According to a report at HillyTown, Otto Pizza at 576 Congress Street opened yesterday for business. HillyTown reports that “The pizza they’re serving up isn’t your average greasy thin-sliced business, this is serious pie.”
El Rayo Review
El Rayo has received 4½ stars from this week’s Eat & Run column in the Press Herald.
I’ll be the first to admit my logic might be flawed. But here’s how I judge the authenticity and originality of a Mexican restaurant in Maine: If my dish is not slathered in jar-style red salsa and buried under a solid layer of melted cheese, I’m happy.
I want to taste different flavors and spices, not just be overwhelmed by heat and gooeyness.
Using those standards, El Rayo Taqueria on York Street gets high scores. Actually, using any standards.
Cookie Review: Udder Place
The chocolate chip cookies at Udder Place have earned 4 out 5 points for flavor and texture from HillyTown in its ongoing cookie review series.
The chocolate involved was quality semi-sweet, but in my opinion the chip-to-dough ratio was a mite low. The cookie itself was also greasier than it should have been, leaving visible oily stains on the napkin. A little less fat and a little more chocolate and this would have been a contender for the top chocolate chip cookie in Portland.
In a separate post, HillyTown gave a shout out in favor of the Michelada at El Rayo, “The chili powder and salt along the top rim was pretty intense – I described it as tasting like licking a barbecue grill (not that I’ve done that), but the drink overall was really delicious and refreshing.”
Eve's at the Garden Review
The Portland Phoenix has reviewed Eve’s at the Garden.
The bar snacks recreate the spirit of the courtyard itself: each is a rarefied take on a people’s favorite. New chef Earl Morse, formerly of the White Barn Inn, has created funny little variations on classic casual food like sliders, tacos, crab-cakes, wings, and lobster rolls. They are really cute to look at — maybe they are even a touch too precious — but it was hard to hold that against a bar snack.
Public Market House
Head on over to Portland Fodder to see some nice under construction photos of the 2nd floor space at the Public Market House. According to Fodder, “Spartan Grill will be relocating to the second floor with such possible vendors as, Maine Coffee Roasters, KamaSOUPra, It’s Only Natural…GF, and an unnamed pizza place.”
According to a May 28 article in the Press Herald, the 2nd floor retail spaces will be available by mid-summer.
The Corner Room
Jim Keithly from ABC affiliate WMTW interviewed Harding Lee Smith about his new Italian restaurant The Corner Room (via Portland Psst!). According to the report, Smith plans on opening The Corner Room on June 25. As you can see from this photo I took today, there’s still a lot of work to do to get the space ready.
The WMTW report also includes some footage and information on Smith’s Windham farm where he’s currently raising 350 chickens. The farm to table operation is being expanded with a 48 foot green house that “will eventually produce a variety of herbs, lettuce and other vegetables”.
Paciarino Review
The vegetarian food blog Diet for a Small City has posted a review of Paciarino.
Much to my pleasure, the menu contained plenty of meatless options—and by options, I don’t mean that I chose the one vegetarian appetizer and the one vegetarian entree available—I mean, I actually had to make a decision. Fellow vegetarians know how disappointing it can be when a menu chooses your meal for you.
Out on a Limb Apple CSA
Rabelais Books and Out on a Limb in Palermo, Maine are teaming up to bring a rare apple CSA to Portland this fall. Shares are $120 and will bring “30-40 varieties of rare, interesting and highly flavored apples over the course of the season” and “will be accompanied by a newsletter with descriptions, history, tidbits and lore about each variety, as well as recipes and ideas for how to best use them.”
Otto Pizza
A new pizzeria, Otto Pizza, is under construction on Congress Street near the intersection with Forest Ave.
Review of The Inn on Peaks Island
Portland Magazine has published a review of The Inn on Peaks Island.
If the grub weren’t so delicious at the Inn on Peaks Island, there’d be reason enough (beyond the rave reports of our island friends, who consider the pub here a regional treasure) to visit for the journey alone: The Casco Bay ferries dish up a refreshing 20-minute visual appetizer as you watch the Portland city skyline turn purple and pink behind lighthouses, Fort Gorges, Little Diamond and House Islands, and the twinkles of a visiting cruise liner or two.