Category: Events

Test you Portland culinary knowledge at Monday’s Food and Drink Trivia Night being held at Bull Feeney’s. According to The Maine Switch, the farmers’ market in Monument Square has started up ahead of schedule this year and will be open on Wednesday morning. This Wednesday afternoon there’s an open house at Portland’s community supported kitchen Local Sprouts. On Thursday, the Community Television Network will host a panel discusion on Maine Food Systems. Also on Thursday, The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beers from D.L. Geary Brewing. There are three classes scheduled this week: at Piatto per Tutti on Monday; as well as Maine Ambassadors of Food and Drink classes on Tuesday and Thursday. There are two wine tasting:  at Browne Trading on Thursday and Kitchen and Cork on Saturday. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

The second night of a two-part Maine Food & Drink Ambassador’s class on beer, wine, mead and spirits is taking place on Tuesday night at the Bar of Chocolate Cafe; and the first night of the Ambassador’s course on cheese is taking place at Horton’s on Thursday. On Tuesday, ‘Gasharoo, an all-Allagash event is on tap at Novare Res. On Thursday The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beers from Long Trail Brewing. The 10th Annual Best Of Portland readership poll results will be announced on Wednesday at a party to be held at the Port City Music Hall. There are two cooking classes scheduled this week: at Piatto per Tutti on Monday and Black Tie Bistro on Wednesday. There are three wine tasting:  at Old Port Wine Merchants on Wednesday, Leavitt and Sons on Thursday and Scarborough Wine Outlet on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the 5th Annual International Food Festival is taking place at SMCC. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

This year’s Food+Farm is taking place May 8-10. It looks like a really good program.

• Ted Ames, lobsterman and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient who has gathered “oral histories from Maine fishermen to research the collapse of fish stocks”
• Bryant Terry, “eco chef, food justice activist”, and author of Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine and Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen
  
• An advance screening of “Food, Inc.“, a documentary about the industrial food industry by director Robert Kenner.
• A Cultivating Community Urban Garden Fair
• The Food+Farm University, organized  by MOFGA

Tickets for the Ted Ames, Bryant Terry and Food Inc. are on now sale.

Micucci’s Stephen Lanzalotta is holding another of his Piatto per Tutti cooking  classes on Monday. The first of a two-part MF&WA’s class on beer, wine, mead and spirits is taking place on Tuesday night at the Bar of Chocolate Cafe. There’s a wine tasting at RSVP on Wednesday and a mead tasting at the Public Market House on Thursday. Also on Thursday The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beers from Shipyard Brewing. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

The Maine Food and Drink Ambassadors program is now offering the second class of what will eventually be an 8-course program on Maine food. The first course addressed cheese. This second one will tackle beer, wine, mead and spirits and will be taught by “brewer Tom Bull, meadmaker Eli Cayer, winemakers from Cellar Door and Oyster River Winegrowers as well as distillers Keith Bodine [from Sweetgrass Winery] and Jonathan Forester.”
The course takes place over 2 night at the Bar of Chocolate Cafe on April 7 and 14th. There’s also a repeat of the 3-night cheese course taking place at K. Horton’s in the Public Market House on the 16th, 23rd and 30th of this month. For more information or to sign-up drop a line to Margo Mallar at info@maineambassadors.com.

The Portland Symphony’s Wine Dinner and Auction take place tonight. There are two cooking classes scheduled this week: Piatto per Tutti on Monday and Black Tie Bistro on Wednesday. Food & Wine magazine is scheduled to announce the 2009 list of  Best New Chefs on Wednesday; Hugo’s Rob Evans was on the list in 2004 and 555’s Steve Corry in 2007. MOFGA is teaching a class on organic gardening Wednesday night in Cape Elizabeth. Wine tastings are on tap at the West End Deli on Friday and at Leroux Kitchen on Saturday. Novare Res is holding a vertical tasting of Ola Dubh 12, 16 and 30 on Thursday, while The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beeers from Boston Beer Co. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

The James Beard Foundation is scheduled to announce the final list of 2009 nominees today; several Portland restaurants are semi-finalists. Bar Lola and the Foreside Tavern are both hosting wine dinners this week. Rosemont, Leavitt and Sons, Browne Trading, Kitchen and Cork and Scarborough Wine Outlet are all holding wine tastings. On Thursday, The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beers from Rogue Brewing. Friday night, ILAP is holding the 5th Annual Celesoiree. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

Tuesday is St Patrick’s Day. The biweekly Winter Farmers’ Market is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Boys and Their Beers a 5-course prix fixe dinner with beer pairing, is taking place at Frog and Turtle Wednesday evening; five local chefs are collaborating on the meal. There are two cooking classes this week:  Piatto per Tutti on Monday and Black Tie Bistro on Wednesday. The last class of Maine Food & Drink Institute’s cheese course is on Tueday night. Thursday night, The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beers from Brooklyn Brewing. Old Port Wine Merchants, Black Cherry Provisions and Rosemont on Brighton are all holding wine tastings this week. Maine Maple Sunday, a celebration of maple sugaring in the state, is this weekend. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram has an article about next weekend’s Maine Maple Sunday.  It includes a list of participating sugar houses in York and Cumberland Counties. For a state-wide list visit the Get Real, Get Maine! website.

Portland Bar Guide has published a round-up of St Patricks day entertainment and eating/drinking specials.