BDN’s new Portland culture blog Urban Eye has a report on a collaboration between Speckled Axe and Allagash.
Armed with 40 pounds of green beans (at their most absorbent before roasting), [Speckled Ax owner Matt] Bolinder walked into the brewery’s cold cellar, stacked high with wooden barrels of aging triples, and took over two empty vessels.
“Instead of adding coffee to the beer, I’m adding elements of brewing to my coffee,” he says with a runaway smile.
Oakhurst has been sold to a dairy farm cooperative, according to an article in the Press Herald.
Oakhurst Dairy, which has been owned by a Maine family since the company was founded in 1921, has been sold to a national cooperative owned by farmers.
Oakhurst was acquired by Dairy Farmers of America, a cooperative owned by more than 8,000 farms in 48 states. The deal, negotiated for about eight to nine months, closed Friday.
The Portland Daily Sun has published the first of a 2-part series on take-out tipping.
Varying industry sources on the Web say the percentage should be anywhere from the change in your pocket to treating the transaction as if it were a dine-in experience. I typically do 10 to 20 percent for food packaged or delivered and $1 for coffee. As always, tipping is your call. Chances are slim someone will violate your food if you don’t tip, but your service next time will be even better if you do.
Industry groups oppose a bill that would let cities and towns handle more of the load of performing restaurant inspections, according to a report in today’s Press Herald.
The Maine Restaurant Association, the Maine Innkeepers Association and the Maine Tourism Association opposed the bill during a public hearing before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, which oversees the restaurant inspection program. The industry groups said they fear the bill would confuse restaurant owners with inconsistent rules.
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a feature article about restaurant inspections in Maine.
The Maine Legislature may step up oversight of restaurant safety by allowing cities and towns to do their own kitchen inspections, but the effort faces strong opposition from an industry group.
The bill comes after the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram exposed weaknesses in state and local inspection programs, including less frequent inspections and less public access to inspection results than all but two other states. The paper found that lawmakers reduced the mandated frequency of inspections even as complaints about sanitation or food-borne illnesses were on the rise.
Portland is in the running to be named America’s Favorite Food Cities, according to a report from Maine a la Carte.
You can play your part in getting our city at the top of the list by going to the F&W and voting for Portland in their online poll.
Food & Wine invites food lovers to rank top American cities on more than 50 characteristics—from which city has the best chefs or most vibrant ethnic food scene, to which city has the best or worst service. The most stunning results will be revealed in the September 2014 print issue of Food & Wine.
The Portland Daily Sun has published a report on last week’s visit to Portland by cocktail expert Warren Bobrow,
Bobrow, who has published over 300 articles on food, wine and cocktail mixology and blogs at The Cocktail Whisperer, demonstrated the variety of bitters that can spice up a cocktail, often with unexpected results.
In today’s issue of the Sun Natalie Ladd writes about changes in automatic group tips.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Casa Novello in Westbrook.
A combination trattoria and pizzeria, the restaurant is one of those old-school bastions of Italian-American cooking that serves up huge portions of mediocre cooking. Specialty pizzas and certain pasta dishes like lasagna and meatballs and spaghetti are popular and decently prepared. Entrees like chicken Marsala can be satisfying. Portion size makes up for a lack of finesse. Still, the atmosphere is congenial and the wait staff friendly and competent. Casa Novello offers a relaxed setting for moderately price fare.
Today’s paper also includes an article about recent changes to restaurant tipping policy driven by changes in tax law.
Like most other restaurants in Maine, DiMillo’s On the Water in Portland says it will no longer charge automatic gratuities for most large groups now that a change in the federal income tax code has closed a long-standing loophole.
The Forecaster has published a report on how local residents feel about the growth in restaurants in the Willard Square neighborhood.
The arrival of several restaurants along Cottage Road has left a less-than-savory taste in the mouths of some neighborhood residents who are worried about traffic, parking, and an increase in alcohol sales.
“This is the greater Portland area coming into South Portland,” Elsmere Avenue resident Pamela Jordan said last week about congestion created by people dining at restaurants including Elsmere BBQ and Wood Grill, across the street from her home.
The Bangor Daily News has a report on Portland food trucks that are continuing to operate during the winter.
When winter descends, most food trucks go into hiding. Some hibernate in garages until spring, but increasingly, they are braving the ice-slicked streets. And business for these trendy, traveling canteens, despite the weather, is heating up.