The Blueberry Files has written about the restaurant inspection list published by the Press Herald and the minimal impact it has on where she decides to eat out.
But truthfully, it’s probably not going to change my dining habits all that much. I’m going to continue to believe that the pride many Portland chefs take in their work will translate to clean kitchens where it really matters.
The semi-final list of nominees for this year’s James Beard Awards were released today. Four Maine chefs and restaurants made the list:
- Fore Street for Outstanding Restaurant
- and for Best Chef Northeast:
- Krista Kern Desjarlais at Bresca
- Brian Hill at Francine Bistro
- Melissa Kelly at Primo
Final nominees will be announced on Monday March 18 and the awards ceremony takes place May 3 & 6 in New York City.
For reference, here are the Maine semi-finalist from 2012, 2011 and 2010.
The nominations are in and it’s now time to cast your ballot in the Portland Phoenix Best of Portland Readership Poll.
There are a plethora of Food and Drink categories (Bagels, Bars, Barbecue, Beer Selection, Brewpubs, Brunch, etc) to vote on as well as sections for City Life, Arts and Entertainment, and Shopping.
Portland Food Map along with From Away, Map & Menu, Mister Meatball, and the The Blueberry Files are all contenders in the Food Blog category.
Final results are usually made public in April at the Port City Music Hall.
Today’s Press Herald includes an article about the elver fishery licenses,
“At certain times during the season, prices were running above $2,600 a pound,” said Deirdre Gilbert, the department’s director of state marine policy. “The year before, prices were about $900 a pound. The prices went through the roof in 2012.”
and a report on the rescue of Harding Smith’s rescue from harbor during Nemo.
Quattrucci, whose uncles own DiMillo’s, said that 15 minutes or more after they heard the screams, they saw Smith hanging from the line to his boat, with his arms above his head.
Chef Rob Evans won round 4 of Chopped Champions Tuesday night. He’ll be competing in the finals next week.
To get to the final round, Evans competed against chefs Helen Park, a corporate executive chef from New York; Jean-Louis Gerin, a James Beard Award winner and executive chef at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, and Kris Wessel, a Miami chef.
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald interviews several local chefs to get their perspective on photography in the dining room,
“We get a lot of people who photograph the food,” says Krista Desjarlais, the chef-owner of Bresca in Portland. “I guess I have mixed emotions about it sometimes, but ultimately I’m glad that they’re happy and want to do it. At night it gets trickier, and we grimace if someone uses a flash, being such a small room. I think people are understanding how intrusive it is, especially at night, to use a flash.”
and the Natural Foodie article for a few months before Avery Yale Kamila heads out on maternity leave.
As a vegetarian for more than 20 years, I’ve had numerous people ask me if I’ve had cravings for steak or ice cream or nacho cheese. The answer is no, no and no.
Instead, my only cravings center around savory home-cooked meals that I sometimes can’t seem to get enough of. (Yes, I did go back for a fifth helping of black beans and brown basmati rice during a recent dinner.)
An article on Serious Eats entitled “3 Reasons to Be Excited about Coffee Right Now” cites Tandem Coffee as an example of the “rising tide of great new roasters” springing up across the country.
The Blueberry Files has made a plea for all Portland restaurants to use Maine maple syrup.
But for those that don’t, shame on you. (That’s right, shame!) In Maine, Maine maple syrup should be the default syrup served with pancakes and waffles. We’re a tourist-driven city, and if we don’t show off our state’s products, then how are we to expect visitors to be interested in them?
The Huffington Post has calculated that “Portland-Auburn” has the 8th highest ratio of eateries per capita in the nation.
HuffPost Food used data from The NPD Group’s annual ReCount survey, which takes a yearly census of the number of restaurants in the country, to rank United States metropolitan areas by the number of restaurants per capita.
The Golden Dish has posted some suggestions on improving the winter farmers market.
The market needs to reinvent itself, creating an exciting environment that includes an expanded marketplace of farm-related products beyond what comes from the field. More variety would fill in when the natural demise of produce finally takes a rest for the winter. More baked goods, prepared foods, seafood, crafts and the like would be vital additions.