While cold temperatures may encourage you to stay in and hunker down, there are some enticing winter incentives in Maine to get you to venture outside. One of my favorites is Maine Restaurant Week which takes place at the beginning of March each year. Maine Restaurant Week is a week-long series of food related events throughout the greater Portland area.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so what better way to start this food celebration than with a breakfast cook-off. Chefs put forth their most creative breakfast dishes in a friendly competition. I blogged about our visit to the cook-off a few years ago in my post Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off 2016. It was a wonderful event. I highly recommend it.
Last year we attended Spirit Quest, a self-guided walking tour through Portland, where local restaurants compete in a cocktail and small bites pairing competition. It was another delicious experience and a great way to visit many of the local Portland area restaurants.
While the special events are all worth checking out, if you’re looking for something more intimate, many area restaurants offer special Maine Restaurant Week menus. Each year we use the opportunity to try out a new to us restaurant. This year I was excited to dine at Solo Italiano. They were my favorite spot last year during Spirit Quest and I was excited to head back and check out their restaurant week menu.
The prix fixe menu started with a sage focaccia bread topped with prosciutto legato and burrata. I adore prosciutto and the combination was delicious. The salad course included organic farm greens with shaved pecorino with rosemary garlic olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. While I’m not a salad girl, I had no problem finishing this one.
The pasta course of homemade maccheroncelli pasta was served in a rich pesto sauce. The pasta was followed by a fish course of pan-roasted monkfish in a light tomato and wine sauce with celery root and parsnips. The final course was a traditional Italian dessert of tiramisu. It was the perfect ending to a delicious meal.
Every course was amazing and the portions while filling were not overwhelming. We were lucky to get a table as we didn’t make reservations ahead of time and they generally are booked. Fortunately, a timely cancellation led to an opening at a table in the front by windows overlooking commercial street. So, not only did we have an amazing meal, but we also got to enjoy the view too.
Do you like trying new restaurants?
I’m participating in a Blogging A-Z Challenge for April 2018. I will be posting new content every day this month except most Sundays. Each post is associated with a letter of the alphabet, starting with A and ending with Z. My theme for the challenge is Winters in Maine. To read more of my A to Z posts, click HERE.
things to know | |
---|---|
Place | Solo Italiano |
Address | 100 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101 |
Winter Scene | Maine Restaurant Week |
Website | Solo Italiano Restaurant |
Favorite ♥ | Delicious Food |
That food would have me venturing out in the cold – the tiramisu at the end looks divine. Sitting in a nice warm restaurant while it snows outside sounds lovely.
Leanne | http://www.crestingthehill.com.au
S for Stop Procrastinating
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It is a nice incentive on a cold winter day.
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Great looking food. I love eating out but hate paying too much when the food is boring and ordinary.
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Me too! Fortunately, Solo Italiano was not boring or ordinary. It was delicious.
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Ummm yum!!!! I wish we would have such events here in my city. I would definitely go and binge my heart out there. Brekkies at hotels and restaurants are worth the moolah spent!!!!!
S is for The Indian Sherlock Holmes #atozchallenge
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Maine Restaurant Week really is a wonderful event and such a great opportunity to try out some new places.
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I had a goal to visit 6 new-to-me restaurants this year…and I’m at something like 20 new restaurants this year (with another added yesterday). Funny enough, I didn’t think I went to a lot of new ones, especially because we only eat out a couple nights a week, but apparently, I’m practically a restaurant critic.
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That’s a great goal and sounds like you’re crushing it.
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Yes – but if I try it next year, I feel like I will have exhausted all the new restaurants around me!
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Maybe some new ones will pop up!
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We like to try those fancy dishes and then try to recreate them at home. It impresses our daughters at least lol
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I love cooking too but I’ve never tried to recreate a meal we ate at a restaurant. I think it sounds like a lot of fun. I might have to give it a try.
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Love Italian food so I’m all over this one!
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Italian food is so good.
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Love a resturant week., but haven’t heard of a breakfast one. I really like that idea.
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The breakfast cook-off is amazing. I haven’t been able to get back the last few years but hoping to make it back for the next one.
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The food looks like something from a magazine! We don’t have anything NEARLY that fancy here!
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I’m lucky that Portland is so close. There are a lot of amazing restaurants in the city.
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Yow! I think I gained a pound just reading this!
I love going someplace where someone else cooks and cleans.
And Italian is my fav!
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I love having other people cook too! It’s a little expensive to do it too often, but Maine Restaurant Week is a great time to check out some new places. Solo Italiano is a keeper. It was yummy.
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Restaurant week, now I could get behind that! LOL!
Donna B McNicol, author & traveler
Romance & Mystery…writing my life
A-Z Flash Fiction Tales: http://dbmcnicol.blogspot.com
A-Z of Goldendoodles: http://ourprimeyears.blogspot.com
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I know! Such a great idea and so many tasty events to try.
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I was in Portland a few years ago for a work meeting. Loved the area, although I didn’t get to see a lot of it. Our hosts told us of the great restaurant scene there. I’d love to go back to Maine someday and spend more time really getting to know the state, including Portland.
Deb
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I hope you are able to visit someday. There’s lots of fun things to do and we do have an awesome restaurant scene.
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