Category: General News

City Hall Cafe Menu Changes

| Posted in General News

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.

Voting Begun for the Phoenix Best of Portland Readership Poll

| Posted in General News

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.

James Beard Awards Semi-Finalists

| Posted in General News

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.

Restaurant Staff Weight Loss, Girl Gone Raw, Wine with Tofu

| Posted in General News, People, Wine

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an interview with raw vegan chef Elizabeth Fraser,

The ease with which she made the almond milk coupled with its flavor was like a health food revelation to me. But to Fraser, it was just another day in the life of the Girl Gone Raw.

That’s the name of her raw vegan chef business, which offers classes, private parties and food coaching from her Munjoy Hill studio to groups and individuals.

an article about a staff weight loss program being run by the owner of David’s,

David Turin, the owner of David’s, noticed his staffers’ girth increasing from year to year, and decided to do something about it. He started a 90-day weight-loss competition at the restaurant and will be rewarding the “biggest losers” on his staff with lots of cash.

and advice on pairing wine with tofu.

She literally laughed. “I have no idea. You can’t drink wine with tofu.” With that, she was off to pay, and I started to say, Yes-Wait-Yes, but she laughed again and was gone.

This was what’s known as a teachable moment, and although I missed the opportunity then, I’ll try to re-seize it now. First of all, you can and should drink wine with tofu! There’s wine for everything.

Joycott a Success

| Posted in General News

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.

Winter Farmer’s Market

| Posted in General News

The Forecaster has published a report on this year’s Winter Farmers Market.

A steady flow of people found their way into the Irish Heritage Center on Saturday morning to peruse winter offerings from Maine farmers and listen to a little local music.

About 15 vendors filled tables with potatoes and carrots, canned goods, honey and meat. Lots of meat. Plus eggs, butter, yogurt and cheese.

Bob & Dan, Petite Jacqueline, Tips

| Posted in Under Construction, General News, People

Today’s Portland Daily Sun includes an interview with the owners of Boda. They were asked “What one dish and one drink really define you?”

Bob’s signature dish is braised pork hock with star anise. It’s the only thing on the menu that is his alone. He carmelizes sugar in a pot, adding star anise, cinnamon, black pepper, garlic, galanga, fermented yellow bean paste and both dark and sweet soy sauces to give structure to the broth for the pork to simmer for hours on a back burner while the evening’s ingredients are prepped. It’s a dish he learned from his father, a building supplies salesman who loved to experiment in the kitchen.

an interview with Steve Corry on the new French bistro, Petite Jacqueline, he’s in the process of opening in Longfellow Square,

Corry plans to open Petite Jacqueline in the first or second week in March, he said. The concept of the new restaurant, Corry said, is “authentic French comfort food” with a “vivacious bistro atmosphere,” where customers can sit down for lunch or dinner.

and a piece on the potential changes to the law regarding tips before the Maine legislature,

Last week, this paper covered the issue before the legislature regarding changes to the “tipping” rules for restaurant employees in this state. I now know that at least one wary local was paying attention.

Lobster & Whoopie State Treat

| Posted in General News

Today’s Press Herald includes reports on a group that’s trying to “put Maine lobster where it isn’t“,

They hope to redirect the state’s signature seafood into the mouths of gastronomes in the form of gourmet pies, pizzas and bisques.

The lobstermen have just launched the Calendar Islands Maine Lobster Co., based on the Portland Fish Pier, teaming up with renowned chefs Jonathan King and Jim Stott, owners of Stonewall Kitchen in York.

Today’s paper also reports that a compromise has been reached on designating a state dessert,

The State and Local Government Committee voted 8-3 Monday to amend L.D. 71 to say that the whoopie pie would be the state’s official “treat.” Committee members said they wanted to avoid a battle with supporters of blueberry pie and other worthy desserts, but still wanted to give whoopie pies a designation.

Gluten-free School Meals & Beer Primer

| Posted in General News, Beer

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about what local school districts are doing to address the needs of their students who need a gluten-free diet,

Scarborough is among the Maine school districts that are adjusting their cafeteria options for a growing number of students who don’t eat gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, barley and triticale.

and a What Ales You column that explains the difference between lagers and ales.

The first dividing line is between lagers and ales. Lagers are made with yeast that ferments at the bottom of the fermenting vessel and are fermented and conditioned at cooler temperatures. Ales use top-fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures.

Is a Service Charge a Tip?

| Posted in General News

MPBN radio reported on a bill before the legislature that would impact whether the server or employer is entitled to the money from the service charge.

If you’ve ever thrown a wedding banquet, a 50th birthday bash, any kind of prearranged function, you’ll see that a bill comes with an automatic service charge of 15 or 20 percent. Who should get the money? The employer or the servers? That debate has been the source of at least two lawsuits in Maine, and is now a question being raised in the state Legislature.

For additional coverage of this story see the Huffington Post and the Portland Daily Sun.