Travels with Hilary has published some additional information on the Cuban restaurant going in on Wharf Street.
…Cassady [Pappas] is a long-timer with restaurateur Michael Boland, so it makes sense. Boland, by the way, has a very successful track record with the restaurants he’s opened in Bar Harbor. He’s a savvy businessman. If this version of Havana is anything similar to the original one, it should be a nice addition to Portland’s crowded restaurant scene.
Monday—The Food Film Series is screening the animated movie Ratatouille tonight with Rob Evans as the featured chef. Also tonight are the weekly Piatto per Tutti cooking class and Foodie Trivia Contest.
Tuesday—A cooking class taking place at SMCC.
Wednesday—The Monument Square Farmers’ Market takes places in the morning. In the afternoon, wine tastings are taking place at both RSVP and Old Port Wine Merchants.
Saturday—The Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market takes places in the morning. In the afternoon Novella Carpenter, urban farmer and author Farm City, will be at Rabelais for a book signing; local farmers and members of Cultivating Community will be presenting on “the unique challenges of farming in this city.”
Sunday—Hugo’s is holding their 9th Annual Potato Dinner.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
The November issue of The Bollard is now out. It includes a breakfast review of Bibo’s Madd Apple Cafe, an essay by Elizabeth Peavey on the passing of restaurateur James Ledue, and another installment of bartender John Myers Land of the Forgotten Cocktail series.
The Portland Daily Sun has published an article on the growing number of food vendors who are breaking into the wholesale market.
The restaurant-driven path may tempt some producers to go directly into wholesale, but it could be that successful retailing is a good foundation for wholesaling.
At Maples, for example, management reports that of their last 10 outlet deals, only two came from company outreach. The other eight called the company.
Even Whole Foods, the giant retailer that is a Holy Grail for many seeking to take their local, organic products to a larger market, recruited Maple’s.
The Portland Daily Sun has published an article on the growing number of food vendors who are breaking into the wholesale market.
The restaurant-driven path may tempt some producers to go directly into wholesale, but it could be that successful retailing is a good foundation for wholesaling.
At Maples, for example, management reports that of their last 10 outlet deals, only two came from company outreach. The other eight called the company.
Even Whole Foods, the giant retailer that is a Holy Grail for many seeking to take their local, organic products to a larger market, recruited Maple’s.
According to A Blog About Beer, Shipyard recently received recognition for their XXXX IPA at a competition in Sweeden.
Of course it’s always a treat to see local boys doing well, so I was pleased to hear the news this morning that Shipyard’s XXXX IPA (the third installment in the brewery’s four-beer-strong Puglsey Signature Series) recently won a silver medal at the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival in the “Ale Modern Style 6% and Above” category. According to the Shipyard press release, the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival is one of Europe’s largest trade and consumer shows and Shipyard was just one of ten U.S. breweries to medal at the festival.
Portland Food Heads has published a new installment of the site’s essay series. Ken Courtney, a waiter and bartender at Bar Lola, is the author of an essay about surfing, hunger and the nature of food.
If we make sense of our lives in story-form, we’re bound to care about the tales surrounding what sustains us. Narrative lifts food from filling to fulfilling. Though my fast had hardly been worthy of Mahatma Gandhi or Kafka’s hunger artist, it was the remembrance of this principle that brought me back down to earth. I noticed that the lingering aromas from the kitchen had once more assumed their full powers of seduction, and after I was handed an IPA – as if on cue – glasses clinked all around and someone simply said, “To life.”
The Maine Brewer’s Festival is taking place today at the Portland Expo. 16 Maine brewers are taking part including small-scale Portland newcomer Maine Beer Co. The Portland Daily Sun published a piece earlier this week on the Festival:
Brothers David and Daniel Kleban’s tiny brewery is one of four new additions to this year’s event, and they have generated some buzz despite their size — or maybe because of it. They run a one-barrel system, borrow equipment when it comes time to unload supplies and occupy a space slightly beyond homebrewing on the route to the big time.
“I don’t know how much smaller you could possibly get,” said David Kleban. “We don’t even have a forklift, we just borrow one from the folks down the way.”
The Picnic Basket received 3 stars from this week’s Eat & Run review in the Press Herald.
We tried the roast beef special, which consisted of roast beef, horseradish sauce, lettuce and tomato on a fresh sourdough roll. Everything seemed really fresh, and the horseradish sauce was terrific. It’s the kind that will clear your sinuses.
If your pockets are really light, there are hot dogs for just $1.60 and chili dogs for $2.