Rachel’s Big Move

| Posted in Profiles

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Rachels L’Osteria about their move in 2003 out of the Old Port and to Woodford Street.

“People thought we were crazy,” says Bob Butler, co-owner and front-of-the-house manager at Rachels L’Osteria. But moving out of the Old Port and into their current space at 496 Woodford Street was more of a dream come true for the couple. “This is what we’ve always thought of as our restaurant,” says Laura Butler. “It’s more personal for us and for our customers.”

The owners of Uffa made a similar move when they left Longfellow Square and moved to Westbrook and became The Frog and Turtle. Are there other examples out of restaurants that moved away from the peninsula?

Natural Foodie

| Posted in General News

Blogger and former Maine Switch staffer Avery Yale Kamila is now writing a weekly column for the Press Herald Food & Dining section called Natural Foodie. The first of the series appeared in today’s newspaper.

Which brings me to the purpose of this weekly column. Here I’ll chronicle the latest trends in natural food, plus introduce you to the people and products feeding Maine’s healthful eaters. You can look forward to reading about a wide rage of eating styles, such as local, organic, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, raw and macrobiotic.

Please send me your thoughts and story suggestions and, until next week, don’t forget to eat your vegetables.

Smoked Lobster, Lobster Wine, etc

| Posted in Fisheries

The feature article in today’s Food & Dining section takes a look at several initiatives ranging from lobster barbecue to lobster wine, to help out the Maine industry.

“We smoke our lobsters here, and they are really a great vessel for just about any kind of sauce, and we’re trying to bring some attention to that,” [chef/owner of Buck’s Naked BBQ] Caisse said. “We’ve got a lot of local lobster guys who come in here to eat, and we hear stuff, we know how hard they’re trying to sustain their living. So we want to help them by telling people that lobsters are for more than just a special occasion.”

Restaurants per Capita Claim

| Posted in General News

MaineBiz has investigated the longstanding, but unverified, claim that Portland has the “highest or second highest number of restaurants per capita behind San Francisco”. While the source is still murky they were able to calculate the number of “registered food service establishments with food preparation” in the two cities relative to their population. Portland has 1 registered food service establishment for every 118 people and San Francisco clocks in at 1 for ever 231-311 people. The bottom line from MaineBiz:

That math seems to support the claim that Portland has more restaurants per capita than San Francisco. It’s still muddied, though. Those eatery licenses in the Portland City Hall include every school, nursing home and office cafeteria in the city, along with any other location that prepares and serves food.

So where does that leave us on the fact or fiction scale? Somewhere in the middle, leaning toward fact, but not enough to meet Mainebiz‘s high standards of reporting. But for PR purposes, it’s just fine.

Bar Lola Review

| Posted in Reviews

Chow Maine has published a review of a recent meal at Bar Lola.

With a friend in town, I had dinner out for fun — and Bar Lola made the evening something to write about even if I didn’t take any notes. The dishes were memorable without them. For $36 each, we enjoyed a five-course meal that was simply terrific.

This Week's Events

| Posted in Events

The weekly Food and Drink Trivia Contest is at Bull Feeney’s tonight, and on Tuesday the next Wine Flight 5k Training run is taking place. There are wine tastings this week at the Old Port Wine Merchants on Wednesday, at the Public Market House and Leavitt and Sons on Thursday, and at Kitchen & Cork on Saturday. Jones Landing is holding a wine event on Wednesday.  Cultivating Community’s next Twilight Dinner is Thursday at their farm in Cape Elizabeth. Farmers’ Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

Changes at Siam Grille

| Posted in Under Construction

There’s a sign in the window at Siam Grille that  indicates they’re taking a “much deservered vacation and time off”, and asks that people “check out and support the new coming restaurant.” It seems to suggest a significant change up in the restaurant once they’re back from vacation. Does anyone have any additional info or know more about what the “new coming restaurant” will be?

Taste & Tell Review of El Rayo

| Posted in Reviews

El Rayo received 3½ stars in this week’s Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

BOTTOM LINE: Most items at this vibrant Mexican taco place, or Taqueria, cost $6 or less, and better, are great to eat – and the more expensive, delicious drinks, spiked with good liquor, reveal the owners’ roots in fine dining.

In addition to reviewing the restaurant, the article provides details on the owners plans for the old Popeye’s location “a long-term plan to demolish the old Popeye’s building up the street and build a Mexican dinner restaurant” and a mobile home now parked at El Rayo. “An Air Stream trailer is undergoing renovation and was intended to serve as a bar area for the outdoor seats, but it could be incorporated into a new addition” .

Taste & Tell has moved back to the Sunday paper after a few weeks in the new Wednesday Food & Dining section in response to requests from MST readers.