Category: General News

According to Maine a la Carte, Bresca will be closed for the summer while owner Krista Kern Desjarlais focuses on her new venture, Bresca and the Honey Bee.

Today’s Press Herald reports that the Legislature is considering changes to Maine’s restaurant inspection program.

State legislators said Monday they will consider increasing the frequency of restaurant inspections and hiring more inspectors a day after the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reported that Maine has one of the least rigorous restaurant inspection programs in the nation, both in terms of frequency and making information available to the public.

The Urban Farm Fermentory is offering CSF shares. For $99 or $175 a Community Supported Fermentation share buys you a variety of kombucha and hard cider products as well as tickets to their annual event and more.

Pure Pops will be selling their yogurt and fruit popsicles at the Saturday farmers market starting this weekend. Pure Pops is one of the businesses operating out of the Bay One extension to UFF on Anderson Street.

Rising Tide and Urban Farm Farmentory have a proposal in to the city to modify the rules for East Bayside to make new types of business activities and events possible in the neighborhood, according to an article in today’s Press Herald.

Now, two local businesses are spearheading an effort to loosen restrictions in the industrial zone so they can host special events, farmers markets, craft markets, artist studios and a community kitchen for food truck operators.

The goal of the changes is to give small-scale producers setting up shop in East Bayside an outlet to connect directly to consumers, said Eli Cayer, owner of the Urban Farm Fermentory, who has been helping to draft the changes.

For more information about the porposal, read this memo from the City’s Planning Department.

Melissa Kelly has won the 2013 award for Best Chef Northeast from the James Beard Foundation for her work as the chef/owner of Primo in Rockland.

Kelly’s win brings Maine’s total up to 4 or 5 depending on how you count it:

• 2004 – Sam Hayward (Fore Street)
• 2009 – Rob Evans (Hugo’s)
• 2010 – Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier (Arrows)
• 2013 – Melissa Kelly (Primo)

Kelly was also won Best Chef Northeast in 1999 when she was at the Old Chatham in New York.

Dispatch writer Holly Irwin and her coworkers have put together their list of the Top Ten Server Pet Peeves. The list starts off with,

1. Verbal tipping. We love compliments; however a compliment does not equal a tip. Please don’t go on and on about how good of a server I am or what a great meal you had unless you plan to reflect that in your tip. Compliments don’t pay the bills.

Dispatch reports that Marcy’s reopened earlier this week after a 3-month renovation.

It’s been well worth the wait, though, because the renovations look incredible. They’ve gone and spiffed up the already classic diner look they already had. Everything looks fresh and new, even if it wasn’t completely replaced.

Maine was ranked 2nd in the nation for access to local food in the Stroll’s Locavore Index.

Using recent indicator data from multiple sources, the Index incorporates farmers markets, consumer-supported agriculture operations (CSAs) and food hubs in its per-capita comparison of consumers’ interest in eating locally-sourced foods — also known as locavorism.

The top five states for locavorism, according to the Index, in order, are Vermont (first), Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Iowa, while the bottom five are Texas (last), Florida, Louisiana, Arizona and Nevada.

Local 188/Sonny’s is asking for your suggestions for the name of the new bakery they have under construction in the West End. A $100 gift certificate to Local or Sonny’s goes to the person who suggests the name they use for the bakery.

Miyake has announced a change in concept for their flagship location on Fore Street. Starting in June,

Chef Masa Miyake will be restructuring the menu to combine the Japanese knowledge of food for which he is so well known with a variety of international cuisines from his extensive culinary background. The plan is to better utilize ingredients from Miyake Farm and from valued vendors both local and international. Ensuring quality ingredients and a unique dining experience for the restaurants’ patrons has always been a priority for Miyake.  These changes will allow for some new creativity.

The email announcing the change also states,

Miyake on Fore Street will be closing Sundays starting in June to give the staff the option to host events and special dinners to showcase some of the new Miyake Farm products. These will include Mangalitsa pig, American Guinea hog, and the first farm-hatched quail, chicken and duck.