Fall MECA Culinary Arts Program

MECA has posted details for the fall semester Culinary Arts continuing education program:

So many great classes, so little time…

Under Construction: O’Maine Media Kitchen

mediakitchenO’Maine Studios (website, facebook, twitter, instagram) at 54 Danforth Street is constructing a media kitchen in the space adjacent to their main studio. The 1,700 commercial kitchen had formerly served as the bakery for Cranberry Island Kitchen. It includes a demonstration space that will seat 20.

O’Maine Media Kitchen was created to meet and feed the growth of foodie content and innovate the next generation of food and beverage programming. Our fall launch will include new programming and celebration events such as a chef series, The Signature Series, focused on the Chef’s story of their signature dish, and a new beverage event/media series focused  the art of mixology and blending local products called Forage & Mix.

Owner Rory Strunk has a number of ideas for how O’Maine Media Kitchen could be used:

  • Commercial demonstration kitchen
  • Culinary content production
  • Chef hosted demonstrations
  • Cooking courses
  • Food photography classes
  • Food styling classes
  • mixology, beer and wine courses

Strunk plans to open the O’Maine Media Kitchen this Fall.

This Week’s Events: Canning, Farm Dinners, Hunt & Alpine, Bartender’s Brunch, Labor of Love

Tuesday — Kate McCarty will be teaching a canning workshop, and the Local Foods Networking Breakfast will take place at Local Sprouts.

Wednesday — Black Tie will be serving a Graze Farm dinner in New Gloucester, and the Monument Square Farmers Market are taking place.

Thursday — canning expert Marisa McClellan will give a demonstration of urban canning and preserving techniques.

Saturday — the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Chefs Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley will be preparing an Outstanding in the Field dinner., and Gather will preparing a Frontier Family Farm Feast at Wolfe’s Neck Farm.

Hunt & Alpine 1st Anniversary — the Hunt & Alpine Club is throwing a party to celebrate their 1-year anniversary which will feature “special all-you-can-drink/eat menu, prohibition-era tunes by Club Hot du Monde and a few surprises”. The part is taking place September 5, 4-8pm. Tickets are $50 and are now on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

Bartender’s Brunch — a collaboration by Coffee By Design, Maine Beer Company, Novare Res Bier Cafe, In’finiti, Maine Pie Line and Holy Donut. to celebrate Maine Beer Company’s 5th Anniversar. MBC will release 2014, a maple imperial stout with cold pressed Ethiopian coffee, at the brunch. September 7th, 1-3pm. Tickets are $25 and are now on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

Labor of Love Tasting Dinner — A “culinary journey of nineteen different items, consisting of eight savory courses, eight savory snacks, and three small desserts. All will, of course, be crafted from 100% local ingredients, grown organically or sustainably foraged from the wild.” August 30th. Tickets are $90 per person and are now on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

Review of The King’s Head

Peter Peter Portland Eater has review The King’s Head.

After drinking my Rob Roy, I smeared some after shave on my face, donned my vintage fedora, built a massive bonfire, and started a fight. Then I asked for the bill. It came to just under 70 bucks after tip. What a great place The King’s Head is.  I actually really loved it. The food was very good, the drinks were great, and the atmosphere had me fired up. As masculine as I felt The King’s Head was, there were plenty of women there who seemed to be enjoying themselves. This is a place for everyone. Get down there now and down some whiskey and a beer so you too can experience The King’s Head.

Reviews: The Good Table, Slab

The Press Herald has published a bar review of Slab,

The cocktail menu is a compact list of six rotating drinks — given how new Slab is, the bartenders are still collaborating on drink specials and house cocktails. Recently, the Fly Right was served as a special. Made with Luxardo, lemon juice, Art in the Age Sage (a sage liqueur), shaken with blueberries and then topped off with Kellerweis from Sierra Nevada, this “beer cocktail” is a bargain at $9.

and The Golden Dish has reviewed The Good Table.

That pie alone made the whole dinner worthwhile.  I may have had some quibbles with the food, but it was tasty enough, served in an absolutely gracious and friendly atmosphere.  And sometimes that’s just enough to deem dinner satisfying.

Under Construction: Ten Ten Pie and D.L. Geary

Ten Ten Pié is planning to open Saturday morning at 8 am. They’ll be serving coffee and pastries. See this post on Eater Maine for more details on the menu.

Ten Ten passed all inspections. Just waiting for processing of license. Hope that happens Friday! We plan to be open Sat morning 8-2 offering coffee and pastries. ¡Vengan a ver!

D.L. Geary Brewing has announced that they’re building a tasting room (photos) at their brewery located on Evergreen Drive.

Not only are beer lovers drinking more craft beer than ever before, they’re also curious about the beer making process. Geary’s has wanted to provide a tasting room for our fans for a while now, and we’re so excited to say it is nearly done.

Review of 2DineIn

Chubby Werewolf has reviewed 2DineIn.

Overall, I’ve found ordering from 2 Dine In to be a very positive experience…There is, without question, a lot to be said for the dining-out experience, and you certainly miss a lot of it—ambiance, presentation, etc.—when ordering delivery food. That said, the ability to enjoy the occasional restaurant meal—in your underwear, while watching “Shark Week”—without having to endure some of the headaches of downtown dining, can be quite a nice thing…I’m a fan overall, and would love to see more Portland restaurants (are you listening, Silly’s?) get involved with the 2 Dine In in the future.

The Farm Stand Opening Friday

TheFarmStand

The Farm Stand (website, facebook) held a preview for friends and family last night. They’re scheduled to open on Friday.

The Farm Stand is a collaboration between Farmers Gate butcher shop in Wales and Jordan Farm in Cape Elizabeth. In addition to produce and pasture-raised meats from Maine the store has a small selection of beer and wine. Manager Joe Fournier tells me they’ll also be adding dry goods and as well as soups and sandwiches to go as the market becomes fully operational.

The Farm Stand is located at 161 Ocean Street in South Portland.