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Restaurant Reviews

Tasting excellence at Miyake

Flavor frenzy
There is a theory about the extreme inequality found in American culture and economy that goes something like this: inequality is the price of a culture designed to identify and reward great talent.

By: BRIAN DUFF | May 16, 2012

Review: Holy Donut

Holy potatoes! Yep, spuds are the not-so-secret ingredient in these doughnuts
All cuisines rely on the experience of regression for their deepest appeal.

By: BRIAN DUFF | May 09, 2012

Review: Al Huda

A very warm welcome indeed
The long coastline of Somalia is at the root of its culture's many complexities.

By: BRIAN DUFF | April 18, 2012

Exploring Frontier’s new menu

Civilizing influences
"Civilizing" the frontier was a long and complex process, with lasting effects on our culture.

By: BRIAN DUFF | April 11, 2012

Review: Seagrass Bistro

How the other 1 percent feast. It's delicious!
The day is coming when the baby boomers will bankrupt this country, sparing only their own nest-eggs and supplemental health insurance.

By: BRIAN DUFF | March 21, 2012

Review: Sabor Latino

Finding the right mix
Some new restaurants obsess over getting the décor just right. Others focus on creating a perfect menu.

By: BRIAN DUFF | March 14, 2012

Marcy's new owners step up, but not overly far

Preserving a treasure
Inheritance is the problem of the modern age.

By: BRIAN DUFF | February 22, 2012

Review: The Thirsty Pig + Novare Res

Lift a stein and down a sausage at the Thirsty Pig, or Novare Res
The traditional remedies for the burdens of life, at least in the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic traditions that dominate American culture, have been beer and sausage — cheap ways to blot the pain with a light buzz and a stomach full of rich food.

By: BRIAN DUFF | February 15, 2012

Review: China Taste

The family-run place you're hoping for
It's often claimed that there is no good Chinese food in Portland. But when four Maine Chinese buffet restaurants were raided by federal agents for deplorable working conditions, money laundering, and other alleged crimes a few months back, it put things in perspective.

By: BRIAN DUFF | January 25, 2012

Review: Little Seoul

Korean cooking mixes three powerhouse tastes
You hear a lot about the rise of China, but in truth it is Korea that is headed toward world domination.

By: BRIAN DUFF | January 18, 2012

Fez delivers a traveler’s smorgasbord

Tastes of Africa
On one wall of Fez restaurant is a portrait of the African continent.

By: BRIAN DUFF | November 30, 2011

Review: Zapoteca

Sending Mexican upscale — with a brick oven
Thanksgiving invites us to reflect on the Anglo-American model of indigenous relations: play nice for a bit, even share a feast, then murder everyone.

By: BRIAN DUFF | November 23, 2011

Review: Schulte & Herr

Want comfort? Go German
The most famous quality of Germans is their knack for accomplishing even difficult tasks with a clean efficiency.

By: BRIAN DUFF | November 02, 2011

Review: Gingko Blue

Getting the tone of a cocktail bar just right
As the recent Ken Burns documentary Prohibition revealed, the woman-led movement to eliminate alcoholic drinks was fueled by a desire to eliminate a certain kind of masculine behavior — loud, abusive, irresponsible loutishness.

By: BRIAN DUFF | October 26, 2011

Review: Museum Café

Sampling the artistic institution's take on food
In the long transition by which medieval mysticism gave way to modern rationality and bureaucratic efficiency, the placement of clocks on church steeples was a profound milestone.

By: BRIAN DUFF | October 05, 2011

Review: District

District is hard to classify, but hard to go wrong
With the fall television season beginning, it is worth remembering the best TV show of the last decade: NBC's Las Vegas . Man, that show was good.

By: BRIAN DUFF | September 28, 2011

Review: Pho Hanoi

Sauce your heart out
Vietnamese cuisine very friendly to saucy experimentation.

By: BRIAN DUFF | September 07, 2011

Review: Taco Trio

In search of Mexillence
The surest formula for greatness is to turn your weakness into a strength.

By: BRIAN DUFF | August 31, 2011

Review: The Well

The Well dispenses with snobbery, focuses on food
Foodie snobbery and "locavore" sanctimony have become so egregious that the New York Times Magazine recently made a cover story of one writer's description of participating in a two-day backyard feast in the Napa Valley.

By: BRIAN DUFF | August 10, 2011