Nosh, the new “Kitchen Bar” opening in the space at 551 Congress Street formerly occupied by The White Heart, looks like it’s just about ready to open (anybody out there have a firm date? Perhaps this weekend? word is a soft “friends and family” opening now – or rather already tonight – with a full opening this weekend or Monday at the latest, depending on who you ask). Their menu looks interesting, with a wide range of moderately priced burgers and snacks (including a whole “noshing” menu of small items to be combined into platters), creative fries (bacon dusted?!), and a slew of sandwiches on the higher end ($8-$10). The menu lists the hours 11am-1am, so it sounds like this will be the new go-to late night food option (though in that crucial 1am-2am hour, Otto will still be the only game in the Arts District – which reminds me, how exciting it is that Otto is expanding into the space next door? Word is they’ll have a bar of some sort in there..). Though a lot of people certainly miss the White Heart in its heyday, Nosh definitely looks to be aiming pretty high, and I’m curious to see how it does.

I noticed that the new Figa Restaurant on Congress Street has a sign up and it looks like the interior is coming along nicely, with chairs and other furniture in place… but when is the opening? If you know, please share!

In other food news, the Phoenix recently featured my favorite pizza joint, Otto (who appear to have a fancy new website!).

review by Biscuit Wakefield – please read “Biscuit On Cookies“

Big Sky Bakery
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut Cookie
(I purchased mine from the Public Market, but it’s available at the Woodfords location as well)
(My apologies, I forgot the price. Again! It was reasonable, though, I remember that. Good cookies are so distracting.)

Now that the air has cooled I find myself turning to that old breakfast standby: oatmeal. Such simple food, yet so nourishing, so satisfying. Amazing how a few cents’ worth of oats will tide you over until lunch, even if you have a busy morning and lots of leaves to rake.

However, in my mind, there is a clear distinction between a chocolate-chip cookie and an oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie. Oats lend sturdiness, texture, and yes – flavor. Oats in a CCC aren’t an ‘add-in.’ They’re a revision (OCCC). Mind you, it can be a tasty revision, as this OCCC from Big Sky proves.

Butter fans, take note! Real creamery taste shines in this cookie, and there’s just enough salt to cut the rich sweetness. Big Sky is, of course, known for its breads – the Honey Whole Wheat is a staple of the Wakefield household – and while it seems odd to say this, it’s possible to detect the quality flour in Big Sky’s cookie. It’s oaty, yes, but wheaty too; I’d be curious to taste a version of this cookie sans oats, just for comparison’s sake.

Walnut fans, also take note! I do not, for the record, prefer walnuts in my cookies. But these are fresh and flavorful, lacking the bitter tang that plagues cheap (or aged) nuts. As for the chocolate, it’s dark and assertive enough to mingle with all these other flavors, though I wish there’d been more of it. I say that, though. What really grabbed me about this cookie, and what I’m remembering now as I write about it, is the phenomenal, comforting, homey taste and mouthfeel of the grains surrounding said chocolate.

I guess this is the only cookie that’s ever made me crave a bowl of oatmeal. I mean this as a great compliment.

• Flavor: 4 out of 5
• Texture: 3 out of 5 (a mite crunchier than I like)
• Bang For Your Buck: 4 out of 5 – you could certainly pass it off as a cheap breakfast, at least once in a while.

review by Biscuit Wakefield

Eaters of Portland!

I realize that Bryan, Hilly Town’s owner, asked me to review chocolate-chip cookies for this fine web site. I am sorry that my CCC reviews have slowed of late — the summer was busy, my garden was suffering, and other obligations interfered. I promise I will have more cookies to discuss with you soon but first, a brief detour into the world of the savory.

As I have mentioned previously, Mr. Wakefield’s boat business takes him occasionally to New York City. I accompanied him on a recent trip and while we were there we decided to visit Luke’s Lobster, a new spot run by a man whose family is from Cape Elizabeth. According to the New Yorkers, this place guaranteed a “real” Maine lobster roll at a reasonable price. I hear this is something of a rarity in New York, those poor souls! But is this “real” lobster roll really real, and is the price reasonably reasonable? Only one way to find out. Below the jump, you will see the results of my investigation.

(more…)

Let’s get one more food post in, while we’re on a roll.

Again we take an optimistic look at late night pizza options in Portland. The other day I spotted this Craigslist ad (thanks, job search rss feed!), and then the Psst! confirmed it: a new restaurant by the name of Otto’s Pizza would be opening up at 576 Congress Street. Today was apparently the soft opening, advertised by a cute sign constructed with paper plates.

Read on for the full review and more photos! (more…)

I know, two food-related posts in a row? I thought this was a music blog! Don’t worry, it is. I just enjoy food, as you may have noticed. Drinks, too.

At El Rayo Taqueria (aka that new taco joint in Portland that’s really good) yesterday I noticed an interesting beverage on the drink menu: a Michelada. It was described as “Beer of choice served over ice with Worcestershire sauce, lime, tabasco, and salt.” Sounded perfect to me.

When I ordered it I was asked “are you from the Southwest?”

No.

“Have you lived in Mexico?”

Nope.

“Been there?”

Not once.

“Oh. Usually those are the only people that drink this.”


Seemed like a good sign to me! 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. The spice is great (I’m also a fan of Bloody Marys) and the concept of beer over ice/in a mixed drink is great. I had mine with Dos Equis and that seemed to work out pretty well.

Now if only someone would open up a late-night taco truck in Portland, all my Mexican food-related needs would be fulfilled!

review by Biscuit Wakefield

The Udder Place
Chocolate Chip Cookie
My apologies. I forgot the price.

Two years ago I joined my husband on a trip to New York City, where he was attending a boat sales show, and there I encountered a chocolate chip cookie unlike any I’d ever eaten. It was at the Levain Bakery, which my daughter Kathy tells me is “famous” from mentions on the Food TV Network. The place was recommended to me by someone at the conference, who said I “absolutely had to try” the Levain cookie, even though it meant riding the subway alone and getting lost. As I wandered around in circles I found myself envying the pigeons, what with their homing brains. Finally I homed in on the bakery and a “famous” “must-try” chocolate chip cookie was mine – and just as everything in New York seemed overly large and hard to digest, this cookie was a whopper. I could only eat half, but oh, what a half it was: massively thick, underbaked in the center, with sturdy outsides and a heady rush of sugar. I have since dreamt of this cookie, which Mr. Wakefield liked also when I shared a piece back at the hotel.

The reason for this preface is that The Udder Place’s chocolate chip cookie was reminiscent of Levain’s, if a lot smaller and less intense. When I broke it in half the thick bottom crust bent, it didn’t snap;the insides were soft and doughy. This is my preferred CCC texture but I realize it may not be yours. As at Levain, there was no pronounced vanilla flavor – cheap extracts have ruined many a fine cookie. Instead, the experience was one of light caramel, almost like eating a blondie. 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.

Best of all I did not have to ride a bus or the subway in order to get it, although it does require a short drive from the peninsula, which I did not mind because I had some spare time that morning.

• Flavor: 4 out of 5
• Texture: 4
• Value: I did not remember to write down the price, but I do not recall being upset by it. A cookie this good is worth what it costs.

review by Biscuit Wakefield

Hilltop Coffee Shop
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
$0.50 (baked the day before) + tax

Fellow gardeners know, all too well, the expression “The bloom is off the rose.” Comes a day when the air chills, the sky darkens, and your hard-tended beds let faded petals fall to the ground. Is it sad? Yes, a little. But we know this is Mother Nature taking her course. Beauty will spring again in the spring, which is why we call it spring.

Chocolate-chip cookies are another matter. Their life cycle is short and pronounced: one day past their prime and they may be downright inedible, which is nothing but a tragedy of poor planning. You should have gotten to them sooner. I thought about this rule when the young man at Hilltop informed me that the cookie I was about to consume was “day old,” even though he assured me it was “still pretty great.” He seemed trustworthy and I wanted to believe him.

This specimen was small, about two inches across, and closely resembled the cookies I make in my own kitchen. It was, I realized upon first bite, a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. My assignment with this project was to review chocolate chip cookies, but purists – like chocolate chip cookies – are best dunked in a cold glass of milk.
Onward! Hilltop’s PBCCC contained a goodly amount of salt, which suits my personal taste, and despite its age the insides were wonderfully soft and chewy. However, the bottom was greasy and the edges ever so slightly sandy, two minor design flaws that I will blame on the peanut butter. And peanut butter, as you know, is delicious, as long as you are not one of those poor people who is allergic.

It was a good cookie. It was a good peanut butter cookie. Sadly, the chocolate chips were overwhelmed by the PB flavor. I found myself thinking about all that awful business with the salmonella in Georgia, not that Hilltop’s cookies have anything to do with that, but clearly the thing foremost in my mind was peanut butter… not chocolate
chips. I do feel this cookie would have been exceptional if it had contained a slightly higher chip-to-dough ratio. Or perhaps it would have been exceptional if I had gotten to it sooner. But the day previously I had been busy in my garden, with no time to purchase cookies, so there you have it.

• Flavor: 2.5
• Value: 3, at least at second-day prices. You could buy two for a dollar and share one with a friend or neighbor or your husband if he is home.
• Texture: 3

review by Biscuit Wakefield

North Star Music Cafe
Chocolate-Chip Walnut (not vegan)
$1.75 + tax

This hefty cookie is no lightweight snack: measuring just over four inches across, it stands up to dunking in cold milk, hot coffee, or both. The thick, chewy interior is pleasant, though the edges wobble on the line between crisp and dry. Flavorwise it falls flat, with one-dimensional sweetness that cries out for salt or brown sugar or both. The chip-to-dough ratio is perfect, but the chocolate itself is unremarkable and has a vaguely chalky finish. Nut haters take note: the walnut pieces are assertive (and a bit bitter), but they’re large and easily pried out, if you feel like doing a little cookie surgery. (For the record, several of North Star’s other cookie offerings – particularly the apple crisp, vegan thumbprint, and molasses-ginger variations – get higher marks in all departments. But for our purposes, we’re focusing on the CCC.)

The North Star is located at 225 Congress Street in Portland.

Look for the next cookie review here next week!

• Flavortaste: 2 of 5
• Texture: 3 of 5
• Bang For Your Buck: 3 of 5. This thing is huge.