Category: General News

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram has published the first article in a 5-part series on the pandemic’s impact on the Portland restaurant industry. Today’s article is titled Threatened by Coronavirus, City’s Restaurants Turn Tables.

Over the summer, Portland lost restaurants like the critically acclaimed Drifters Wife, the tiny modern Italian bistro Piccolo, and the all-local Vinland that were among those responsible for its national reputation as a culinary destination. The devastating early predictions of closures – that 85 percent of independent restaurants nationwide might not survive until the end of 2020 – seemed to be playing out. Then government aid began to flow, putting out immediate financial fires, saving jobs and giving restaurants breathing room. Portland appears to be faring better than bigger restaurant cities like New York and Portland, Oregon, where an estimated one in six and one in seven restaurants, respectively – including national chain restaurants – had closed by the end of 2020. By comparison, a Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram survey of the more than 300 independent restaurants and cafes in Portland with on-premise dining shows that about 1 in 14 have permanently shuttered.

Also in today’s paper, restaurant critic Andrew Ross interviews some of his predecessors about their time in the critics chair and their take on the food scene of today.

For some historical perspective and future-facing insight, I reached out to the four long-serving Dine Out alumni to help me look back at Maine’s culinary landscape from the decade (and a bit) covering 2005-2016. In two weeks, I’ll offer some of my own reflections on the past five years and speculate about what’s to come.

The Portland Phoenix has published an article on challenges restaurants and other food and beverage business are currently encountering in hiring staff.

A recent HospitalityMaine membership survey found 96 percent are hiring right now. Member establishments were also asked to rank how difficult hiring has been on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 the most difficult; 80 percent of respondents said hiring has been at a 4 or 5, which indicates “difficult” or “extremely difficult.”

For more information on this subject read this recent article by Restaurant Manifesto.

The Small Business Administration page for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund is now live. In contains information on the guidelines for the $28.6 billion grant program as well as details on the paperwork and data that will be required to apply.

According to information from the Independent Restaurant Coalition, the application portal for the grants should launch by the end of April. The IRC also has assembled an FAQ to address key pieces of background information.

Eater Boston has assembled some suggestions for outdoor drinking and dining in Portland.

As spring slowly approaches, and as eaters begin itching to get outside and dine al fresco, patio dining in Portland, Maine is re–emerging. The City of Portland has expanded its rules for outdoor spaces, which means diners will find more open-air options than in previous years. After a snowy (and freezing cold) winter, who doesn’t want to take advantage of as much time in the sun as possible?

For the full list of outdoor options see this list on Portland Food Map.

Dave Aceto from Arcadia, racial equity activist Tori Lyn and Alec Haviland from Dear Dairy are working together to identify needed improvements to the Portland permitting and inspection process. Here’s how Haviland wrote about this effort on instagram,

Dave Aceto, Tori Lyn and I have been working on a project to try to make the permitting and inspection process in Portland more equitable, more accessible and more efficient. After slogging through the process this past year I felt like, if we came together as constituents and legislators, we could build a better future for all current and prospective business owners. We’ve all heard the joke made when talking about our new projects, You: “So we are planning to be open in June!” Them: “Oh that’s so cute! So we’ll see you in February?” Honestly, I feel like we joke about it so we don’t cry about it. I sincerely believe that, especially coming out of the pandemic and into a time of healing and growth, our community needs to come together to make it easier for everyone to grow their projects.

As part of their process Lyn, Haviland and Aceto are looking to get input from a wide variety of business owners about their own experiences. You can contribute to their efforts by filling out this survey.

The Press Herald reports that two Portland city councilors are working to address business tactics by national food delivery services.

City Councilors Andrew Zarro and Pious Ali are drafting a proposal that would likely require third-party food delivery services to have formal agreements with local businesses before offering delivery of their food and may limit the service fees they can charge.

Zarro said it’s unethical for delivery services such as DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats to make money off local businesses without their consent, while also posting incorrect information about an establishment’s menu, hours and contact information.

In a foodie city like Portland, quality, experience and branding is everything. And, he said, local businesses need more control.

The issue got traction over last weekend with this instagram post by city councilor Andrew Zarro.

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram reports on food insecurity and the work being done to better address the needs of immigrants and communities of Black, indigenous and people of color residents in Maine.

While the pandemic highlighted the disparity and inequity that already existed with food insecurity in Maine, it also made clear that smaller nonprofits led by people of color and tribal communities were not getting the funding support needed, Miale said.

“I think what COVID really highlighted is that while we have an amazing network of partners doing amazing work, we realized that we were not adequately reaching these communities,” she said. “If we were reaching them, we weren’t always providing them the support they needed and the food they needed, particularly our New Mainer communities.”

The Food & Dining section in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes articles on the big increase in takeout containers being used during the pandemic,

In my zeal to support local restaurants during the pandemic, I’ve amassed my own takeout container mountain like those Jenkins warned about. I compost the compostable ones, reuse many plastic ones for storage, and repurpose others to parcel out goodies to neighbors I make and bake as part of my job as a recipe developer. Even with these waste stream diversion tactics in place, I still contribute to my town’s waste management problem when I drop the remaining ones in the recycling bin.

and on restaurant’s sale of branded merchandise to augment their income.

As the pandemic has lingered, lots of Maine restaurants have either started selling merchandise with their logos, or beefed up their online stores with new products, in hope that the additional stream of cash can help them keep their heads above water. That stream is uneven, spiking over the holidays or whenever a photo gets posted on Instagram, but all the restaurateurs interviewed for this article say the same thing: Every little bit helps.

For this week’s edition the Portland Phoenix talked with Portland hospitality workers to get their perspectives on Maine’s vaccination rollout plan.

Gov. Janet Mills’ Moving Maine Forward plan promises to increase the state’s indoor gathering capacity to 50 percent on March 26 and 100 percent May 24. With many hospitality workers, including 32-year-old Zarro, still ineligible for vaccinations they feel their safety is being sacrificed for tourism.

Preble Street is looking for volunteers with commercial kitchen experience to help meet the growing need for their meals:

Every day, Preble Street volunteers help prepare 1,000 meals for Mainers experiencing hunger. The vast majority of these meals are prepared in our Central Kitchen for delivery to area shelters and outdoor locations. As we work to meet a growing need for food assistance in our community, we welcome support from all who wish to help, and we are particularly interested in volunteers with professional kitchen experience. Kitchen volunteer duties include meal prep, packaging food for delivery, washing dishes, and other tasks assigned on an as-needed basis. Volunteer shifts at the Central Kitchen are offered three times daily:

• • Breakfast (7-10am)
  • Lunch (10am-1pm)
  • Dinner (2-5pm)

If you’re interested in volunteering you can sign-up online or email volunteer@preblestreet.org for more information.