshasa, Congo.
I met Constance Kabaziga at the checkout at Mittapheap world market. She was buying frozen cassava root and dried beans, and I really wanted to know what she was going to do them. “You look like a good cook,” I ventured. She smiled, laughing, but couldn’t return any English. A bilingual young man walked in. I hid my nerves and asked him to translate: “Would she ever teach me how to cook?” Three days later I was in Constance’s small apartment kitchen, watching her slice red onion and green peppers…
Maine Lobstering & the Lobster Roll
The Boston Globe has published an article on how lobstermen in Maine and elsewhere in New England are experimenting with alternative ways to market their catch.
In Maine, there are 5,800 commercial lobstermen, many of whom are trying new marketing ideas. “Some go roadside and sell locally,’’ says Patrice McCarron, executive director of the 1,200-member Maine Lobstermen’s Association in Kennebunk. “There are people on Craigslist. Some sell on the Internet.’’
And in a state-by-state round-up of the 50 fattiest foods in the nation, Health magazine selected the lobster roll to represent Maine’s contribution. The funny thing is that rather than pick the roll from Red’s or Haraseeket Lunch & Lobster or Portland Lobster Company to base their dietary evaluation on, they reported the fat levels of lobster rolls from D’Angelo’s and Pap Gino’s.
Maine Lobstering & the Lobster Roll
The Boston Globe has published an article on how lobstermen in Maine and elsewhere in New England are experimenting with alternative ways to market their catch.
In Maine, there are 5,800 commercial lobstermen, many of whom are trying new marketing ideas. “Some go roadside and sell locally,’’ says Patrice McCarron, executive director of the 1,200-member Maine Lobstermen’s Association in Kennebunk. “There are people on Craigslist. Some sell on the Internet.’’
And in a state-by-state round-up of the 50 fattiest foods in the nation, Health magazine selected the lobster roll to represent Maine’s contribution. The funny thing is that rather than pick the roll from Red’s or Haraseeket Lunch & Lobster or Portland Lobster Company to base their dietary evaluation on, they reported the fat levels of lobster rolls from D’Angelo’s and Pap Gino’s.
Cliff Island Store and Locavorian Island Eating
The new issue of Working Waterfront includes a profile of Pearls Seaside Market and Cafe which is run by Steve and Johanna Corman on Cliff Island in Casco Bay.
Johanna prefers to work the cafe. While neither she nor Steve had formal restaurant experience, Johanna grew up on Apple Acres Farm in South Hiram, where she ran the gift shop and created gourmet apple products that were eventually picked up by Dean & Deluca. In the morning she bakes goods like cinnamon rolls and egg sandwiches-without a stove. “We don’t have the right ventilation system for an oven, so I do it all on a griddle!” she says. Other highlights on her menu are homemade pizza (the feta and spinach pie was delicious) and the B.L.L.T, a classic bacon, lettuce, lobster and tomato sandwich.
The newspaper also features an examination of the intersection between locavorism and island living by food historian Sandy Oliver.
slanders, and everyone else, used to be so much better at producing food for themselves, especially vegetables, milk and eggs. Pigs, cows and chickens dotted our landscape, as well as the occasional beef critter. In this, we were hardly different from mainlanders. Some of this urge is creeping back, at least here on Islesboro, and a fine looking steer moored to a spike graces the yard of a neighbor about a mile away. We hear about chicks being hatched and, despite last year’s disastrous gardening seasoning, a few new gardens have been created and fenced in.