Today’s Press Herald has taken a look at the legal issues regarding the recipe for the Sicilian Slab.
It’s unlikely that Stephen Lanzalotta’s recipes are protected by copyright laws, experts say, but the instructions for his luna bread and Sicilian Slab pizza may include trade secrets that will make it difficult for Micucci Grocery, which fired him last week, to keep using them.
Maine a la Carte has posted a report on the news that Stephen Lanzalotta is no longer running the bakery at Micucci’s.
Lanzalotta sent out an email on Thursday to his Piatto per Tutti mailing list. In it he explains that he’s been fired for ” ‘overstepping my bounds’ in advocating for raises and fuller workweeks for bakery assistants”. The letter goes on to establish his claim to the recipes used and the bakery and asks for a boycott of baked goods at Micucci’s.
Meredith Goad contacted owner Rick Micucci about the issue,
Rick Micucci, president of Micucci Grocery Co., confirmed Friday that Lanzolotta is no longer working at the store, but wouldn’t say why or give any other details. “It is something I can’t comment on,” he said, “but the bakery is operating as usual.”
The July issue of The Bollard will include an article about chef Harding Lee Smith.
The cover story I wrote for the July issue of The Bollard (which hits the streets this week) poses some uncomfortable questions for the so-called “foodies” in Maine who support our nationally renowned restaurant scene and have elevated chefs to the status of rock stars in recent years. These discerning diners increasingly demand vegetables that are locally and organically grown, but what if it’s not the farmer but the chef who’s creating a toxic environment? The same diners want to know the animals they’re eating were treated well, but what about the cooks and servers? How important is it that the humans are treated humanely?
An article in today’s Press Herald reports on an investigation at Petite Jacqueline.
A popular Portland restaurant was investigated this month as a possible source of food-borne illness, the second such investigation of the restaurant in 18 months.
Health officials zeroed in on Petite Jacqueline after a food handler and a patron were stricken by the same bacterial illness on June 1, but they could not prove the restaurant’s food was the cause – or that it wasn’t – because too much time had passed since the people who became sick were exposed.
A pair of Portland companies are raising funds on the Indiegogo crowdsourcing site:
The Urban Farm Fermentory (facebook) is trying to raise $16,000 to fund the build out of a community kitchen and the construction of a greenhouse along the back side of their building on Anderson Street. The community kitchen will provide commercial kitchen space that’s needed by small food business that don’t yet have their own building. To watch a short video by owner Eli Cayer and contribute visit the UFF page on Indiegogo.
Tortilleria Pachanga (facebook) is a new company still under development that wants to manufacture “fresh, local corn tortillas using organic and heritage varieties of corn grown” in Maine. They have all the equipment needed, and are raising the funds to build our their space and to underwrite the other start-up costs associated with getting the business running. To watch a short video about Tortilleria Pachanga and contribute visit the Pachanga page on Indiegogo.
While not a Portland food business, it’s interesting to see that Samantha Hoyt Lindgren, co-owner of Rabelais, also has a new company called A Gathering of Stitches that raising funds on Indiegogo.
According to a report from the Bangor Daily News, Mainely Burgers food truck and the Urban Farm Fermentory were recipients of Entreverge Awards for their “scalable vision for the future and a long term commitment to the people, place and prosperity of Maine”.
The Entreverge awards are about recognizing the entrepreneurial spirit of Portland, Huckel-Bauer said, and are “part of making the city a more attractive place for young people to come and start businesses.”
Maine a la Carte has published a piece about the new menu concept at Miyake on Fore Street.
Don’t worry. If you already loved Miyake, the rug isn’t going to be pulled out from under you. The changes that are being made are designed to put customers more at ease and offer them more choices on the menu, which will “still be Japanese but a different interpretation of it,” says manager William Garfield.
This week’s Portland Phoenix includes a short article about food trucks and quiz that challenges you to match-up the trucks with the owners.
This week the paper also published a review of Wicked Good Street Kitchen.
Their version of the BLT was more sophisticated — with terrific Iraqi flatbread and lots of crunchy and bitter arugula. The thin bread let you really taste the thick salty bacon, the sweet tomato, and the tangy-sour mayo. A falafel sandwich was very similar, but a bit less rewarding since the chickpeas obscured the other flavors a bit. A “raw pad Thai” is actually more like a really nice salad in the French tradition of diced root veggies. The noodles are actually crunchy radish, and the sauce is more tahini-creamy than nutty. There is plenty of crunchy kale, carrot, and sweet red pepper.
Portland Daily Sun columnist Natalie Ladd explains the calculus of eating out for professional restaurant staff.
If we have a rare night off and aren’t doing a week’s worth of laundry, playing poker with our co-workers, or working anyway by covering someone else’s shift, that dining out thing could just happen. More often than not, it takes planning to have a quality “Go Out and Be Waited On” experience where we’re the one who’s being pampered, tended to and made to feel as if our business/money matters. The problem is, it’s damn near impossible to do so, especially in our own backyard. There are several professional and personal reasons why this is the case.
The Press Herald, Munjoy Hill News, and Bangor Daily News have all posted reports on Portland’s new online service which posts city health inspection reports online.
The restaurant health inspection reports are available here: