Ready for your morning beer?

This was the sight on Market Street a few minutes ago: Three beer delivery trucks lined up making keg deliveries. Can't say I'm ready for a drink at this hour, but the sight did get me jazzed for a bar outing tonight to sample the Guinness concoctions at Three Dollar Dewey's. Want to join us? Swing by at 5 pm. We'll be the crazy people drinking things like Guinness mixed with champagne.

If you're a Guinness fan, my editor Karen Beaudoin is looking for local opinions on which bars serve up the best Guinness for a story in Switch. Send her your thoughts at editor@themaineswitch.com.

Fortune Cookie Museum at Wok-Inn

When you've exhausted the Maine Museum Trail and are looking for a quirky bit of culture closer to home, you may want to check out the Fortune Cookie Museum on permanent display at the Wok-Inn on outer Forest Ave.

I snapped these pics the other night when Adam and I stopped in for a quick bite to eat at this fast-food restaurant. (The food is really tasty. Just ignore the fact you're eating off a Styrofoam plate.) A few weeks before, I'd been tipped off to the existence of this unusual display by local foodie maven Margo Mallar.

According to the info in this mini-exhibition, the earliest Chinese fortunes were discovered in 1899 on fossilized ox and tortoise bones. Markings on these bones were made during the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC). It's pretty common knowledge that fortune cookies are a Western invention, but according to this display they claim a colorful place in history.

While I was in the restaurant, I asked about the source of the display but no one working the counter knew much about it. A call to the Wok-Inn didn't shed any more light on the matter. So with no real, hard facts to pass along, I'll share the love from my fortune cookie: "Good luck bestows upon you. You will get what your heart desires." (Of course, that message is much better when you add the required "in bed.")

Old Port restaurants "coming soon"

Despite the recession, we Portlanders love to go out to eat. So it's no surprise that a bunch of storefronts in the Old Port are sporting "Coming Soon" signs. Pictured above is the spot at 183 Middle St. where Bard Coffee Roasters plans to pour its organic brew. The building permit in the window indicates the owner is Tom Bard, but there's no indication of when "soon" might be.

Across the street in the spot where the Pavilion used to be, work is underway to transform the former nightclub into an indoor mall.

Here's the floor plan for the Shops at 188 Middle, which shows Italian eatery Luna Rosa occupying space on both the first floor and the mezzanine level. The restaurant is hiring (a friend recently scored a job) and the owners of the building tell me the place should open around the beginning of April.

Infamous Portland landlord Joe Soley is behind this Japanese restaurant at 7 Exchange St. The permit application filed with the City Clerk indicates that Soley's former Wharf Street restaurant Soffritto is now doing business as Wasabi. The sample menu (which City Hall's wonderful Nicole Clegg graciously read to me over the phone) lists a full sushi bar ($3-$10.95 per roll) and bento boxes ($9.50 for a lunch special).

Down on Commerical Street, the Farmer's Table is the new bistro-style eatery slated for the old Mim's spot. A posting on Craigslist says the restaurant is hiring. According to papers filed with the City Clerk ahead of tonight's City Council meeting, the restaurant is being run by Jeff Landry, the current chef at Eve's at the Garden, and his wife, Mary Sue. Their intent is to showcase locally-grown, raised and caught food.

A sample menu lists offerings such as fish soup of the day, grilled early spring vegetables ($7), steakhouse salad ($7), farmer's burger ($9) and pan seared Atlantic salmon ($14). Since farms tend to grow lots of veggies, I assumed the bistro would be a vegetarian's paradise when I heard the name, but the only non-meat entree on the sample menu is cheese tortellini. As a devoted plant-eater, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that more vegetable-based meals will join the menu when this place opens.

In the glass-filled spot formerly occupied by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, prolific Portland restaurateur Harding Lee Smith plans to open The Corner Room. He tells me it will be an Italian-inspired spot featuring house-made pasta.

"It will be a nice casual, affordable pasta place that's not heavily laden with cheese and tomato sauce," Chef Smith says.

Right now if you peek in through the paper in the windows, there's not much to see. But Smith says the tables and bar are being crafted off site, and he's hoping to open the doors by the end of April.

Hoppin' party at February's Greendrinks

Hundreds of people turned out for last night's Greendrinks social networking event at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. This was one of the best gatherings yet, with a real cocktail party feel due to all the different spots where people could mingle among the building supplies.

Portland Greendrinks founder Elliott May thanked everyone for coming and introduced the evening's host, Steve Bolton.

Steve is the executive director of Greater Portland Habitat for Humanity, which runs the ReStore. He dispelled some common myths about Habitat (it's not a government program, it wasn't started by President Jimmy Carter and it doesn't give away homes for free) and explained how the ReStore sells donated building supplies at a big discount to support Habitat's home building program.

Along with lovely apps, there were lots of local drinks to sample. Here Nick Higgins and Eli Cayer of Maine Mead Works handed out shot glass sized samples of their very tasty dry and semi sweet HoneyMaker mead.

The guys from Sebago Brewing Company were pouring up Slick Nick Winter Ale and Boathouse Brown Ale.

Anyone who made it all the way into the back room had the opportunity to try the very smooth and tasty Peak Organic Pomegranate Wheat Ale with Acai. The all organic brewery has been working on the recipe since at least last spring, and while it's not in stores yet, Geoff Masland tells me it will be soon.

Here are a few of the Greendrinkers who agreed to smile for the camera:

Heather Chandler, who publishes the popular SunriseGuide, and Jennie Vieira, who just opened her own massage business for women called Blossom Massage.

Geoffrey Starrett and Katie Gallagher, who both managed to look good even though we were all sweltering under a heat lamp.

And Jon Sundberg, who deserves a prize for the most humorous mug. The goal is to have more people emulate Jon and bring their own reusable mug to cut down on waste.

Should you want to be there for the next Greendrinks, mark you calendar for March 10. I'm not sure where the next party will be, but you can find out by checking the website or becoming a fan of the group on Facebook.

Icy art carved up for Portland's WinteRush

Inside the tents and tarps currently housed in Lincoln Park is an eye-catching assortment of snow and ice sculptures. Organized by the Maine Snow & Ice Sculpting Foundation, the International Snow & Ice Art Expo features the chilly work of artisans from around the country. It's all part of the city's WinteRush festival, which goes on all week.

The crowning glory of this show is the 35-foot sculpture of a humpback whale and her calf.

Here's another view of the whales. One of the sculptors (right), who hails from Wisconsin as part of the award-winning Team USA, is explaining carving techniques to a visitor.

An all-woman's sculpting team is behind the creation of the yellow submarine snow sculpture. It's hollowed out, allowing visitors to get inside and peek out through the windows.

There are a few ice sculptures sprinkled throughout the tent too.

Fans of President Abraham Lincoln will want to check out this replica of his boyhood home. By Thursday, which is the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, a sculpture of Lincoln as a child reading a book in front of the fireplace will be added inside the cabin. There will be a dedication at 10 am on Thursday morning, and visitors will be able to walk inside the cabin.

Each day of the week will bring new sights to see. According to Ed Jarrett, president of the Maine Snow & Ice Sculpting Foundation, "it's sort of like an ice museum over here, we keep adding to the exhibits."

And should you be wondering when to go, Jarrett says "viewing it at night is when we get the biggest wow factor."

The expo is open from 10 am-10 pm daily, through Valentine's Day. Tickets cost $3 for adults, $1 for kids under 18 and are free for kids 3 and under. It's definitely a cool show you won't want to miss.

Find the First Friday after party at Corduroy

After being closed for a month to refine the product selection and revamp the art space, Corduroy Surf Boutique & Gallery plans a re-opening celebration during tomorrow night's First Friday Art Walk. Actually, Tyler Briggs (the shop's art & event director) tells me the party tends to start late and go much beyond the official 8 pm end to Art Walk. She says the drinks will start flowing around 7 pm and the party probably won't wind down until 11 pm, which makes Corduroy the perfect spot to hit after the other galleries close their doors for the night.

I stopped by this morning to check out the new space and the new art, and found Tyler (left) and owner Jim McGinley unpacking a few boxes of art.

The work in the boxes came from Northern California artist Jamie E. Watson. I'm pretty sure this particular piece spells out the recipe for world peace (or at least life long happiness).

The four artists/surfers of The Pine Haven Collective helped spruce up the space with art galore. They created the shop's new window installations (see photo at the top) that feature ships in a bottle. Here's a gorgeous mural installation by member Katrine Hildebrandt that enlivens the wall space between the shop below and the gallery above.

Member Peter Jackson Hussey created these sweet surf-inspired letter press notecards.

And member Joe Conway silk screened these T-shirts with an image reminiscent of a Picasso drawing.

Upstairs in the gallery, Collective member Jenny McGee Doughtery shows a body of new work called "From Rags to Rust."

Doughtery's work is rendered in a range of media, including watercolor, acrylic, graphite and even coffee. Ttitled "Lot," this is the work that incorporates the java. It's priced at $400 framed, which is on the high side price-wise for this show. Many of the smaller works are going for only $20 or $30.

Reasonably priced art aside, one of the absolutely coolest things about the whole Pine Haven Collective exhibition has to be this "Driftwood Shack." Not only is it an amazing construction (which is reportedly held together by just a couple screws), but anyone is invited to crawl inside, lounge on the pillows and crank up the turntable. I wonder how many surfers can fit in that shack?

You can find the laid-back art, surfer vibe and live music from The Mosquitos at 59 Market St. in the Old Port, next to Sebago Brewing Company. Let me know if you find out how many people the shack can hold.

Lining up for Maine-grown food

Once again, there was a line of local foodies queuing up for Maine-grown goodness at today's Winter Farmers' Market in Monument Square. The list of food available hasn't changed much since I wrote about it back in December, and so I'm still able to stock up on my favorite veggie staples.

If you have yet to check out this winter market, mark your calendar for Feb. 18, when the next one takes place. Anyone can show up and buy from Daniel Perron at Sumner Valley Farm. However, you need to place an order with Freedom Farm/Thirty Acre Farm to get in on their good eats. You can jump on their email list by sending a message to eatlocalallyear@gmail.com. Doesn't that address just say it all?

More window art on Free Street

After discovering Randy Regier's out-of-this-world window exhibition on Congress Street, I set out to see the other two pieces of this sidewalk show. I found them on Free Street near Cross Jewelers' back entrance and across the street from the Dogfish Bar & Grille.

In two previously vacant windows, artists Andy Rosen and Lydia Badger have created works with the feel of old-school museum dioramas. Each is part of SPACE Gallery's Windowkammers public art show. Since opening in 2002, SPACE has offered a wonderful community service to the pedestrians of Portland in the form of its always eye-catching and thought-provoking window displays in its Congress Street storefront. The Windowkammers project seeks to spread this visual love around town.

Rosen presents a piece titled "Dear, Old Master." It features a man stuck inside a log. The man's two dogs remain close by, with one, for some unexplained reason, wearing his master's boots.

Here's a closer view of Rosen's work.

Lydia Badger's piece "In an Instant" is a classic, albeit a bit whimsical, wildlife diorama, with a lovely array of cute and cuddly creatures.

Here's a closer view of Badger's work.

This street-side exhibition is a wonderful addition to Portland's downtown, and I hope it's an artistic tradition we'll see more of.

Forget Groundhogs, Portland's got robins

In spite of the current snow shower, I'm convinced warm weather is right around the corner. How do I know? I snapped this photo of spring's harbinger about an hour ago in Bayside.

And here's a whole group of them in a tree. According to my "National Audubon Society Field Guide to New England," robins shouldn't make an appearance here in Maine until March. But bird expert Derek Lovitch writes on Maine Outdoor Journal that seeing flocks of robins in winter is no big deal these days. (Thanks climate change!) Whatever the explanation, I'm taking these rosy robins as a sign that we Portlanders will enjoy an early spring.

A girl can dream, right?