Category: Events

The Telling Room is offering a summer program for children ages 11-15 that are interested to learn more about critique and review, including restaurant reviews.

Geared to aspiring journalists and critics alike, this camp will take full advantage of Portland being a city bustling with art, music, food, and entertainment. Together we’ll explore art galleries, food establishments, and check out some local music. Campers will delve into the art of critical observation and evaluation in the form of art, food, and music reviews. We’ll also meet local editors and journalists and take a tour of The Portland Press Herald.

The program is already at capacity but you can add your kid’s name to the wait list and learn more on The Telling Room website.

 

The Blueberry Files has published a report on last weekend’s Rum Riots Tiki Workshop.

We started with the Tree Frog – a blended drink with Plantation rum, allspice-galangal syrup, fresh lime juice, and banana. I don’t know about you, but if I’d seen this on a menu, I might have shied away from it, because of the allspice and the banana. But it was lightly fruity and not too spicy, perhaps balanced by the fresh squeeze lime juice and the slushy blended ice (recipes to follow). This drink represents the “new wave” of tiki – not overly sweet, elevated, and still made with traditional tiki ingredients (namely, rum!). 

This year’s Maine Start-up Create & Week has a entire track devoted to starting and running food business. The 5-day program has talks ranging from distribution and marketing to incubators and from craft spirits to sustainability.

Check out the full schedule at mainestartupandcreateweek.com, check out this interview with co-founder Jess Knox.

Monday — Piccolo is hosting a Chartreuse Dinner, 14 restaurants are collaborating on a fundraisers for Nepal, and Lolita is celebrating their 1-year anniversary.

Tuesday — Figgy’s Takeout is opening, and Bier Cellar is celebrating their 3rd anniversary with an Austin Street tasting.

Wednesday — there will be a wine and cheese tasting at the Public Market House, and The Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday — 7 Maine cider companies will be pouring at Maine Fare’s Hard Cider Revival, and Bite Into Maine will be in NYC to compete the 2015 Lobster Roll Rumble.

Friday — there will be a wine tasting at the West End Deli. It’s also First Friday Art Walk, restaurants will be busy so be sure to make your reservations now.

Saturday — the Deering Oaks 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.

Monday — today is Memorial Day.

Tuesday — Rosen’s Deli, aka Full Belly Deli, is opening their new location in Westbrook at 10:30am, and Vinland is hosting a pop-up dinner in collaboration with chef Chris Newton.

Wednesday — The Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday — there will be a wine tasting at Maine & Loire., and The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing beer from the Boothbay Craft Brewery.

Friday — Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales is doing a tap takeover at Pai Men Miyake.

Saturday — Standard Baking is celebrating their 20th anniversary, Rosemont is  running a Spanish wine event, RSVP is holding a rose tasting, the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place. It’s also the start of the 2015 Rum Riots festival, Saturday’s program includes a class on how to make bitters, shrubs and syrups at home taught by Owl & Whale, a cocktail book history lecture by Don Lindgren and John Myers, and a tiki cocktail workshop taught by bartenders from The Yachtsman in Philadelphia.

Sunday — Po’Boys and Pickles is holding their 4th Annual Parking Lot Crawfish Boil, and Rum Riots continues with a lecture on the history of Chartreuse, a class on bar technique taught by Jeffrey Morgenthaler and USBG bartending competition.

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.

Monday — Vinland is hosting a 5-course seaweed tasting dinner, there will be a tapas event at Lolita this afternoon, and Le Petite Boucher will be holding a pig butchering workshop.

Tuesday — Brad Messier is the guest chef for a pop-up dinner at Vinland.

Wednesday — The Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place, and all David’s restaurants in Portland, South Portland and Kennebunkport will be donating 15% of all restaurant sales to relief efforts in Nepal. and Rabelais owner Don Lindgren will give a talk to The Baxter Society on The Apgar Collection of 19th Century Cookbooks “looking at highlights of the collection, and milestones in American cookbook history, as well as examining what a large collection can tell us about American culture that individual books cannot”.

Thursday — Rosemont is holding a Mosel tasting event at Think Tank, and chef Shannon Bard is hosting a launch party for her book The Gourmet Mexican Kitchen.

Friday — Crooners & Cocktails at 90 Exchange Street is holding their launch party.

Saturday — Maine & Loire is holding a wine tasting, and the Deering Oaks 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.

The Hunt and Alpine Club has been selected to compete in this year’s Bar Fight Club at Tales of the Cocktail, the “world’s premier professional cocktail event.”

Bar Fight Club is an annual battle royale where a small number of celebrated bar teams compete in a spirited showdown to claim the ultimate bar bragging rights.  The rules are simple – there are none. Each bar team will serve up great drinks in their own style featuring spirits from The 86 Co…and Del Maguey Single Village Mezcals…The winners will be determined based on a range of criteria covering cocktail making and presentation, with bonus points awarded to the teams who make some noise to keep the party going. Also up for grabs will be the prize for People’s Choice, chosen by the Bar Fight Club crowd that night. 

They’re up against some serious national and international competition, bars like The Cure in New Orleans and The Aviary in Chicago.

The Press Herald has published a report on Piccolo’s May the Fourth Star Wars Dinner.

The cuisine at Piccolo, one of Portland’s most intimate and romantic restaurants, pays tribute to the “humble cuisines of Southern and Central Italy,” particularly food from Calabria and Abruzzi. But on Monday, May 4, an international holiday for Star Wars fans, the menu expanded outside our galaxy to include a Sarlacc Tot-Tooine Salad, Sausages Alla Taun Taun and an appetizer described as the X-Wing Dagobah Ration Kit.

The James Beard Awards took place last night in Chicago. Sadly, known of the four Maine nominees were selected for an award, but just being nominated is a significant honor. When I caught up with some of the Maine team at last night’s after party at The Aviary they were happy to have been part of the process and out enjoying the celebration.

Given Maine recent track record with the JBF awards I think we can look forward another robust crop of nominees in 2016. I look forward to returning to Chicago next May to join in all the fun and try out more of the city’s fine restaurants.