Author: PFM

Evans & Hasty

| Posted in People

Rob Evans and Ben Hasty’s cooking class earlier this week at Stonewall Kitchen was written up in both the Portsmouth Herald

Evans explained just how much American cuisine has changed since his days at the legendary French Laundry Restaurant in Napa Valley. “Everyone’s awareness of food is elevated. We have local farmers and artisan food producers bringing us ingredients. The American chefs coming up, they don’t want to wear a suit or tie. And even American service has changed, it’s casual, fun.”

and by the blog Soooo.. You Really Like Cats, Don’t You

When asked his favorite late-night snack, Evans explained, “By the time I remember to eat after service, the kitchen’s already been cleaned up and it’s 2AM. And I keep in mind that I don’t like cooking at home. So, sometimes I’ll just head down to Cumberland Farms, get a Red Baron Pizza to pop into the microwave – sprinkle some Malden salt and give me a glass of wine and I’d be set.”

Buy Local

| Posted in General News

Fore Street, Micucci’s, Coffee by Design, Becky’s and the Portland Farmers’ Market were among the winners at Buy Local’s Indie Biz Awards on Wednesday night. For more details on the event check out the latest post from Portland in a Snap.
Buy Local also figured prominently in a new article on the Down East site (via Psst!) advocating for a Portland Buy Local truck that would trundle about town Good Humor style dispensing croissants and locally grown veggies.

At first, I simply wanted our local Maple’s Gelato or Beal’s Ice Cream to operate their own truck. Fresh ingredients would be a huge improvement. I could call it a victory and gain ten pounds. Then I thought, why stop with ice cream?

Portland needs an entire Buy Local truck of items such as ice cream, bread, dairy, produce and beer. Imagine a truck painted by a local artist with a jingle produced by local musicians. Did I mention it would run on biodiesel?

CUE Culture Interview

| Posted in People

Wayne Tuohey from CUE Culture was interviewed for the ShopTalk column in today’s Press Herald.

The initial stuff I made at home, since the early ’90s, was the Apricot Habenero Rum barbecue sauce. I used to make it for the family. For Christmas every year they’d get a Tupperware full of frozen pulled pork and a Mason jar of sauce. So when I thought about doing Cue Culture, I thought, ‘My family likes it, but I don’t really know if it’s any good.’ I took some to a restaurant in Portland, and some people I knew, and my parents knew. They’d moved to Florida, and my father took some barbecuing classes at the local community college.

El Rayo

| Posted in Under Construction

I just drove by El Rayo and there are signs posted saying that there’s a private party there tonight. New restaurants often have a party with friends and family a couple days before they open as a dry-run with a controlled friendly audience. A call to the restaurant confirmed that they plan to open on Saturday.

GRO Cafe Review

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has reviewed GRO Cafe, the new raw food establishment near Monument Square.

Even without cooking, GRO Café may evolve and flourish too. What they do well is good enough to build upon successfully. The sesame noodles made from zucchini, for example, offered a nice contrast in texture to crisp carrot and celery. The almond Thai sauce was not too thick or sweet. Little nori dumplings were sort of interesting, though their nutty, garlicky, bright green paste was a touch too dense.

but also went on to say

But there are things to improve. In the smallish sea veggie shiitake roll, the bitter collard wrap and seaweed aroma overwhelmed the other flavors. The mushrooms also get a bit lost in a too-sweet marinade when featured in an “Emma Goldman” sandwich, which replaces bread with two circles of wettish undercooked tortilla. But the Goldman was better than the veggie-ball sub . . .