Year: 2009

12 Seats Releases

| Posted in General News

Erik and Krista Desjarlais, owners of Evangeline and Bresca, have posted information on their blogs (here and here) about their new venture, 12 Seats.

12 Seats is a collaboration between Krista and I. 12 Seats is just what the title says. 12 seats, 12 courses, 12 times in one year. The last Sunday of each month, Krista and I will transform bresca in to an amalgamation of our culinary and hospitality passions. 12 Seats will take over the bresca dining room and kitchen, and she and I will transform ourselves into one chef with the mind of two cooks.

This Week’s Events

| Posted in Events

The weekly Food and Drink Trivia Contest is at Bull Feeney’s tonight, and on Tuesday the next Wine Flight 5k Training run is taking place. There are wine events at both The Salt Exchange and Jones Landing on Wednesday.  There are wine tastings at the Public Market House and Leavitt and Sons on Thursday and Rosemont on Brighton on Friday. Also on Thursday is a Bray’s Brew Pub showcase at The Great Lost Bear. The 5th Annual Vegetarian and Vegan Food Festival is this Saturday.  Farmers’ Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday. The most interesting item on this week’s calendar comes on Sunday when Rabelais and Duckfat are teaming up on a combined book signing/milkshake demo with Adam Reid author of Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

Beans, Brown Bread and Water

| Posted in General News

Columnist Margo Mallar has written about B&M Beans history and her tour of the facility here in Portland in her weekly food column in this weekend’s Portland Daily Sun.

From the sluice where navy pea beans are first winnowed to the conveyor belt where labeled cans are wrapped for warehousing, we walked the canning process from start to finish. Salt pork before and after soaking, molasses tanks, spice totes, train cars that bring in 200,000 pounds of beans at a time from Canada and the Dakotas: Don explained each step of the eight-hour process, referring to workers by name, many of whom had been there for decades.

Also in the weekend edition is an article from Editor Curtis Robinson on how he’s “Staying hip to the city’s ongoing water debate” between Take Back the Tap and FLOW.

More on O’Naturals Closing

| Posted in Closings

The Press Herald interviewed O’Naturals CEO Mac McCabe about the closure of the eatery’s Old Port location.

McCabe said the business fell victim to changing eating habits because of the economic recession, bad weather and the closing of The Movies on Exchange and other Old Port businesses that would draw diners into his restaurant at night.

Also quoted in the article is Jeff Buerhaus, Chef/Owner of Walter’s, who pointed out that “competition is growing fierce in the Old Port”.

New Krista/Erik Collaboration

| Posted in General News

Type A has a report on 12 Seats, a new monthly cooking collaboration between Krista and Erik Desjarlais. It will be a highly customized event for 12 people and will be held at Bresca’s Middle Street location.

The goal is to create a highly personalized experience. For example there will be dialogue with every guest about dietary restrictions. The dinner will be $120pp, excluding wine.

Erik and Krista plan to secure a phone number over the weekend and will start taking reservations shortly. The first meal will be served on Sunday, October 25th. I’ll update this post when the phone number is available.

A Pair of El Rayo Reviews

| Posted in Reviews

Accidental Vegetables and Edible Obsessions have both published reviews of El Rayo.
According to Accidental Vegetables,

There’s been a lot of buzz around about our new restaurant, El Rayo. Rave reviews, excitement! Thrills!

Well, I can’t say I concur, unfortunately. Don’t get me wrong– it was fine. I liked the space, it’s nice that they have margaritas, and I ate some little fried potato things that were fairly tasty. But honestly, I thought it was a bit overpriced, and you get a lot better of a meal at Loco Pollo on Washington Ave.

And two visits Edible Obsessions had this to say,

Two visits in five days and I’m just not convinced. The portions seemed more generous on this visit than the last, but it just wasn’t any better. I tried in vain to find what a lot of people seemed to be enjoying but it just didn’t happen. Maybe I’ll go back again in a few months to see if the quality and consistency has finally caught up to the prices because it’s not there for me yet.

GRO Cafe Review

| Posted in Reviews

Diet for a Small City has reviewed GRO Cafe.

I like GRO Cafe. It’s a place where vegetarians are the rule rather than the exception. I don’t have to ask anything special to be made for me; I don’t have to ask if the soup contains chicken stock. GRO made me feel like my visit had been anticipated. I will be eating at GRO again—very soon.

Kelp, It's What for Dinner

| Posted in Cooking

Ocean Approved and Maine Coast Sea Vegetables are the focus of a feature story in the new issue of The Maine Switch. Both companies harvest and sell seaweed-based products harvested in Maine. Ocean Approved was also featured in the Boston Globe back in late April.

“You can’t help but notice the health benefits,” says [Ocean Approved co-owner] Olson, whose kelp noodles are a good option for those with gluten issues. “(Kelp) adds vibrancy to the dish without stealing the dish.”