Brickyard Hollow’s August special: Strawberry-bacon-hot honey-chicken pizza.  Photo courtesy of Brickyard Hollow

Brickyard Hollow Brewing is now open for dine-in, pick-up and delivery at its new location at 9 Commercial St. in Portland. This is the brewpub’s fourth location.

The menu features craft pizza, appetizers, protein bowls, soups and salads. A sampling: moonshine bbq wings, crispy pork banh mi bowl, and strawberry-feta salad with toasted almonds. The pizza selection is huge, and includes lots of vegetarian and gluten-free options. This month’s special is a strawberry-bacon-hot honey-chicken pizza.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, with delivery until 8:45 p.m.; and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with delivery until 9:45 p.m.

Another victim of the labor shortage

Rivalries announced Monday that it is temporarily closing its Portland location because of a staffing shortage:

“We are consolidating our employees for our Falmouth location and we are working hard to hire enough staff to reopen Portland ASAP. We are still hosting and actively booking private events/parties in our Portland location.”

Sticky buns from Flour Bakery + Cafe.  Photo courtesy of Flour Bakery + Cafe

Sure to be a popular pop-up

Next in line for the Kennebunkport Inn’s summer pop-up series is Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe.

The renowned bakery, owned by James Beard Award winner and cookbook author Joanne Chang, is coming to Maine Saturday with boxes of pastries, build-your-own sandwich packages, and dinner packages for four. Preorders close Thursday at 6 p.m. Orders can be picked up from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on the front porch of the inn at One Dock Square. Go to flourbakery.com/shop5/ to order.

A portion of the day’s proceeds will be donated to Full Plates Full Potential.

A blueberry muffin from Flour Bakery + Cafe.  Photo courtesy of Flour Bakery + Cafe

Dumplings are back

After a little adventure with a wayward dumpling machine, littlebrotherchinesefood.com plans to reopen its website for business at midnight Sunday. The first pick-up of online orders will be from 3-6 p.m. Aug. 13 at Fork Food Lab, 72 Parris St. in Portland.

Go wild!

Go crazy eating and drinking blueberries this weekend, which is the the state’s first ever Wild Blueberry Weekend. For the big picture, read a recent story on pressherald.com. Meanwhile, here’s a quick look at how a few Portland restaurants, bars and bakeries will be showcasing Maine’s official state berry:

Sweetgrass Farm has scheduled a tasting in its Old Port tasting room at 324 Fore St. For just $5, sample a lot: The winery’s Blueberry Cabernet Sauvignon, Maine Wild Blueberry Sangria, Blueberry Smash, Back River Gin (blueberries are among the aromatics) and Blueberry Aromatic Cocktail Bitters. Souvenir glass included.

Blueberry cocktails a Dock Fore at 336 Fore St. include the Wyman’s Cosmopolitan (blueberry vodka, blueberry juice, lime juice, wild blueberries) and the Wyman’s cooler (blueberry vodka, blueberry simple syrup, lemonade, wild blueberries). Then there’s the wild blueberry pie Jell-O shots.

Two Fat Cats, at 195 Lancaster St., has blueberry pies, blueberry scones, blueberry muffins and blueberry buckle.

Bissell Bros., 38 Resurgam Place, will offer Raked, the brewery’s Saison made with wild blueberries.

Maine Craft Distilling, 123 Washington Ave., has Blueshine (its blueberry liquor) and Blueshine Lemonade.

Rising Tide Brewing Co., 103 Fox St., is serving Blueberry Squadron, a fruited sour ale.

Chili champs

Wells will hold its 20th Annual Chili-Fest from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 28 at Wells Junior High on Route 1.

The event, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic, is sanctioned by the International Chili Society. Cooks who participate may qualify to compete in this year’s World Championship, which will be held Sept. 17-19 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

You can vote for your favorite in the People’s Choice competition, which has a first prize of $250.

Admission and parking are free but tasting kits – which include a spoon, a ballot for the People’s Choice competition, and 10 2-ounce tasting cups – cost $5. Proceeds will benefit the Wells Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Fund.

For more information, go to wellschilifest.com.

Annie Mahle’s new cookbook provides pointers for working in a small kitchen. Photo courtesy of Storey Publishing

Calling all apartment dwellers, boaters and New Yorkers

Maine chef (and former Portland Press Herald columnist) Annie Mahle has turned her experiences cooking aboard a windjammer into a cookbook, which is scheduled for publication in September.

Mahle shares her strategies for navigating a small kitchen in “The Tiny Kitchen Cookbook” (Storey Publishing, $19.95). The book includes 50 recipes she developed as the galley chef on the J. & E. Riggin, which she operated with her husband off the Maine coast for more than 20 years. She cooked three meals, for up to 30 people, in that kitchen every day she was on the water. The couple sold the windjammer in February.

Recipes include dishes such as Sweet Corn and Jalapeno Pancakes, and Pan-Fried Red Snapper with Fresh Peas, Shiitakes, and Asparagus with Dill. And if you have a really, really small kitchen – say, just a toaster oven? – the book even has a recipe for you: Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Fettuccini.

Free ice cream 

Hey, it’s summer so I’ll play. Buy Friendly’s ice cream at the grocery store anytime through Aug. 25, upload your receipt at getfriendlys.com, and the company will give you $5 back through Venmo. I’m going for the Mocha Chunk.