RWME Cinque Terre Review

Type A Diversions has published a RestaurantWeekME review of Cinque Terre.

For our first two courses we tried the Arancini (crispy risotto and Maine crab balls served with romesco sauce and pesto) and the cajun-style Grilled Monkfish served with chickpeas, arugula pesto and Sicilian tapenade (fabulous!). As a bonus Chef Lee Skawinski has added a free cheese course – served with candied walnuts – to the prix fixe menu. Our only disappointment was the dessert.

Silver House Tavern Review

The Portland Bar Guide has reviewed Silver House Tavern.

When I walked in all talking stopped. I mean it, not a single person said a word. Trust me, it’s not like I’m a real head turner, so I didn’t really get the jaw-dropping silence. I walked up to the bartender and said, “Hey, how’s it going?” No one resumed their conversation. I’m totally guessing here, but I’m thinking this place is more known for their regulars than not.

El Rayo

Sol Foods LLC, the company behind the new Mexican restaurant under construction on York Street, won approval last night from the Portland City Council for a liquor license. They were planning on calling the restaurant Taco Land but have decide to go by El Rayo instead. Their liquor license application includes a draft menu.

Guinness Primer

In anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, The Maine Switch has published a primer on drinking Guinness.

Being that it’s a glass full of black, it has to be bitter with an aftertaste that hangs on for days. No thanks, was always my answer. I’d rather settle for a Coors Light than go down that road.

But since we’re closing in on that annual celebration of St. Patrick, the day when the Guinness flows non-stop at places like Ri Ra, Bull Feeney’s and Brian Boru, I figured it was high time I actually gave the old Irish favorite a try.

Hood Downsizing Organic Dairies

Today’s Press Herald published a pair of articles from the Bangor Daily News on downsizing in the organic dairy business. Hood has decided not to renew contracts with about a third of their organic dairies in Maine and asked the rest to decrease their output.

The farms being dropped by Hood are in Aroostook and Washington counties only, an area courted heavily by Hood just three years ago, when the organic boom was at its peak.

Hood ships Maine’s organic milk to New York to be processed and packaged and then returns it to Maine where it is sold as Stonyfield Farm Organic Milk.