There’s a round-up of several food community news items in the Food & Health section of today’s newspaper. The article reports on the Portland Food Co-op, the Maine Senior FarmShare program, spring CSA shares, Eco Appetito and Tango & Tapas on Peaks.
Author: PFM
Big Fish
Today’s Press Herald reports on a recent research study that suggests bigger fish are more fertile, and that current fishing regulations are encouraging harvesting the gene pool for exactly those characteristics fish populations need to thrive again.
Pepperclub
Are some RestaurantWeekME options a better deal than others? The Phoenix thinks so and has posted an entry on their About Town blog about the value and good food to be had at Pepperclub.
Guinness Primer
In anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, The Maine Switch has published a primer on drinking Guinness.
Being that it’s a glass full of black, it has to be bitter with an aftertaste that hangs on for days. No thanks, was always my answer. I’d rather settle for a Coors Light than go down that road.
But since we’re closing in on that annual celebration of St. Patrick, the day when the Guinness flows non-stop at places like Ri Ra, Bull Feeney’s and Brian Boru, I figured it was high time I actually gave the old Irish favorite a try.
Hood Downsizing Organic Dairies
Today’s Press Herald published a pair of articles from the Bangor Daily News on downsizing in the organic dairy business. Hood has decided not to renew contracts with about a third of their organic dairies in Maine and asked the rest to decrease their output.
The farms being dropped by Hood are in Aroostook and Washington counties only, an area courted heavily by Hood just three years ago, when the organic boom was at its peak.
Hood ships Maine’s organic milk to New York to be processed and packaged and then returns it to Maine where it is sold as Stonyfield Farm Organic Milk.
Cajun Cookin’ Challenge Results
USM Free Press has a report on the competition at Cajun Cookin’ Challenge that took place last week. According to the article, Silly’s won best Cajun dish with a vegan entry.
This Week’s Events
RestaurantWeekME is in full swing this week. In addition to the prix fixe menus as 30+ Portland restaurants there are also special events on the schedule for RestaurantWeekME on Tuesday and Thursday. Also of special note this week are the Whole Hog Dinner taking place at Vignola on Thursday, the 2nd Annual Eco Appetito at Cinque Terre on Sunday afternoon and the first showing of the Food Film Series Sunday evening. The biweekly Winter Farmers’ Market is scheduled for Wednesday. Piatto per Tutti is holding a cooking class on Monday and Black Tie Bistro is holding one on Wednesday. The Maine Food & Drink Institute’s cheese class starts Tueday night. Both the West End Grocery and Leroux Kitchen are holding wine tastings this week. If that all wasn’t enough to keep you busy this week, First Friday Art Walk is also taking place this week. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
February’s Stats
The 10 restaurants looked up most often during the month of February were:
- Emilitsa (4)
- Evangeline (5)
- Bresca (3)
- Paciarino (2)
- Blue Spoon (15)
- The Grill Room (19)
- Five Fifty-Five (6)
- The Frog and Turtle (20)
- Caiola’s (8)
- Bar Lola (24)
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Loco Pollo Review
Loco Pollo received 3 stars from this week’s Taste & Tell column in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram.
The arrival of a new menu in town is always something to be celebrated, and at Loco Pollo, the flavors of the Yucutan presented in soups and tamales are very good indeed – even if you might wish for a little more of them.
MeRA Chef of the Year
Chef Christian Gordon from the The Inn on Peaks Island has been named 2009 Chef of the Year by the Maine Restaurant Association.