Category: Events

The Chinese Laundry

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The Golden Dish has published a report on last night’s kick start event for The Chinese Laundry.

The menu is strictly dim sum and from what I sampled last night I would advise not to miss her future pop-ups.

There were only two items served: steamed dumplings filled with pork and scallions and fried dumplings  with sweet potato and leeks.  There were a few sauces on the side including a very sweetly pungent hoison sauce with scallions.  Both were evocative examples of the genre.

This Week’s Events: Cajun Cookin’ Challenge, Chopped Champions, Valentine’s Day, Cloak & Dagger, Brush with Love, Flavors of Freeport

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Tuesday — Rob Evans (there’s an interview with Evans in today’s Press Herald) will be competing in the finals for Chopped Champions on the Food Network, the WMPG 18th Annual Fat Tuesday Cajun Cookin’ Challenge is taking place.

Wednesday —Bunker Brewing is celebrating their 1-year anniversary at Local 188, and Cloak & Dagger is holding their Killing Me Sweetly dinner.

Valentine’s Day — nearly every restaurant in town will be open for Valentine’s Day. Here are the one’s planning Valentine’s Day menus or events:

Friday —it’s the first day of the Flavors of Freeport.

Saturday — there will be a wine tasting at Browne Trading, it’s the last day of the Flavors of Freeport, and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Chefs Nikos Regas from Emilitsa, Pete Sultenfuss from Grace and Mitchell Gerow from East Ender will be competing in Boston at the Lamb Jam, Two Fat Cats is holding a wedding cake tasting, and Petite Jacqueline is screening Ratatouille.

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.

Pocket Brunch: Party Gras

| Posted in Events, Pocket Brunch

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The February edition of Pocket Brunch took place today. The event kicked off at a private home for cocktails, coffee and apps before a jazz band led the assembled guest for a New Orleans style parade down the street to Bubba’s Sulky Lounge for the main portion of the meal was served.

Eric Simeon (who you may remember was the original chef at Grace) and Rhonda Crosson were the guest chefs alongside Josh Potocki and Joel Beauchamp. This was one of my favorite of the Pocket Brunch series so far.

  • Premeal – praline pig, bruleed grapefruit, banana foster bostock, suzette scones
  • Soup – Gumbo Z’herbes with greens and black-eyed peas
  • Salad – endive, chared okra, marinated oysters, blood orange and broiled oysters on half shell
  • Egg – artichoke hearts, white asparagus, stock-poached egg, creamed cress, parmesan hollandaise and country ham
  • Meat – local beef debris, grits 2 ways, crispy sweetbreads, green tomato pickle
  • Dessert – king cake

The meal was accompanied by cocktails by Nan’l Meiklejohn and coffee from Tandem Coffee Roasters.

Check out this big set of images from Zwickerhill Photography for more images from the event, as well as this post from Delicious Musings.

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On a related note, yesterday Food Coma published a write-up of last month’s Pocket Brunch with Rob Evans.

This Week’s Events: Sonnet, Chopped, Share Our Strength, Chinese Laundry, Pocket Brunch, Figa, Valentine’s Day

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Monday —chef Damian Sansonetti is holding a Sonnet pop-up dinner.

Tuesday —chef Rob Evans is appearing on Food Network for an episode of Chopped Champions. El Rayo is kicking off their language exchange program; every Tuesday 3-4 pm El Rayo will host this event to connect English and Spanish native speakers. Participants will have a chance to learn from each other while enjoying half-priced drinks from the bar.

Thursday — the Great Lost Bear is showcasing Bray’s Brewpub.

Friday —in a continuation of their monthly international dinner series Eve’s is featuring Aphrodisiacs from Italy and Greece.

Saturday — Rosemont is holding a wine tasting, and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — chefs Sam Hayward, Rob Evans and Chad Conley will be cooking at Flatbread to raise money for Share Our Strength, The Chinese Laundry will be serving up tea and dumplings at Speckled Ax, the (sold out) February edition of Pocket Brunch is taking place,  Petite Jacqueline is screening Sabrina, Two Fat Cats is teaching a baking class.

Figa — starting this week Figa is reopening, by reservation only, on Fridays and Saturdays.

Valentine’s Day — restaurants have started posting their plans for Valentine’s Day. The holiday falls on a Thursday this year and nearly every restaurant will be open. Here are the one’s planning Valentine’s Day menus or events:

  • Anthony’s, 5-course dinner and Rat Pack Valentine’s Day show, $39.95
  • Bar Lola, 5-course prix fixe, $55 per person.
  • Five Fifty-Five, 5-course tasting menu, $88 per person with optional wine pairing for $35 or $50.
  • Hugo’s, 7-course dinner, $80 per person with optional wine pairing at $55.
  • Nosh is celebrating a Love Affair with Bacon.
  • Novare Res is collaborating with Sweet Marguerite’s to serves a set of beer and chocolate pairings.
  • Petite Jacqueline, 3-course dinner, $55 per person with optional menu supplements, wine pairing and champagne flights.
  • Roost and Modern Vegan are collaborating to offer 5-course series of chocolate and wine pairings, $25 per couple.
  • The Holy Donut is making a strawberry glazed donut drizzled with 60% dark chocolate.
  • The Salt Exchange, 6-course Midnight in Paris menu, $65 per person.
  • Twenty Milk Street, 3-course menu.
  • Zapoteca, 4-course dinner “Celebrating the Love of Asian Influenced Mexican Cuisine”, $50 per person.
  • Maine Restaurant Week has posted their recommendations for Valentine’s Day parsed by relationship status.

Modern Vegan Cooking School — throughout February and March, Modern Vegan is teaching a series a cooking classes on winter soups, cooking for weight loss, cooking with greens, vegan entertaining and more.

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.

This Week’s Events: Cloak & Dagger, Latte Art, Wine Tastings, Specialty Coffee Month, Food Preservation Classes

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Monday — Cloak & Dagger is holding an homage dinner where they’ll “replicate famous dishes from: Thomas Keller, Escoffier, Albert Adria, Ferran Adria, David Chang, Grant Achatz, Daniel Boulud, and more.” Local Sprouts is screening the movie Betting the Farm.

Wednesday — The Salt Exchange is hosting a Beer & Bacon dinner, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute will be screening Alaska’s Red Gold, a movie about the sockeye salmon at Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Thursday — Bard is hosting the monthly Latte Art Competition, the Great Lost Bear is showcasing a set of beers from New Hampshire, and there will be a wine tasting at the Public Market House and a beer tasting at the Bier Cellar.

Friday — Wine Wise is teaching a class on the wines of Rhone Valley, there will be a wine tasting at the West End Deli, and it’s First Friday Art Walk so make your reservations soon before the restaurants are all booked up.

Saturday — Figa is holding an Art Bar, there will be wine tastings at LeRoux Kitchen and Browne Trading, and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Petite Jacqueline is screening Les Diaboliques.

Coffee by Design — is running a series of educational events in February to celebrate Specialty Coffee Month.

Food Preservation Workshops — the University of Maine Cooperative Extension has published an extensive list of classes on food preservation taking place all over the state.

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.

Pie Day & Maine Food Strategy

| Posted in Events, Farming

The Food & Wine section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about National Pie Day celebrations taking place in Portland and Rockland, pie facts, and pie recipes,

[Ned] Swain is a member of the elusive “Portland Pie Council,” a group of five or so Portlanders who fancy pie and for the past four years have organized a Pie and Art Gala at the Mayo Street Center for the Arts to celebrate Jan. 23, National Pie Day. Generally, they keep their identities secret, so Swain has become their spokesperson, using his pie hole to promote pies made of sweet potatoes, chocolate, pecans, berries, summer vegetables and just about any other ingredient you can think of that tastes good in a crust.

and an article about the Maine Food Strategy Initiative.

“Right now Maine imports the vast, vast majority of its food and most of it comes in on trucks,” said Lapping, who is a distinguished professor at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Policy. “But many of us believe Maine has the capacity to produce more food.”

This Week’s Events: Wine Dinners, Ice Bar, Maine Shrimp Season, Pie Day, Sea Change Cooking

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — it’s the start of Maine Shrimp season, and wine dinners are taking place at Bar Lola, Five Fifty-Five and Hugo’s.

Wednesday — Portland’s National Pie Day celebration will be held at the Mayo Street Art Center, and Callabash Cafe in South Portland is hosting a cigar dinner.

Thursday — Aurora Provisions is holding a pie and wine tasting, it’s the first night of the Ice Bar at the Portland Harbor Hotel, and The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing Dogfish Head Brewing, and the Bier Cellar is holding a tasting of beers made with Brettanomyces yeast.

Friday — a culinary immersion feast is taking place at the Museum of African Culture, Zapoteca is hosting the first dinner of their cellar series, there will be a wine tasting at Rosemont, The Honey Exchange is giving a lecture on beekeeping, and it’s the 2nd night of the Ice Bar.

Saturday — Sea Change is teaching a cooking class, it’s the last night of the Ice Bar, and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Petite Jacqueline is screening La Delicatesse.

Valentine’s Day — restaurants have started posting their plans for Valentine’s Day. I’ll add to the list as I get them. The first few out of the gate are:

  • Bar Lola, 5-course prix fixe, $55 per person.
  • Hugo’s, 7-course dinner, $80 per person with optional wine pairing at $55.
  • Petite Jacqueline, 3-course dinner, $55 per person with optional menu supplements, wine pairing and champagne flights.

The Chinese Laundry — will be serving up tea and dumplings at Speckled Ax on February 10.

Sonnet — chef Damian Sansonetti is holding a pop-up dinner on February 4, “based off of the recipes of Apicius but modern interpretations and Maine ingredients”.

Chopped Champions — chef Rob Evans is making an encore appearance on the Food Network show Chopped on February 5 at 10 pm.

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.