Category: General News

The Maine Restaurant Association has named David Turin their Chef of the Year.

The Press Herald polled “local chefs, restaurateurs, food writers, food bloggers [including yours truly] and all sorts of people obsessed with food and dining” on their favorite food related apps and have published the results in today’s paper. As the author Meredith Goad points out, the responses “ranged from popular apps such as Urbanspoon and OpenTable to some that you’ve probably never heard of before.”

 

Today’s Portland Daily Sun proposes a set of resolutions for restaurant customer behavior in 2012.

5) Do not bring your own food into a restaurant. Please do not ask for hot water and lemon because you brought your own Lipton tea bag, or single serving VIA coffee from Starbucks. Your server works on commission, and the restaurant owner earns a living off what is sold, not what is unintentionally given away. Even restaurants with BYOB policies charge a wine corking fee.This one tied with: Do not ask for extra bread you clearly intend to take home.

The Phantom Gourmet included Grace in their list of the Top 4 Restaurants of 2011.

Grace in Portland, Maine also topped the list, serving new American comfort food in a renovated gothic revival church. Some of the standouts here include the bone-in tenderloin and the pan-roasted cod.

I’ve fielded questions from a few people who are trying to identify their options for eating out on Christmas Day. This year it’s an especially tough challenge with the major holiday falling on Sunday, a day when many restaurants wouldn’t have been open anyways.

So I’m passing the question on to all of you hoping your collective knowledge can help these folks out. Where would you recommend someone eat out in Portland on Christmas Day?

Coffee by Design made Zagat’s list of the 10 Coolest Independent Coffee Shops Across the US.

Sixteen years ago Mary Allen Lindemann and Alan Spear opened this tiny coffee shop in Portland, Maine with the idea of building a place for the community. Over the years, the shop has grown from their original Congress Street location to three other shops and a micro roaster where they process all their beans. But despite their mini-expansion, the independent store remains homey and popular for Mainers as they continue to serve the community one cup of Fore Street coffee at a time.

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about Tony’s Donuts and their partnership to with Shaarey Tphiloh to provide kosher donuts for Hanukkah.

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes gift ideas for the food, and

Even people who are classically “hard to buy for” because of their age (think elderly relatives), or they already have everything they need, will appreciate finding something really delicious that they’ve never tried before under the tree or in their stocking. It puts the surprise back in Christmas, and gives them that joyful little rush they had when they were kids.

and wine lovers in your life.

Gift-giving for wine lovers is usually difficult. The wine lover, like the anything lover, almost always knows more about the object of adoration than the giver, so the risk of an underappreciated gift is high.

This week’s Forecaster reports that Three Sons Fish & Lobster has received an eviction notice from their landlord Great Maine Wharf LLC.

Last month, Three Sons, Chase Leavitt & Co. and Fresh Atlantic were served with eviction notices by their landlord, Great Maine Wharf LLC.

The letter said, “For safety reasons, you must vacate the building where your business is located, effective immediately.”