Category: General News

Today’s Press Herald reports on a UMCE workshop which helps people who want to start up their own specialty  foods business.

The series includes discussions of product development, pricing, regulations and other aspects of running a food business. Participants can ask questions of a lawyer, an accountant and an insurance agent at one session and have a one-on-one consultation with a specialist at another. They also go to Orono to visit the university’s Dr. Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant, which can help entrepreneurs make the transition from cooking in their kitchens to commercial production.

The latest edition of MPBN’s food show Flash to Flavorful includes interviews with chefs Mathews, Villani, Smith and Skawinski at The Back Bay Grill, Sonny’s, The Corner Room, Cinque Terre/Vignola and finishes up with a discussion with Jim and Gillian Britt from gBritt PR about the local restaurant industry.

MPBN broadcast a report yesterday on the new Text-A-Tip Pic program organized by Portland police to get bars to text information to each other and to authorities about unruly customers.

“This information will be exchanged between bars and the police in what is called real time. When this information is forwarded problem person or group can be expected to be denied access and certainly a contact by the police,” Craig said.

The program is expected to include several dozen establishments throughout the Old Port district, and nearby Congress Street.

For additional reporting see the article in today’s Press Herald.

The Natural Foodie column in today’s Press Herald rounds up a short list of options for eating vegan and vegetarian meals in Portland.

The list that follows represents my favorite places to find vegan food, but it’s by no means a definitive directory of all eateries in town offering plant-based meals. Instead this is a go-to guide of your best bets when hunger strikes and meat and dairy just won’t do.

Rabelais has won the Actar D display contest for the Food for Thought, Thought for Food exhibit from last December. The exhibit featured art by Jenna Crowder and Claire Houston and celebrated the launch of a book in tribute to chef Ferran Adria.

According to reports from Avery Yale Kamila, GRO Cafe has closed up shop and its owner has opened a garden supply store in Windham.

Corey Templeton over at Portland Daily Photo has documented a siting of Skinny Cart BBQ in Monument Square and away from it’s home base on Washington Ave.

Today’s Portland Daily Sun reports on the demise of ROC-ME, the group supporting the suit against The Front Room.

People familiar with the situation, including several former ROC employees, say the group closed its doors in recent weeks after failing to secure grant money necessary to continue operations in Maine. Some also credited the closure to a divide between the organization’s local and national branches over the Front Room campaign and other efforts. Still others noted a national focus on immigration issues that didn’t play well in Maine.

The paper also includes recommendations on solo dining in Portland.

One of my favorite things ever is to sit at a table with a view, a chilled cocktail, my journal and an appetizer none of my friends would like. Other times dining alone involves a business trip out of town in strange settings with my nose stuck in a book or people watching.

Either way, for whatever reason, the “table for one” has been a long overlooked market in the restaurant business.