Unusual ice cream options

Originally published in the Portland Phoenix on July 16, 2014

Our short Maine summers mean we must maximize our ice cream eating opportunities. Most Portlanders have an opinion about the best ice cream purveyor, from Beal’s to Gifford’s to Red’s Dairy Freeze. But what of the lesser known frozen treats? During this run of glorious warm weather, many Portland restaurants and sweets shops are quietly churning out scoops worth your time this summer.

East End Cupcakes, known for their creatively flavored confections like banana cake topped with Nutella buttercream, quietly started making chocolate chip cookies 2 years ago. The cookies are sprinkled with a good amount of Maldon sea salt, giving them an irresistibly salty finish. Owner Alysia Zoidis says, “you need salt when you have sweet. A lot of people overlook that, and you get a one-dimensional sweet.”

Zoidis serves a scoop of Toot’s vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies ($4). After taste testing area offerings with her mom, Zoidis settled on North Yarmouth’s beloved Toot’s Ice Cream. Zoidis found the mother-daughter duo serving “wonderful, homemade ice cream,” from a repurposed train caboose to be an obvious choice.

Vinland, the 100 percent local foods restaurant, has taken advantage of the crowds drawn to the newly revitalized Congress Square Park by serving ice cream out of the back door of the restaurant. The ice cream operation has been in the works for a while, but according to bartender Alex Winthrop, the kitchen was working on achieving the perfect organic, gluten-free cone before launching. A salted butter semifreddo is the first flavor available, with a creamy texture and the sweetness again tempered by a hint of salt ($4 cup, $5 cone).

If you’re up for a bit of a drive out of Portland, you’ll be rewarded by fresh ice cream at Krista Kern Desjarlais’ Bresca and the Honey Bee. Desjarlais closed her popular Portland restaurant Bresca in the Spring of 2013, after purchasing the Snack Shack on Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester. Locals have been recreating at the privately-owned Outlet Beach since the 1920s. Desjarlais continues the tradition with her lakeside barbecue menu, but elevates it with gourmet twists on hamburgers and hotdogs. After you enjoy a Le Crunch dog, topped with kettle chips or a chilled rice noodle salad with pork belly, get a scoop ($3.75 cup with a pizzelle cookie, $.50 extra for a house-made sugar cone), while you dip your feet in the refreshing lake water.

Desjarlais uses Bink Belgian Ale and fresh peaches in her Belgian ale peach ice cream to create a subtly sweet, complex flavor that begins to melt as soon as its handed to you. Other summer flavors include White Monkey Tea, infused with a green tea from Little Red Cup Tea Co., and cherries that have been soaked in red wine. A root beer ice cream is flavored using all natural extracts and a crème fraîche Key lime pie has chunks of crushed graham crackers. The Snack Shack stops serving ice cream after Labor Day, so visit before 5:30 pm, seven days a week.

While not new, Bonobo Wood Fired Pizza continues their summer ice cream window. They serve popular Gelato Fiasco flavors and Smiling Hill ice cream, one of the only spots to get a scoop without visiting the farm’s dairy store. Stop by any of these spots on your post-dinner constitutional for a treat that is as sweet as Maine’s fleeting summer. You may even find your spot to lobby for in the neverending debate over Maine’s best ice cream.

EAST END CUPCAKES | 426 Fore St, Portland | Mon-Thurs 10:30 am-6 pm; Fri 10:30 am-8 pm, Sat 11 am-8 pm; Sun 11 am-5 pm | 207.228.3304

VINLAND | 593 Congress St, Portland | Dinner 5:30-9 pm; Brunch Sat-Sun 10 am-1:30 pm | Visa/MC/Amex/Disc | 207.653.8617

BRESCA & THE HONEY BEE | Outlet Rd, New Gloucester | Food Wed-Sun 11:30 am-4 pm; Ice cream Mon-Sun 11 am-5:30 pm | 207.725.9002

BONOBO | 22 Pleasant St, Brunswick | Lunch Wed-Fri 11:30 am-2:30 pm; Dinner Mon-Sat 4-9 pm; Sun 4-9 pm; Ice cream window Thurs-Sat 6:30-9:30 pm | 207.347.8267

Summer Weekend: Flea Bites, SeaDogs, and Bissell Brothers BBQ

This weekend in Portland is full of food and drink events, as are all Maine summer weekends. Tonight, from 6:30-9:30pm, is Flea Bites, the food truck clustering event outside of Portland's Flea-for-all. Featured food trucks are CN Shawarma, Good Shepherd Food Truck (with guest chef Damian Sansonetti, Piccolo), Fishin' Ships, Gusto's Italian Food Truck, Wicked Good Truck, Love Cupcakes, and Mainely Burgers. I don't know how they're going to fit all those trucks in that tiny lot, but it's going to be jam packed full of good food!

Tomorrow, July 12th, is Bark in the Park at Portland SeaDogs game at 5pm. It's a fundraiser for the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland through Planet Dog's Foundation, and there's a pre-game dog parade on the field! Not a food-related event, and I'm not even that into dogs, but I love baseball and am looking forward to watching an adorable doggie parade before the SeaDogs beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Bissell Brothers Brewing is having a Sunday BBQ out at the brewery on Industrial Way. They'll be pouring 4 beers - which is the most I've ever seen offered from them at once! In addition to the Substance, their American Ale, the Dang 'Ole, corn ale with lime; Strawberry Swing, a red wheat ale infused with local strawberries; and the 'Magin, a Rye IPA are available.

Whatever you find yourself doing - whether it's an ambitious agenda of hitting up the afore-mentioned events or relaxing on the beach - enjoy this perfect summer weather we've been having!

Get out and dine

Originally published in the Portland Phoenix on June 19, 2014

Summer in Maine brings a long-awaited flurry of activity. While it’s tempting to recoil into a “locals only” routine to avoid the crowds, dining in Portland is at its finest when it’s warm out. Be strategic about your opportunities for great food within this short season of relative abundance. Here are 10 must-eats for Summer 2014.

1) Bite Into Maine’s lobster roll
While Cape Elizabeth’s Fort Williams is in the eye of the tourist storm, the green space and endless expanse of ocean will keep you from feeling claustrophobic while you wait for your lunch. Gorgeous scenery or no, Bite Into Maine’s lobster roll cart alone is worth the drive. Choose from five preparations of fresh, never frozen (a feat more rare than you might think), Maine lobster: 4.5 ounces of tail and claw meat, all served on fresh-baked, buttered, toasted buns. Try the picnic-style roll, lobster meat tossed with melted butter, a layer of coleslaw, and sprinkled with celery seed. Think of it as research for your vote in Roll Call’s Taste of America competition, where Maine’s lobster roll has made it to the final round (vote at rollcalltasteofamerica.com). | biteintomaine.com

2) Maine Pie Line’s blueberry pie
This Maine staple can be surprisingly hard to find in a state that produces 99 percent of the country’s wild blueberries. Maine Pie Line’s Briana Warner consistently creates atypical pie fillings (like peaches poached in sage and wine and baked in almond pastry cream). Rather than just ho-hum blueberry, Warner adds warming spices cardamom and ginger to the fruit filling and covers it with a sugar-topped lattice crust. Maine Pie Line is open Wednesday–Friday, 10 am-3 pm, and Saturday from 9 am-1 pm at 200 Anderson Street in East Bayside. | mainepieline.com

3) Central Provisions’ bread and butter
Since its opening in February, Central Provisions has blended seamlessly into Portland’s elite restaurant scene. One menu staple, the bread and butter, elevates the pre-meal snack into an appetizer worthy of its own stage. Slices of grilled sourdough bread come with a heat-tempered duck egg yolk that’s been whipped and piped onto a smear of salted butter. Heavenly. | central-provisions.com

4) A meal from the farmers’ market
The Portland Farmers’ Market is the premier spot to find fresh, local food this summer. Fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, herbed goat cheese: these ingredients don’t need much to rival any Old Port restaurant meal. Meat-lovers should visit Thirty Acre Farm for pork bratwurst for the grill; everyone will love Lalibela Farm’s black bean tempeh strips, pan-fried in tacos or a salad. | portlandfarmersmarket.org

5) Small Axe food truck
We wouldn’t dare to venture a guess as to whether Congress Square Park just needed a little love to become a viable public space again or if the uptick in visitors is due to the popularity of Small Axe truck alone. Either way, enjoy the fried haddock sandwich or pork belly fried rice from these friendly chefs for lunch and dinner on weekdays. There’s new seating in the park, free Wi-Fi and, of course, great people watching. | smallaxetruck.com

6) Blue Rooster Food Co.’s chef hot dog series
Your favorite handheld treat gets a gourmet makeover this summer at The Rooster. Every week until the end of August, a guest chef hot dog is being served; the series started with Cara Stadler of Tao Yuan’s bacon-wrapped dog, topped with kimchi, ssam sauce, and cilantro mayo. This week, Steve Corry’s ‘555 Dog’ will be served until Thursday, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit Good Shepherd food bank. | blueroosterfoodcompany.com

7) The Well at Jordan’s Farm
The word is out about this idyllic restaurant at Jordan’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth. Former Back Bay Grill chef Jason Williams prepares Jordan’s Farm produce and locally-raised meats in his gazebo restaurant. But remember, it’s a working farm; last summer, farmer Carol Anne Jordan found visiting picnickers spread out on her farmhouse’s lawn like they were in some Maine version of Disneyland. Bring your manners and a bottle of wine (it’s BYOB) for an al fresco dinner. Open Wednesday-Saturday at 5pm. Reservations accepted for groups of 6 or more; cash only. | jordansfarm.wix.com/thewell

8) Hella Good Tacos at Steve and Renee’s Diner
Namesake Renee recently sold her Washington Avenue diner to Josh Bankhead, who had been renting kitchen prep space for his taco cart. The diner is slowly transforming into a Mexican restaurant, with a new salsa bar for topping your chorizo tacos, carnitas burrito, or freshly-fried tortilla chips. Hella Good Tacos’ cart can still be found in Monument Square, Wednesday-Friday at lunchtime. See Facebook for the diner’s expanded hours; now serving beer. | facebook.com/hellagoodtacos

9) Gorgeous Gelato
No matter your flavor preference, whether you like fruity, chocolate-y or sweet and creamy, the gelato turned out by the Italian owners of Gorgeous Gelato is likely to be the best version you’ve had. Fruit sorbets taste fresher than if you ate berries off the bush; the ‘Gorgeous’ flavor (sweet cream with chocolate chip and caramel swirls) has an impossibly smooth texture. If you’re concerned about such things, know that gelato has 70 percent less fat than ice cream. | gorgeousgelato.com

10) Out of the Blue seafood
In an attempt to generate demand for local, abundant seafood species, Gulf of Maine Research Institute has partnered with area restaurants who feature a different lesser-known fish each month through October. In June, find redfish at Five Fifty-Five, recently served seared with littleneck clams, cipollini onions, chorizo, and butter sauce. The Salt Exchange roasts redfish and serves it with fiddleheads and corn risotto. Participating Portland restaurants include Fore Street, DiMillo’s, Gilbert’s Chowder House, and food truck Fishin’ Ships. | gmri.org/outoftheblue

Collaborations and foraged finds

Originally published in the Portland Phoenix on June 19, 2014

The old joke goes, if you want to know what’s going to be popular in Portland in five years, look at what’s happening right now in New York. But what’s closer to the truth is that Portland has been forming — dare we say setting — its own trends all along. Sure, gimmicky things happening here, like putting bacon in a Bloody Mary, were probably done in some Brooklyn bar years ago. But serving farm fresh, local food has always been popular in Maine.

Two trends in particular can be seen playing out in our high-caliber food and drink scene: one unique to our area and one that’s also popular elsewhere, but particularly well suited to our coastal climate. Look to new and long-standing popular Portland restaurants to see these trends continue this summer.

Portland chefs report the degree of camaraderie and collaboration they experience in their industry is unique. In the ultimate partnership, two restaurant professionals are opening the most-anticipated restaurant in Portland since Hunt + Alpine Club. The culinary pedigree of the owners has helped to create the hype; Jason Loring, owner of Nosh Kitchen Bar, and Stephen Lanzalotta, former Micucci’s baker, are partnering to open Slab Sicilian Street Food.

The menu at Slab naturally focuses on slab-style pizzas, and the beer list features 20 taps, many of them local. A 70-seat beer garden makes the location in the former Public Market House once again a destination for food and drink. Seven local breweries have brewed beers inspired by Slab’s menu: Rising Tide, In’finiti, Gneiss, Banded Horn, Bissell Brothers, Foundation, and Bunker Brewing.

Rising Tide is now pouring their Coslaboration in their tasting room. It’s a wheat ale, brewed with fried sage and fresh oranges, inspired by the hummus served at Slab. Only the aroma of sage is detectable, while the oranges contribute to the crispness of the beer. It’s perfect for drinking on Slab’s patio. In’finiti’s El White Camino is an easy-drinking corn lager and is now available at In’Finiti. Look for these collaborative brewing efforts at Slab (25 Preble St.; facebook.com/slabportland), opening any day now.

The use of foraged foods in Portland restaurants is slowly becoming more mainstream. At the newly opened Lolita on Munjoy Hill, from the owners of the former Bar Lola, find a dandelion green and nettle salad. The bitter, wild greens are dressed with a garlic almond puree and slices of speck, or cured pork. Nettles are the plants responsible for the stinging feeling on your calves as you hike through a field; their leaves contain formic acid, a skin irritant. Fortunately for Lolita’s diners, the effect is neutralized when the leaves are cooked.

Newcomer Vinland’s all-local menu features many foraged items. While spring’s fiddleheads and ramps are slowly fading, wild lamb’s quarter and oyster mushrooms are taking their places. Perennial favorite Eventide Oyster Co. uses foraged seaweed to flavor their soup stocks and as a garnish on their exquisitely prepared seafood dishes. If you want to add the flavor of the sea to your home cooking, Vitamin Sea, a value-added seaweed company in Scarborough, makes agricultural products, pet treats, and snacks from Maine seaweed. The Wild Weeds savory topping is an addictive mix of dried, roasted seaweed, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. It can be found at the Portland Farmers’ Market.

The beautiful thing about foraged foods is their accessibility. If you’re interesting in learning how to find the right wild edibles, consider attending the inaugural Maine Seaweed Fest, August 30 at Southern Maine Community College. Guided beach walks led by “Coastal Carol” of Coast Encounters will educate you on how to safely harvest nutritious sea greens. Local vendors will be preparing food that will expose you to the versatility of seaweed.

Considering that the Maine seaweed harvest last year was 17 millions pounds — worth almost half a million dollars — it’s about time this humble plant has it’s own festival. Turns out Maine was way into seaweed before it was cool.

Maine Seaweed Festival | Saturday, Aug 30 | Southern Maine Community College, 2 Fort Rd., South Portland | seaweedfest.com