Monday, June 27, 2011

Taste Of The Nation 2011

3PM crowd starts arriving for the Wine & Spirit Reception

Free Range Chicken Torchon w/ Shallot & Cherry Marmalade
Stonecipher Farm Greens

Grace / Portland
Sorry this was mis-identified earlier.
It was also very good, I ate 3 or  4 as I had some of my gear next to their table.


Clam Tatar with Cucumber Linguine



*****
On to the Main Event in the BIG Tent

this and below


Sea Glass / In By The Sea / Crescent Beach 

Hugo's
& Duck Fat / Portland
this & below


I liked this Barbera very much.
Robert Parker called it a steal!



Very Yummy Indeed!!!

The Coppola Cab was excellent as well.

Front Room / Grill Room / Corner Room / Portland
There's always room for Cookies!




The Grab Bags filled with $$$

The Fhttp://farmerstablemaine.com/armers Table / Portland
Wife and I agree these Mussels & sauce were great!


Lobster and Risotto
and below

Don't forget the pickles

and you can't go wrong with Sam (H.)


The Salt Exchange / Portlan
d


East End Cupcakes / Portland
Opening a new store in the Old Port on Fore Street next to Gorgeous Gelato


Lily Bistro / Rockland

I heard about people being dragged over to try these little devils!
Mexican Chocolate, Cinnamon, Pineapple on a chip,
Bet you can't eat just one.





Almost time to go!


It's 3:17 and while I'm not hungry, I am tired. I'll added some links to the restaurants and post more to flickr tomorrow sometime. 

LINKS ARE IN.



Friday, June 24, 2011

Preview / Zapoteca / Ginko Blue

Zapoteca/restaurante Y Tequeleria,  a new Mexican/ Fine Dining Restaurant opened last night in the Old Port. I had stopped by in the afternoon to check it out and the staff was in typical last minute, oh shit we don't have menus printed yet!!! mode. Soft openings are what they are a time to iron out the kinks, see how the kitchen crew & wait staff handle the pressure of everything being new. So when I went back around 7 O'clock and saw a decent crowd I wasn't surprise to see little signs of nervousness around the food. Which looked pretty good. ( I'll be doing a full shoot in a couple of weeks. ) Happy faces at the tables and the bar side was full.






Zapoteca's website is coming soon, in the meantime, here's some helpful info:

www.ZapotecaRestaurant.com
505 Fore Street
207-899-6201
Twitter@EatZapoteca

*****



I hadn't yet been into Gingko Blue.  
Being a big Jazz/Blues fan I wanted to stop in for a look see.  
What I saw I liked very much!  
The Portland Quartet was lighting it up. 
A little hard bop, a few softer standards mixed in, nice rhythm going down.


Nice place to shoot the band, I'll be back!

Much like it's sibling establishment, this place has a very big city feel.
The atmosphere is distinctly new for Portland.
It also has the coolest men's room in Portland.
Didn't ask to see the ladies, but it's on my list.


Gingko Blue
455 Fore Street
at the corner of Temple
207-541-9190
***
www.gingkoblue.com


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Festival Weekend...Greek, BBQ, Strawberry, Taste of The Nation, Plus

Starting Thursday Southern Maine foodies can start salivating as a weekend of festivals and food events kicks off with Portland's Greek Festival. 
Saturday brings Smokin' At The Ballpark, BBQ,  in Old Orchard Beach and the Strawberry Festival in Cape Elizabeth. Followed on Sunday by Taste of the Nation in South Portland. 
Oh yeah, theres a Vegetarian Food Festival somewhere... and Allagash Brewing is having a Premiere Party for it's Victoria Ale at the Victoria Mansion at 5:30 on Friday.
Check the Portland Food Map calendar for time and details... 
in the mean time here are a few photos from Taste and a KCBC BBQ cook-off from last year. 

This years Taste Of The Nation is Sunday the 26th of June.
It's an all around great deal!  Lot's of kids get a helping hand thanks to Share Our Strength.
and foodies from southern Maine and afar get a smart deal on tremendous food and drink, in a pleasant atmosphere
and there  is dancing and a silent auction as well.
Oh, and did I mention door prizes!
These are a few from last years well attended event.
Primo
David's 
Cinque Terre / Vignola


There is another foodie event this weekend in Old Orchard Beach, at Smokin' At The BallPark, on Saturday. The event is sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society.  Local favorite DennyMike's will of  course be on hand.  Here are a few images from last years competition in Eliot, Maine at Raitt Family Homestead.