Booze Traveler and Chopped

Maine food folks will be appearing on two upcoming TV shows:

  • Linda Kate Lobster will be featured in episode 14 of the Travel Channel show Booze Traveler. The episode will air February 26 at 11pm.
  • Dandelion Catering chef/owner Christian Hayes will be competing on an upcoming episode of Chopped which is set to air March 20 at 10pm. The episode is entitled Pork on the Brain. The Press Herald has posted an brief interview with Hayes.

Two Maine Beard House Dinners

Two more Maine dinners at the James Beard House in NYC have been scheduled:

  • April 3 – Maine Power Couples
    Chris and Paige Gould from Central Provisions and Tipo, Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez from Piccolo and Chaval, Danielle and Justin Walker from Walkers Maine
  • April 5 – Maine Escape
    Andrew Chadwick from the Sea Glass at Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth

Chef Emil Rivera is already on the Beard House calendar for a dinner taking place on March 24th.

This Week’s Events: American Unagi, Drifters Wife, Proper Cup, Kombucha Workshop, Pasta with Paolo

Tuesday – the Other Side Deli on Veranda Street is holding a wine tasting focusing on budget wines, 5-7pm.

Thursday – American Unagi founder Sara Rademaker will be giving a lecture at GMRI, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing Good Fire Brewing.

Friday – It’s the opening night for the new Drifters Wife (online reservations) at 59 Washington Ave, there will be a beer and cheese tasting at Foundation Brewing and a Jack’s Abby tap takeover at Slab.

Saturday – It’s the opening day for The Proper Cup (website, facebook, instagram) coffee shop at 500 Forest Ave, Higher Grounds is teaching a kombucha workshop, LeRoux is holding a wine tasting, and the 2nd dinner of the Oakleaf series is taking place.

Pasta with Paolo – Solo Italiano chef Paolo Laboa is kicking off a monthly pasta making class starting February 26th. The class will “teach the ins and outs of making a various styles of pasta, as well as its history, before you create two portions of one style yourself. At 5pm, the first portion, plated and served by Paolo himself, will be enjoyed alongside a uniquely paired glass of wine in the shared company of your classmates. The second portion will be yours to take home for your own attempt at re-creation or experimentation.”

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.

Beer Releases from Bissell and Oxbow

Two new beer releases are taking place this Saturday:

  • Bissell Brothers is releasing Preserve & Protect, “a 7.8% IPA built off the blueprint of our 4th-anniversary one-off. This beer gives us a chance to utilize the pineapple flavors of Denali on a larger base, with background support from Citra and Vic Secret. The label features an illustration by Heidi Geist featuring our father, recently retired as director of Baxter State Park”.
  • Oxbow is releasing Blacklight, “a 6% European hopped dark Farmhouse Ale brewed with oats and midnight wheat, called Blacklight”

This Week’s Events: Food Council, Chef Summit, Rising Tide, Oakleaf Dinner, Foley’s Baking Class

Monday – the Portland Food Council is meeting at One Longfellow Square.

Thursday – it’s the first day of the Chef Summit, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing Rising Tide Brewing.

Saturday – chef Tyler Vorce is kicking-off his Oakleaf dinner series at the Fork Food Lab, and the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

SundayFoley’s is teaching a baking class.

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.

Oakleaf Dinner Series

Chef Tyler Vorce has returned to his home state of Maine and is holding a pop-up dinner series during the month of February.

Originally from Kennebunk, Maine, Tyler started working in restaurants as a dishwasher at age fourteen. He most recently was a sous chef at The French Laundry in Yountville, California where he worked for five years. He also worked at Dovetail restaurant in New York City and spent time in the kitchens of La Maison Troisgros and Epicure in France.

The 5-course the Oakleaf (website, facebook, instagram) dinners are taking place at Fork Food Lab on February 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th. According to the Oakleaf website, “[e]ach dinner will feature five courses including canapés, a few savory courses, and dessert, as well as an optional wine pairing.”.

Tickets are now on sale at Eventbrite.

This Week’s Events: Pie Buffet, Ice Bar, Latte Art, Peddleman’s Pop-up

TuesdayTwo Fat Cats is celebrating National Pie Day with a pie buffet, and it’s the opening night for Portland Stage’s production of Babette’s Feast (get tickets).

Wednesday – there will be a tasting at the Old Port Wine Merchants.

Thursday – it’s the opening night of the annual Ice Bar at the Portland Harbor Hotel, Tandem Coffee is hosting a barista latte art competition, Petite Jacqueline is holding a Loire wine dinner, Bao Bao is holding a Boothbay Brewing beer dinner, and Island Creek is teaching a (sold out) oyster shucking class.

FridayPeddleman’s Falafel is holding 4 seatings of a pop-up dinner at Palace Diner, and there will be a wine tasting at the Brighton Ave Rosemont Market.

Saturday – the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

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.

Babette’s Feast

The Press Herald has published an article about the upcoming performance of Babette’s Feast at Portland Stage.

“It is a very profound movie,” he said. “It was, in the end, about bringing everybody together.”

Now “Babette’s Feast” is coming to the American stage. A new adaptation, written by New York City playwright Rose Courtney, will have its world premiere Jan. 23 at the Portland Stage Company on Forest Avenue.

Tickets are available through the Portland Stage box office.

Food Writing Workshop

Acclaimed Maine author, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, will be teaching a food writing workshop this summer in Rockport, July 22-28.

Want to be a food writer but don’t know how to start? Already a food writer but feeling stumped or uninspired? Whether a beginner or experienced writer, you’ll explore every aspect of writing food, from recipes to restaurant reviews, from profiles to feature articles, from food memoir to food history to the issues that make food a compelling read in today’s news. Read, write and share thoughts about what makes the best food writing, what makes it salable, how to pitch a story, how to craft a cookbook, or just how and where to begin.

Join award-winning cookbook author and food journalist Nancy Harmon Jenkins and several of her peers, including Mitchell Davis, executive vice-president of the James Beard Foundation and Kathleen Fleury, editor in chief of Downeast Magazine.   Together, we’ll break apart the complex world of food writing and see what makes it work when it does—and also when it doesn’t.