Reviews of Elsmere and Empire

| Posted in Reviews

Portland Portland Peter Eater has published a review of Elsmere BBQ,

Now it’s official – the Portland area has a new BBQ restaurant that is ready to serve your BBQ needs. Go now so they stay in business. I want to make sure this one is around for a while. They deserve to be and I can only imagine everything will continue to get even better as they hit their stride. After all, they just opened.

and The 207 Foodie has published a review of Empire Chinese Kitchen.

Empire is worth trying. If you A. Love Chinese food, B. Need dim sum in your life, C. want to try something new or are just curious, then Empire is for you. Having a dim sum restaurant in Portland, Maine just shows how great of a food city we live in, so take advantage of another new place to try!

Under Construction: Oscar’s New American

| Posted in Under Construction

A new restaurant called Oscar’s New American (facebook) is under construction in Yarmouth in the space formerly occupied by the Sea Grass Bistro. Chef/owner Nick Krunkkala was formerly the chef at Fog Bar and at Rock City Cafe in Rockland. According to Oscar’s Facebook page they hope to open this month, and are

…a farm to table concept focusing on local ingredients. We make everything in house from our bread to our ice cream. At Oscar’s we try and give the diner the most unique eating experience with our menu changing weekly.

This Week’s Events: Common Ground, BiBo’s Wine Dinner, Zapoteca Tequila Dinner

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — Local Sprouts is hosting the monthly local foods networking breakfast, and the IfAA is kicking off their dinner series.

Wednesday — there will be a Pretty Things tasting at the Bier Cellar, the Makers Market is taking place at the Urban Farm Fermentory in the afternoon and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place in the morning.

Thursday — there will be a Malbec tasting at the Public Market House.

Friday — it’s the first day of the Common Ground Fair and BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe is holding a wine dinner.

Saturday — there will be a wine tasting at Browne Trading, it’s the 2nd day of the Common Ground Fair, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Zapoteca is holding a tequila dinner, the 14th Annual Trail to Ale is taking place, it’s the last day of the Common Ground Fair.

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.

Under Construction: King’s Head & Casa Fiesta

| Posted in Under Construction

Another pair of new restaurants have submitted liquor license applications to the City Council:

  • Casa Fiesta is “Mexican Bar and Grill” under construction at 865 Forest Ave (formerly Venue Music Bar, The Loft and many others). The application indicates that Casa Fiesta is “modeled like a current successfully operating business in Bideford Crossing“. They hope to open in October. A draft menu (pages 49-50) was provided as part of the materials supplied to the City Council.
  • King’s Head is under construction on Merrill’s Wharf in the Pierce Atwood building. The application states that King’s Head aims to provide a “high quality dining experience” which features “fresh ingredients highlighting local/regional/sustainable cuisine”. The interior design will draw on “maritime and historical themes” using “vintage and or antique” fixtures. They also hope to open in October. The draft menu (pages 27) was provided as part of the materials supplied to the City Council.

First Reviews of Empire Chinese Kitchen

| Posted in Reviews

Both The Blueberry Files and The Golden Dish have published reviews of Empire Chinese Cuisine based on their opening day first impressions.

Even so, there were a few small things that Empire could work on, but I trust that they will improve. Overall, my impression of the food was very positive and combined with the location, the atmosphere, and the great bar (and bartender, obvi), I’m sure Empire will make many people very happy.[TBF]

The menu is very concise but full of enough options. Parlaying its stance as a dining establishment serving Chinese soul food — comforting and delicious — what has emerged is a new neighborhood haunt that Portlanders have long wanted and can now embrace  without hesitation. [TGD]

 

Maine Brew Bus & Dave Geary Interview

| Posted in Beer, People

This week’s edition of The Forecaster includes a double article about the Maine Brew Bus,

The tour visits three of Maine’s leading breweries: Allagash Brewing Co. off Riverside Street, where the visit begins with a tour and ends with a tasting; then to Maine Beer Co. in Freeport for a beer sampler and snack, and finally to Rising Tide Brewing Co. in East Bayside, for a final tasting.

and containing an interview with Dave Geary.

Geary, who lives in Cape Elizabeth, said the brewing scene has changed dramatically in the years since he began building his brewery in 1984.

“There we no real road maps, how-to guides,” he said. “All of our equipment is custom made. These days you can buy it off the shelf, turn-key operation, if you’ve got enough money.

Apples/John Bunker/Apple CSA

| Posted in People, Farming

The Portland Phoenix has published an article about this year’s apple season, the apple CSA and John Bunker,

For five years now, Bunker and his wife, Cammy, and crew have run an “Out on a Limb” heritage apple CSA, with two drop-off locations in Portland. I just joined and can’t wait for this week’s first pickup of the 10 to 12 pounds of apples. Last year, the CSA distributed dozens of rare and beloved Maine varieties, including deep purple (plum-like) Black Oxfords and dense Blue Pearmains, aromatic Garden Royals and Idareds, Cox’s Orange Pippins and Northern Spys. Willow Pond Farm in Sabattus is known for these late season Northern Spys, crisp yet juicy, and equally good eaten fresh or baked into pie.

For more on the apple CSA see this post from The Blueberry Files about the first week’s distribution.

Empire Chinese Kitchen Now Open

| Posted in Openings

Empire Chinese Kitchen (website, facebook) has now opened at 575 Congress Street. The venue has been completely recast by owners Theresa Chan and Todd Bernard as a Chinese dim sum restaurant—harkening back to the building’s early 20th century past as a Chinese restaurant. Despite the rain, the restaurant was packed when The Blueberry Files and I stopped by for dinner.

According to the Press Herald,

The menu, a press release sent out today says, will feature “truly authentic Chinese cuisine and Dim Sum. The menu of traditional and modern ‘Chinese soul food’ will feature local meats, seafoods, and seasonal produce. The kitchen will be headed by a Dim Sum Master Chef with 40 years’ experience creating specialty dumplings in world class kitchens around the world.”

For more details see today’s article about Empire from the Bangor Daily News.

Historical tidbit: Maine’s first Chinese restaurant was opened on Custom House Wharf by Ar Tee Lam in 1880.