Portland, Maine Offline (9/27 & 28)

Ok folks…it’s starting to look like if we’re going to do this…the last weekend of September is the best time for most involved. My thoughts are that we would do a little bit of a culinary tour of Portland each day and at the end of the afternoon we’d all go to a place that has free BYO.

Attending (11)
Kirk
Doug (+1)
Jay T (+2)
Carie D.
Ron B. & Katie
Eileen (+1)


Saturday - We will spend most of Saturday in and around “the old Port”. Wear comfortable walking shoes. There are cobble-stone walkways in part of the Old Port. I would expect that we will likely walk somewhere around 1-2 miles over the course of 3-4 hours (unless you want to meet us at each destination and pay un-godly parking fees at each new spot).
We will start at Schulte & Herr for lunch. (NOON 12:01pm)
349 Cumberland Ave, Portland, ME 04101
The theme for this lunch is Germany & Austria only. This is a free BYO, no corkage cost. Please consider increasing your tip due to their kind gesture. With 10 people will will fill half the restaurant.


Saturday will end at The Well at Jordan Farm

The theme for this will be “A wine I love…” - Show everyone that joins us the wines that you think are special, unforgettable, something you think should be known/experienced by fellow wine-geeks. My wine will be determined soon(I still can’t decide).


Sunday
Sunday will start with a reccomendation for all to go to breakfast/brunch at Bintliff’s Cafe (Get the Crabcake bennedict). Bintliff’s Cafe cannot support large groups, and is first-come-first serve. I will be aiming to be there NLT 9:30am. Thirty minute waits are common on the weekend.
We’ll meet back up Sunday afternoon around 3pm for a quick stop at a few places before we head to our 5pm reservations at The Lobster Shack (5 - 6 pm)
225 Two Lights Rd, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107. (also in Cape Elizabeth just outside of Portland).
The theme for this BYO will be White or Champagne…


I will continue to update this as places and people are added.

Options for the cullinary tour for us to go on while in Portland include these key places that are known for either amazing dishes or a theme:
Lunch
Green Elephant - Vegitarian food: Brussel Sprouts, Siameese Dream, Panang Curry, & Spicy green leaf salad
The Thirsty Pig - Everything is Sausage based…they have some amazing sausages and pub-fare food.
Duck Fat - This place is known for their french fries. Votes one of ten best in the world (although maybe it was just America) through a Yahoo News Article. They cook their french fries in duck fat and offer dipping sauces like Thai chili mayo, black truffle ketchup, and so on…they have a nice beet salad and a decent selections of Paninis.
Novare Res - This is probably one of the best Beir Gardens I’ve been to in America. They have a HUGE selection of very rare beers and decent snacks that go well with the beers on the menu. For the beer lovers…this is only a few steps away from The Thirsty Pig.

Other restaurants that are highly reccommended but are not BYO for future visits in Portland are:
Prices are as follows $= Bargain $$= Restaurant prices ($25-$40/entre) $$$= Ouch!
Street & Co. - Fresh sea food, nice, well-thought out wine list. ($$)
Boda: A very Thai Kitchen - The BEST I’ve had since I was in Thailand about 10 years ago; basic wine list. ($)
Miyake - The best Sushi I’ve ever had…even better than what I got in Okinawa. Worth the coin for one trip ($$$)

Let me think about it…

Wow! I’m in.

Carrie

I’m in!

Katie and I are in!

For those that have a need…the best wine store selection in Portland is probably at Brown Trading Co. Or Old Port Wine & Cigar down in the Old Port. Both stores have hidden gems at reasonable prices if you take the time to look around. I was planning on us going to both as part of the walking tour Saturday in case people wanted to pick up a bottle or two to remember their trip to Maine. I haven’t secured it yet…but by hopes are that one or both of the stores will offer our group their “case discount” prices given that I’m bringing in a group of people that are passionate about wine. I’ll let you know what I learn after this pending weekend.

Kirk: this just gets better and better! Thanks for doing all of this.

Trying unsuccessfully to change family celebrations. Maybe I can get an event in???

Me plus one. This is sounding like a really great event, can’t wait! Thanks, Kirk, for putting this together.

Ron,

Just let me know what you’re looking for and we can make something work. There are a few places that I’ll need to make reservations in advance…if they ask for CC to hold a spot (ie. places so small we’re taking up 50%+ of their business space) I’ll post here and leave it up to folks to make their res. However, most places have really responded well so far.

Kirk,

Katie and I will participate in all the activities except for the dinner on Sunday (I realize that it’s slated for the place that you raved about). We just need to get back to Boston at a reasonable hour and I want to do the drive while relatively sober. [cheers.gif] Too bad, because we wanted to check out the restaurant.

Ron B.

How would everyone feel about swapping out the Sat & Sun evening restaurants? I’m all for it if everyone else is cool???

That’s fine with me. Becky and I won’t be up there before Saturday dinner, but we’ll be there for that wherever it is, and we’ll be around for the festivities on Sunday.

Sounds good to me!

It is not to be :frowning:
Grand children events and out of town friends attending.

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You’ll both be missed Ron.

Too bad! I’m sure we’ll see you in this area some time soon.

Thank you, sad; Portland is a great food town and you have done a great job in planning the event.

How would everyone feel about swapping out the Sat & Sun evening restaurants? I’m all for it if everyone else is cool???


Definitely okay with that.