Category Archives: Art

Happy, Joy, Burger Time!

We started out our Friday night by stopping in for a drink at LFK, home of some of our favorite drinks and one of my favorite burgers-the LFK burger with pimento cheese.

After settling in to enjoy our cocktails, we encountered our friend Wayne. He asked us if we had ever tried the burger next door at Petite Jacqueline. In the pursuit of yumminess, my wife and I agreed we should try it out.

Friday night in Portland means art appreciation, so we stopped along the way at the fabulous Maine Street Design to check out Tanja Alexia Hollander’s art installation.

For any who have never been to Petite Jacqueline, they do a fantastic job of cooking everything French. Burgers being an iconic American dish made me slightly hesitant to try their version. In order to offset any potential risk, we began with some charcuterie: super rich duck liver pate, fantastic deviled eggs and some yummy cheese. Their list of things to taste was extensive. The board was served with crispy toasted crackers and a small house made baguette. delicious!

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When our burgers arrived topped generously with perfectly melted cheese and accompanied by a large pile of fries, I knew that our friend had not lead us astray. The burger was perfectly cooked, and had the dense yet chewy texture that only comes from high quality house ground meat. I loved the choice of using gruyere and the addition of caramelized onions. The sandwich was rich with fat and cheese, but not greasy. Definitely worth trying.

My verdict is to add it to my list of favorite burgers: LFK,Blue Spoon, Bramhall Pub, Petite Jacqueline, and Nosh

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Fun to Fizz Dinner

In the spirit of wine appreciation and building community, Joe Appel and Rosemont Market and Bakery brought renowned wine expert Terry Theise to showcase small batch champagnes. Accompanying the fine bubbly were some very tasty small plates produced by Brad Messier. Considering that the Mayo Street Art center doesn’t have a kitchen the food was pretty darn good. Highlights for me were the black pork slider with slaw and perfect mushroom donuts with pork gravy. Happy, happy!

Even a wine novice like myself could tell that these wines were exceptional and the speaker was both entertaining and knew the most intimate details of the wine’s production. My favorite was the first champagne, the Aubry Brut Rose. It was so surprisingly dry it made me giggle. The experience really did help me develope a better appreciation for what makes champagne special. I look forward to attending future events.

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Harvest on the Stage

Kicking off the week of Harvest on the Harbor was an amazing evening of food and wine pairings by some of Maine’s top chefs. With 7 courses it was too much to go over each dish, but some of the standouts were: Cara Stadler of Bao Bao Dumpling House‘s beef tartar was filled with Asian inspired flavors, the foie torchon from Lee Harding Smith’s Oyster Room was my favorite savory dish of the night, David Turin of Opus Ten‘s margret duck and chicken boudin renewed my faith in humanity, and Shanon Bard of Zapoteca’s‘s chile dusted venison was oh so tasty. These dishes plus the others, combined with wonderful wine pairings by Erica Archer’s Wine Wise Events made me Happy, Happy! So many great flavors and textures! Topping it all of was the most deliciously unique desert by Ilma Lopez of Picolo. Her incorporation of root vegetables into desert lead to a beautiful mouth-watering finish! A special thank you to the folks at Coffee By Design for generously matching all funds raised to support The Good Shepard Food Bank.
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Bramhall- A Neighborhood Pub

The new Bramhall Pub is a wonderful subterranean lair of a pub. Filled with shadowy nooks and candlelight. Just perfect for drinking a lazy afternoon away with friends or perhaps an assignation. Located beneath one of Portland’s many artists colonies the crowd is bound to be interesting. On the drink side they have a solid beer collection and a huge alcohol selection. The cocktail list is still in development but their seasoned bar staff is more than capable of matching drinks to anyone’s taste. The menu is smallish, but very good. Thin potato crisps with or without toppings, a wonderful pork sandwich and the soon to be famous sous vide bacon burger.

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