Month: February 2019

This Week’s Events: Wine Tastings, Beer & Cheese, Winter Market

| Posted in Events

Wednesday – There will be a wine tasting at the Old Port Wine Merchants.

Thursday – Maine & Loire is holding a Sangiovese wine tasting.

Friday – there will be a wine tasting at the West End Rosemont, and Foundation Brewing is teaming up with Winter Hill Farm for a beer and cheese event.

Saturday – there will be a wine tasting at LeRoux Kitchen, Tipo is holding a Winter Carnival all day with a cocktail ice luge, hot chocolate and more. The Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Walkers Maine – Chef Justin Walker will be teaching a set of cooking classes starting in March. The series kicks-off March 24th with a class on Hearth Cooking.

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 Izakaya Minato

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has reviewed the Izakaya Minato, “one of the best dining experiences Portland has to offer”.

Choosing a standout dish at Izakaya Minato is challenging given the fact that nearly every menu item offers something unique and discussion-worthy, but the honors must go to the sublimely complex shiromi ankake. An almost gravy-like base of smoky amber dashi sets the scene for tender mushrooms and blisteringly hot fried white fish, topped with a flurry of cooling shaved daikon. It is, at its heart, the very definition of “comfort food,” yet distinctly different from the fat and salt-laden dishes typical of the Western usage of that same term.

Oxbow in Oxford

| Posted in Openings

Oxbow Brewing has opened a new tasting room and bottle shop in Oxford. They’re also working on launching a wood-fired pizzeria in the building in future. Oxbow plans to brew beer onsite to “create special batches of beer for the upcoming restaurant”. They’re located on Route 26, and will be open noon – 7pm this weekend.

Oxbow was founded in Newcastle, and opened their Portland location in late 2014.

Aquaculture Business Development Program

| Posted in Fisheries

Mainebiz has published a report on the Island Institute’s Aquaculture Business Development program.

“Maine’s emerging aquaculture industry has a lot of opportunity and growth potential. The Aquaculture Business Development program provides both the academic and experiential learning tools to enter that growing arena,” Peter Piconi, marine business specialist with the Island Institute, said in the release. “More importantly, fisherman can diversify their income which, in turn, helps island and coastal economies thrive. We are excited to help a new group of individuals gain the tools they need to launch their aquaculture businesses.”

Strata Soft Opening Today

| Posted in Openings

Strata (website, instagram) a cutlery retail business and knife sharpening service is holding the soft opening for their new retail shop at The Black Box container building on Washington Ave.

Owner Evan Atwell sells specialty Japanese, French and New England made cutlery, as well as sharpens knives using a traditional Japanese whetstone process. Atwell moved to Portland from California where he worked for the Bi-Rite Market group.