Category: General News

The Portland Phoenix released the results this week from their 2015 readership awards poll. The Phoenix received over 20,000 votes for 650 nominees in 133 categories.

The 2015 competition for Best of Portland was fiercely competitive. We know Portlanders are passionate about  their city; 650 nominees duked it out to win their share of more than 20,000 local votes. The average number of votes was 200 to 500 per category, so we can safely say that all the nominees are local favorites with hundreds of fans and that the winners are truly loved by Portlanders.

You can see the full list of results online. There are categories 30+ food categories from Best Food Truck(El Corazon) to Best New Restaurant(Central Provisions).

Portland Food Map won both the Best Blog and Best Food Blog categories. Many thanks to all of you who voted for the site!

Casco Bay Butter and Green Bee Soda are semi-finalists in the Gorham Savings Bank Launchpad competition. The five finalists will pitch their business ideas on June 18th and the winner will receive $30,000.

Visit the Launchpad website to read their business plans and vote on your favorite.

Tandem Bakery has submitted an application for a liquor license. Once approved at Monday night’s City Council meeting, Tandem will be joining the ranks of Gorgeous Gelato and Vena’s Fizz House—businesses that were formerly ethanol-free but now have the option to incorporate it into their menu.

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram reports on Mayor Brennan’s Initiative for a Healthy and Sustainable Food System.

Those are some of the more visible projects being worked on by a wide-ranging group of Portlanders who have joined the Mayor’s Initiative for a Healthy and Sustainable Food System. Mayor Michael Brennan formed the initiative in 2012 after participants in a casual community food forum expressed a desire for a council that could work on the city’s food policy and on increasing residents’ access to local foods.

For more info on the Initiative visit the HSFSI website.

The City has detailed rules governing restaurant sidewalk dining spaces.

The permit application that restaurants must submit to apply for outdoor seating spells out clear measurements for how much sidewalk space their tables and chairs can take up, and how many feet of pedestrian space must be maintained.

For restaurants without sidewalks wide enough to support outdoor dining, businesses can request to use a parking space, or appeal to planners for an exemption.

The Press Herald announced the winners of the inaugural Source Awards over the weekend. Among the recipients was The Farm Stand in the Newcomer category.

“Indispensable,” one nominator gushed of our winner for the Source Newcomer Award, for a business or entity established in the last 18 months. Another credited The Farm Stand, the brainchild of Penny Jordan and Ben Slayton of Farmers’ Gate butchery in Wales, with allowing them to “effortlessly integrate” the mission of eating local into their lives.

The Forecaster has published an article on the new owners of Town Landing Market and their plans for the Falmouth business.

MaryBeth Bachman, a school nurse at Falmouth High School, purchased the iconic Town Landing Market on March 31. Bachman will run the store with her daughter, Sara, and two business partners: her brother Arthur Curran, and accountant Dan McCarthy. She said virtually all the staff will be staying on.

“The idea is to keep the old-time feel, but update some of the products,” Bachman said this week.

Aurora Provisions(facebook, twitter, instagram) has applied for a liquor license. Owner Marika Green plans to expand their hours to 7 days a week and serve beer and wine to customers who eat at the popular West End cafe.

The Maine Sunday Telegram reports that the state will soon be making state restaurant inspection reports available online.

The move to open access to inspection reports comes as a Yarmouth lawmaker is pushing to expand the team of state health inspectors so they can get to each restaurant more frequently to check kitchens and look for improperly stored foods. A legislative committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing Monday morning on the bill.

Restaurant inspection reports for Portland are already available on the city’s website.

Chefs Damian Sansonetti from Piccolo and Chris Gould from Central Provisions are nominees in the Food & Wine People’s Best New Chef competition.

Visit the Food & Wine website to cast your vote for one of our home town favorites.