Category: General News

Today’s Press Herald takes a look at the special challenges being faced by restaurateurs whose restaurants were open briefly or just slated to open moments before the pandemic slammed into the Maine restaurant industry.

For several weeks now, the coronavirus pandemic has pummeled dining rooms in Maine and around the country – with no end yet in sight. And while some restaurants have been able to turn to curbside takeout, many have closed for the interim. “The uncertainty of it is agonizing,” Raquel Stevens said. In an interview with the New York Times in late March, internationally known chef/restaurateur David Chang predicted that small independently owned restaurants, exactly the sort that make Portland such an exciting restaurant city, will have “a morbidly high death rate.”

Perhaps none are more at risk than the newcomers. And perhaps none are more determined to beat the odds.

Many areas of our lives have gone online as a response to the corona virus pandemic. Those who can, now are working from home, FaceTime calls are taking the place of meeting friends in person, and yoga studios like Lila have overhauled their approach to teach classes online.

The restaurant industry is also finding new ways to use digital media to remain connected with their customers and build connections among them…from a distance.

• Paolo Laboa from Solo Italiano has been posting cooking videos on instagram. In the most recent the one chef Laboa shows how to make crepes with a savory filling of ricotta and spinach, swiss chard, pea shoots and borage.
• Baristas from Tandem and Bard have gone on instagram to demo how to get the best cup of coffee from your home aero press, chemex or pour over set-up.
• Briana Holt from Tandem has published a video with detailed instructions and recipe on how to make her buttermilk biscuits. The video is available for a donation and all the funds go to supporting out of work Tandem staff. So far Beneficial Biscuit initiative has raised $10,000 towards a $25k goal and unleashed an army of home bakers who have posted photos of the biscuits they’ve made based on Holt’s recipe. “We want to do everything we can right now for our crew,” said Tandem co-founder Kathleen Pratt, “and this little thing we started has also brought together our community, which is something we’re really proud of and really missing right now.”
• The Maine Sommelier Society recently held their monthly blind wine tasting via a video conference.
• Wine Wise is now pairing up with restaurants to offer virtual wine and food events. Participants get a meal and wine for two delivered to their door, and then tune in to a video conference to engage with the featured chef and Wine Wise founder Erica Archer to learn more about what they’re drinking and eating. Events with Sur Lie and Solo Italiano have already sold out, but tickets for two sessions with Chaval are still available.

The Press Herald reports that some grocery staples will continue to be in short supply as the supply chain adjusts to higher demand from home consumers.

There’s plenty of food on store shelves, but the supply chain is scrambling to keep certain basic items in stock amid unprecedented demand partially created because people are staying home and cooking instead of eating out.

Some restaurants and markets are starting to announce takeout options for Passover and Easter:

• Union – is offering a glazed ham dinner with a salad, quiche, three sides and carrot cake. $65 for two, $95 for four.
• Chaval – has posted menus for Thursday through Saturday including a packed Easter dinnner.
• Royal River Grill House – has spiral ham, pork crown roast, leg of lamb, prime rib roast, and truffle mac and cheese available for order in family size portions from their website.
• The Black Tie Company – has a full menu of Easter dinner mains, sides and bakery/dessert items to go. You need “order by 5pm this Wednesday for pickup or delivery on Friday. 207-761-6665”
• Luke’s Lobster – for pickup on Saturday. “you’ll get grilled lobster tails, slow roasted lamb shoulder from North Star Sheep Farm, local day boat scallops wrapped in bacon, potatoes, salad, and Bixby treats”, $45 per person. (207) 274-6097.
• Buxton Common – has both Passover and Easter dinner menus.
• Sea Glass – has a takeout Easter dinner menu.
• The Good Table – has an Easter dinner takeout menu.
• Other Side Deli – the butcher shop at Other Side Deli has lamb leg roasts, whole lamb racks, and house-brined and smoked hams. Orders must be in by April 7th.
• Pat’s Meat Market – has meats for Passover and Easter. Order online.

If you know of any other restaurants offering Easter or Passover takeout please let me know.

The Food section in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes articles on bread baking at home by restaurant critic Andrew Ross,

About 15 years ago, however, I got caught up in the no-knead bread craze first popularized in this country by Sullivan Street Bakery owner Jim Lahey. Not only was his overnight-rising method simple and almost entirely labor-free, it worked beautifully nearly every time. I was so hooked, I asked for a Dutch oven for my birthday that year.

an article about where to get Easter chocolate,

Disappointed kids everywhere may be looking to their Easter baskets for comfort in the form of chocolate eggs, marshmallow chicks, jelly beans and other traditional goodies. Many Mainers have rallied behind struggling restaurants by buying lots of takeout. It’s time to do the same for your local sweet shop.

and how families are adapting to hold Passover Seder in the age of social distancing.

At the end of March, Jewish families in Greater Portland were just beginning to confront the new 2020 Passover reality (or year 5778, according to the Jewish calendar). Since actual get-togethers are off the table, many said they were trying — or their children or grandchildren were trying — to arrange virtual get-togethers over the conferencing app Zoom. As with all of our many much-anticipated now canceled, postponed and mutated events in the era of coronavirus, emotions ranged from disappointment to anxiety, from resignation to hope.

All Things Considered on Maine Public Radio has aired a show on “How Maine Groceries, Restaurants, Farmers And Food Suppliers are Adapting”.

NECN has aired a segment on how some restaurants are adapting to the present circumstance by shifting to delivery and takeout.

Andrew Ross has temporarily put down his critic’s pen, to write about the takeout food available during the corona virus pandemic.

For the duration of this public health crisis (and please don’t delude yourself into thinking it’s anything other than a crisis), I will not say anything critical about any restaurant or food business. To do so in such a brittle economic environment would feel mean-spirited and irresponsible.

Instead, I’ll share a few of my personal experiences exploring how to dine (and drink) in, while still engaging with our state’s remarkable food-and-beverage businesses.

Note: Since this article was written Drifters Wife has put their food service on hold.

Maine distilleries are making a change from producing craft spirits to hand sanitizer:

• Maine Craft Distilling – has produced a 65% ABV hand sanitizer for a couple weeks. Having run out of glass bottles they’ve partnered with Oakhurst to package it in plastic milk bottles.
• New England Distilling – is distilling Allagash White into alcohol for hand sanitizer.
•  Batson River – late last week cut over their distilling capacity to producing hand sanitizer which they’ll be distributing to first responders and high risk people, and expects to distribute 5,000 16oz bottles per week to local supermarkets and pharmacies.
• Hardshore Distilling – in collaboration with Rising Tide and Three of  Strong has produced a line of hand sanitizer.

Knowing that a lot of people are home cooking for themselves a few restaurants have gone online to share some food prep advice:

• Videos from Tandem on preparing pour over and aeropress coffee
• Videos from Solo Italiano on making tortellini and gnocchi