Category: Events

Friday and Saturday’s event gave a good start to the 2013 food truck season. By all accounts Flea Bites was a big success on Friday night. El Corazon sold out of food and the Chicken and Waffles from Wicked Good was a hit. There was a steady crowd at Rising Tide on Saturday for the appearance of Pizza Pie on the Fly at the brewery.

Tuesday — the African Center for the Sacred Arts will be performing a Coffee Ceremony, and there will be two screenings of A Place at the Table, a movie about hunger in America, at the Nickelodeon (tickets).

Wednesday — it’s the first day of the 5th Annual Belgian Bier Fest at Novare Res, and the Monument Square Farmers Market of 2013 is taking place.

Thursday — the Great Lost Bear is showcasing a select of beers from Baxter Brewing.

Friday — a collection of mobile food vendors will be at Portland Flea for All for the first Flea Bites of 2013, and there will be a wine tasting at the West End Deli.

Saturday — the Pizza Pie on the Fly food truck will be at Rising Tide as part of a weekly food truck series being run by the brewery. Wine Wise is teaching a class on Pinot Noir at Caiola’s, there will be wine tastings at LeRoux Kitchen and Browne Trading, the Deering Oaks Farmers Market of 2013 is taking place.

Sunday — El Rayo is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a day’s worth of live music, food, drink and mechanical bull riding, a Cinco de Mayo themed Pocket Brunch is taking place, and Petite Jacqueline is screening the movie Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame for movie night.

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 Press Herald (article 1 article 2) and Bangor Daily News have published articles about the Portland Kitchen Tour.

The kitchen is sleek and modern, with gray walls that reflect the color of Casco Bay on a cloudy, wintry day. The views of the bay from the large picture window are amazing, making the space the perfect spot to watch ships pass by while you drink your morning coffee.

The Tour is taking place on May 10 & 11. Six Portland area kitchens are part of the event, each one will “feature a chef, cookbook author, cooking demo or tasting”.Tickets are now on sale.

Tune in to WMPG (90.9 FM) tonight at 7:30 and listen to the Local Solutions radio show. Hosts Alex Steed and Jodie Lapchick will be speaking with Bite into Maine, Wicked Good Truck, Mainely Burgers and Gorham Grind about their businesses and the emerging food truck scene in the Portland area.

A set of three upcoming food events:

• Outstanding in the Field – this summer Hugo’s will again be participating in an Outstanding in the Field farm dinner. the 2013 dinner will be taking place on August 25 on Thirty Acre Farm in Whitefield, Maine. $200 per person, tickets are now on sale.
• Graze – the Black Tie Company and Pineland Farms are teaming up on a farm dinner series this summer. Each of the 10 dinners will include a farm or garden tour, live entertainment, drinks (cocktails, beer and wine), and a 4-course dinner. The series starts June 19. $95 per person. Call 207-761-6665 or email info@theblacktieco.com for tickets.
• Chopped Competition – the Good Shepherd Food Bank will be putting on a Chopped-style cooking competition at Grace on May 19. The event will “put four local chefs in a head-to-head competition for bragging rights as the “Chopped” Champion”. It will also include “tastings from local restaurants and specialty drinks from guest bartenders made with Maine spirits”. $40 per person. Tickets are now on sale.

Festival Warm-up — Shelton Brothers, the primary organizers behind The Festival, will be at the Bier Cellar on Thursday with a selection of beers that will be part of the summer event. Available at the tasting will be “De Struise Pannepot Gran Reserve 2005 and Black Damnation II, Trois Dames Expesso Stout, Panil Barrique, Kerkom Bink Grand Cru, Blaugies D’Arbyste, High & Mighty Beer of the Gods, De La Senne Zinnebier, DeRanke Hop harvest 2012, Het nest Kleverentien, Anchorage Galaxy IPA, Mikkeller I Beat You, 8 Wired Superconducter IPA, Thirez Blonde, Adnams Blond”. The Festival is taking place in Portland June 21 and 22, tickets are available online.

Also on Thursday — the April Latte Art Competition is taking place at Tandem Coffee, food writer Alana Chernila will be speaking at The Telling Room, there will be a wine and cheese tasting at the Public Market House, and the Great Lost Bear is showcasing a select of beers from Long Trail Brewing.

Saturday — the First Deering Oaks Farmers Market of 2013 is taking place.

Sunday — a May Day Celebration is taking place at Broadturn Farm, the Maine Brew Bus will be making a day trip to Oxbow Brewing in Newcastle, and Petite Jacqueline is screening the movie Le Divorce for movie night.

Portland Kitchen Tour — tickets for the Portland Kitchen Tour are now on sale. 6 Portland area kitchens are part of the event, each one will “feature a chef, cookbook author, cooking demo or tasting”.

Taste of the Nation — the 2013 Taste of the Nation is scheduled to take place June 23 at Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport. Tickets are now on sale. The annual event raises money to combat childhood hunger in the Maine. Last year’s sold out Taste of the Nation raised over $170,000.

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.

Not So Hush Hush took place yesterday at Eventide. Portland Hunt & Alpine Club (website, Facebook) owner Andrew Volk produced a menu of excellent drinks while the Eventide kitchen crew sent out a stream of hors d’oeuvres to the packed house. Here’s the cocktail menu for the event, the Winslow Sour was the favorite among those I spoke to:

• Munjoy Punch – lemon juice, green tea, gin and pineapple juice
• Cumberland Punch – lime juice, brandy, rum and cava
• Winslow Sour – bourbon, lemon juice, apple bitters, egg white
• Ebb and Flow – manzanilla sherry, gin, Royal Rose saffron syrup
• Shooter – aquavit, worcestershire sauce, horseradish, oyster

Portland Hunt & Alpine Club recently leased a space on Market Street and plans on opening their craft cocktail bar this July.

For additional photos see the ones posted by Zach Bowen and Sean Thomas.

Maine-based food blogs Sweeter Salt and From Away and chef Mitchell Gerrow from East Ender are participating in the American Lamb Pro-Am:

• Step 1: 12 food bloggers have posted original lamb-centric recipes for us all to vote on. From Away has submitted a recipe for Indonesian Lamb Rendang and Sweeter Salt has proposed a recipe for Caribbean Roast Leg of Lamb
• Step 2: bloggers who authored the top recipes will be paired up with chefs from Boston, Providence and Portland to collaborate on the dish
• Step 3: a public event in Boston on May 19 where the results of the blogger/chef collaborations are available for a public tasting

Tuesday — the monthly Local Foods Networking Breakfast is taking place at Local Sprouts, and Caiola’s and Devenish Wines are collaborating on a dinner which features wine from Hungary, Croatia, Austria, and Slovenia.

Thursday — Not So Hush Hush (sold out), and the Great Lost Bear is showcasing a select of beers from Rising Tide.

Saturday — there will be a wine tasting at Browne Trading, Novare Res is featuring 15+ beers from Oxbow Brewing with food pairing prepared by Browne Trading for the 2nd Annual Farmhouse Funkadelic, and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Rosemont is holding a Spanish wine event, and Petite Jacqueline is screening the movie Paris When It Sizzles for movie night.

Taste of the Nation — the 2013 Taste of the Nation is scheduled to take place June 23 at Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport. Tickets are now on sale. The annual event raises money to combat childhood hunger in the Maine. Last year’s Taste of the Nation sold out and raised over $170,000.

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 — a group of wine professionals and serious wine enthusiasts are organizing a blind tasting.

Wednesday — the winners of the Phoenix’s Best of Portland readership poll will be announced a Port City Music Hall.

Thursday — wine tastings are taking place at Rosemont, RSVP, and the Public Market House, Great Lost Bear is showcasing Black Bear Microbrew, Easter Seal’s Toast of the Coast fundraiser is being held at the Ocean Gateway Terminal, Dave Conrardy will speak about “healing powers of raw vegan living” at Roost, Curt Brown, Lobsterman and Research Technician, will be giving a lecture at GMRI.

Saturday — the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Petite Jacqueline is screening the movie How to Steal a Million for movie night.

Brewing for a Cause — Sebago is offering the opportunity for you to become a brewer for a day. Proceeds will benefit the Sebago Trek Across Maine Team.

Otto Fundraiser Series — Otto is running a weekly fundraiser series where a portion of the night’s proceeds will be donated to the selected non-profit for the week. The April 16 event will benefit the Portland Ballet. See their website for a full calendar.

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.