Category: Events

The Portland Symphony’s annual wine dinner and auction is scheduled for March 30 at the Haraseeket Inn in Freeport. This year’s talented line-up of chefs are:

Jonathan Cartwright, Executive Chef, White Barn Inn
Steve Corry, Proprietor & Executive Chef, Five Fifty-Five
Mitchell Kaldrovich, Executive Chef, Inn By the Sea
Gallit Sammon, Chef de Cuisine, Harraseeket Inn
Melody Wolfertz, Proprietor & Executive Chef, In Good Company
Each year, the 5-course dinner centers around the wines from a different part of the globe. This year’s geographic focus is Australia.
Tickets are $150 and you can make reservations by calling (207) 773-6128 x309.

There’s a post on Portbrio about the mussels and porter tasting at Brian Boru last night.

It was an evening of first-time tastings: me with the mussels and everyone else with the porter. Though I don’t think any of them panicked with their first sip of beer.

The Portland Daily Sun has a report on RWME’s success this year and plans for next year.

Organizers of Restaurant Week announced yesterday that the event will be back in March 2010, again staged from March 1 through March 10 where it is positioned between winter and spring.

Portland in a Snap has a report on this past weekend’s Eco Appetito event at Cinque Terre.

RestaurantWeekME winds up this week on Tuesday. In addition to the prix fixe menus at 30+ Portland restaurants there are also special events on the schedule for RestaurantWeekME on Monday and Tuesday. Piatto per Tutti is teaching a cooking class on Monday.  Bar Lola is hosting a beer dinner on Tuesday night. RSVP is holding a wine tasting on Wednesday. The second class of the Maine Food & Drink Institute’s cheese course is also on Tuesday night, and on Thursday The Cheese Iron is teaching a class on blue cheeses. International Stout Bout is on the calendar for Thursday at The Great Lost Bear. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

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.

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.

The Food & Health section in today’s Press Herald has a feature article on next week’s RestaurantWeekME. Author Meredith Goad has ferreted out where some of the better values are among the prix fixe menus and produced a Google map of participating restaurants statewide.

The Meal Deals map has been expanded with entries for

• Duckfat – PBR tall boy, small fries, Monday-Friday, 4:30-6 pm, $5.
• Five Fifty-Five – 3-course winter warmer bar menu for $30,
  the menu changes up every Monday and each has a regional theme.
• Pom’s Thai Taste – $1 sushi, Monday & Tuesday.

If you want to learn how to cook Italian this week then you’re in luck, Piatto per Tutti, Paciarino and the Institute for Italian Studies are all teaching  cooking classes this week. The Slow Food Book Group is meeting on Monday to discuss Wrestling with Gravy by Jonathan Reynolds. On Tuesday WMPG is hosting their 14th Annual Fat Tuesday Celebration and Cajun Cookin’ Challenge. There are two wine dinners this week at Bar Lola on Tuesday and the Foreside Tavern on Weddnesday. There are two wine tastings scheduled this week at Browne Trading on Thursday and Kitchen & Cork on Saturday. RestaurantWeekME kicks off on Sunday. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.