Category: General News

Travel+Leisure has rated Portland #11 on their list of America’s Best Coffee Cities (via Maine magazine on Facebook)

Granted, when Starbucks and other chains reign in so many shopping centers and office-building lobbies, it may be hard to imagine how one city’s coffee scene is much better or different than any other anymore. But when we looked at the survey’s top 20 results, we found several towns with great historic districts that still offer a unique café culture.

El Rayo was included in an article by the Wall Street Journal about taquerias that operate in former gas stations.(via Meredith Goad on Twitter)

El Rayo didn’t retain any gas station elements in the conversion, but the restaurant, open since 2009, pays indirect homage to the motor vehicle by recycling all of its fry oil into biofuel. A liquor license means there’s tequila to help wash down that BBQ pulled pork or veggie taco.

Today’s Press Herald includes a report on the CSA fairs that took place across the state this weekend,

Lee said Sunday’s Portland CSA fair was double the size of a year ago. Among the farms offering CSA programs for the first time were Emma’s Family Farm of Windsor (meat only), Frith Farm of Scarborough (first year in operation) and Green Spark Farm of Cape Elizabeth (second year in operation).

and an Associated Press article about the Pennsylvanian perspective on the Maine’s efforts to denote the whoopie pie Maine’s State Treat,

“We’ve had this thing going with the whoopie pie here for years and years and decades,” John Smucker, CEO of the family-run company that owns the Bird-in-Hand Bakery, said as kitchen workers put together a batch of red velvet whoopie pies. “And all of a sudden they try to enter into the picture. … It’s just a bunch of nonsense.”

Talk about a food fight.

The new Maine magazine began showing up in subscriber’s mail boxes this week. It’s the magazine’s Food Issue and it includes 31 Maine chefs sharing their passion for food and dining, an A-List of 6 Sunday dining spots, a 3-day guided tour of mid-coast oysters, an article about Rod Mitchell from Browne Trading and a Q+A with yours truly about Portland Food Map. The articles aren’t available online yet but you can pick up a copy at your local newsstand.

The Natural Foodie column in today’s Press Herald highlights the ability to easily locate vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dining options on the Maine Restaurant Week website.

“The first year we didn’t offer it and we had a great number of e-mails, Facebook requests and calls asking for special diets,” said Jim Britt of gBritt PR, which organizes Maine Restaurant Week. “We put out a request to restaurants, and they agreed they’re seeing a continually increasing number of requests from guests for vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian dishes.”

Maine Restaurant Week is scheduled to take place March 1-12.

Today’s Press Herald reports on changes to the menu at the Clocktower Cafe which is located in City Hall.

Boynton said the cafe’s revamped menu, which features not only leaner and healthier food but also information on the number of calories in the sandwiches, soups and other food, helps her make better choices about her midday meal.

“It’s made me more calorie-conscious. It’s definitely made me more aware about what I’m eating,” said Boynton, a city lawyer.

This is a follow-up the article on the same topic published last August.

The Portland Phoenix has moved on to the final stage their 2011 Best of Portland readership poll:

• Step 1, Portlanders wrote in to nominate candidates in any or all of the dozens of categories
• Step 2, based on the input in step 1, the Phoenix has now published a list of the top nominees from each category for you to vote on

Portland Food Map is a nominee this year for Best Food Blog along with From Away, Mister Meatball, Portland Food Coma and The Spiced Plate.

The semi-final list of nominees for this year’s James Beard Awards were released today. Several Maine chefs and restaurants are on the list:

• Best New Restaurant — Shepherd’s Pie in Rockport
• Outstanding Chef — both hometown favorite Sam Hayward from Fore Street and Melissa Kelly, chef/owner of of Primo in Rockland are in contention
• Outstanding Restaurant — Fore Street
• Best Chef: Northeast — Krista Kern Desjarlais, Bresca; Demos Regas, Emilitsa; Brian Hill, Francine, Camden; and Megan Chase, Penelle Chase, Phoebe Chase, and Ted LaFage, Chase’s Daily, Belfast

Sam Hayward and Melissa Kelly are both past winners in the Best Chef category. Fore Street has been in contention in the Outstanding Restaurant category before. All four semi-finalists for Best Chef: Northeast have been semi-final nominees or nominees in past years in either Best Chef: Northeast or Best New Restaurant.

The final list of nominees will be announced on March 21st and the awards ceremony is scheduled for May 9th.

Congratulations and good luck to them all.

The Portland Daily Sun published a report on the joycott that took place this weekend at the Public Market House.

The Joycott was a marquee day for the Public Market House as a whole, with business owners reporting around $3,529 in profits — double what they make on an average day.

“I pretty much had my best day so far with more than double my average daily sales,” said Steve Miner, owner a Peanut Butter Jelly Time, a food vendor on the market’s second floor.