Category: People

Restaurant community member, Kelly Nelson, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her friends have set-up a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to help with medical bills and journey forward with an MS diagnosis.

The resources collected via this GoFundMe will go towards her mounting medical debt, and ultimately allowing Kelly to take some much needed time away from work to begin her medical journey and assess what the future holds for her. Those close to Kelly know she is grieving the loss of her former self. That process is painful enough without the stress and worry of financial burden. We’re hoping this GoFundMe can alleviate some of that burden and offer the opportunity for grace as Kelly enters this new chapter of her life.

Nelson has worked in the Portland industry for 15+ years. You may have crossed paths with her at Local 188, Sonny’s, Piccolo, Evo or more recently at Fore Street where she is a server and manages the restaurant’s wine list. You can read more about Kelly in this interview we published in 2021.

She is unmistakable, eccentric, and nothing short of fabulous. Her hair shifts from one vibrant shade to the next (it’s currently flamingo pink) and cephalopod tattoos wrap her arms and legs. On Instagram she’s @geeksquid, and if you follow her you are well aware of her fondness for hairless rats. After contributing to the Portland food scene in various ways for over a decade, she now revels in the role of wine coordinator at Fore Street. She is, of course, the one and only Kelly Nelson.

Visit this page to learn more and to donate to the GoFundMe campaign.

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram profiles 5 Maine food instagram influencer accounts: Biddo Foodies run by Holly Norburg and Daniela Amieva, Eating Portland Alive run by  Rob Schatz, Eating Through The Seacoast run by Jake Cryan, The Maine Foodies run by Erik and Alexis Dirkmaat, and Portland Eats ME run by Lydia Belden. All excellent accounts well worth following.

Maine has a large and growing food social media community. Whether it’s a specific geography, a type of food or a particular type of food lifestyle you want to learn more about there’s likely an account out their publishing about that already. If there isn’t then maybe you’re the right person to step into those shoes and share your passion with the world!

Two bartenders from Portland are semifinalists in the Barr Hill Royal Jellies competition: Jack O’Brien the creative director at Blyth & Burrows and Olivia Watts a bartender at Luna.

They’ll be competing this on Sunday with six other bartenders in Montpellier, Vermont. The competition challenges the participants to develop and mix variants of the classic Bees Knees cocktail. Author Robert Simonson, Justin Sajda (aka @ThirstyWhale) and last year’s winner Patty Burns are judging the competition.

Watts’ creation is the Beez Nuts which is made with Barr Hill Gin, Tom Cat Gin, Honey Pistachio Orgeat, Lemon, Dry Curacao. O’Brien’s drink is Everything But The Hive which is made with Barr Hill Gin, Black Garlic Vodka, Toasted Sesame Orgeat, Honey, Lemon.

Tickets for the event are still available.

Author and former Maine Sunday Telegram restaurant critic Nancy English is a candidate for a District 2 seat on the Portland City Council.

English was the Maine Sunday Telegram restaurant critic 2005 – 2011 and is the author of a guide book to Maine restaurants entitled Chow Maine. For the last 11 years she worked as a paralegal in the Office of the Corporate Counsel for City of Portland.

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published an interview with Rob Evans and Nancy Pugh, the recently retired former owners of Hugo’s and founders of Duckfat.

This spring, Evans, 60, and Pugh, 57, sold the Duckfat properties and left restaurant life behind to focus on building a home on their property in western York County. We sat down with the couple recently to talk about how they got their starts in the industry, how working in some of the country’s most elite restaurants prepared Evans for Hugo’s, the challenges facing married restaurateurs, and what Portland’s restaurant scene might look like in the years to come.

Evans and Pugh moved to Portland and took over Hugo’s in 2000 and for nearly a quarter of a century were central figures in the Portland restaurant community. The couple launched Duckfat in 2005 and Duckfat Frites Shack on Washington Ave in 2018. Evans was a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2004, and he won a James Beard award in the Best Chef North East category in 2009. They sold Duckfat and the Frites Shack and retired in Late April.

Sommelier Jennifer Lakari passed away recently after a long battle with cancer.

Jen graduated from the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson and Wales University In 1997, and in 2008, Jen became a certified sommelier. Food and wine became one of her passions, and among the many food venues she worked in were Fore Street, Grace, Purpoodock Club, Browne Trading, and Bow Street Beverage. When she opened Flock and Vine Bike and Beverage in Cape Elizabeth and, later, in South Portland, Jen taught others about wine, often hosting lively wine tastings and seminars.

A celebration of her life is scheduled to take place June 19th, 6 – 8 pm at Grace, 15 Chestnut St, Portland.

The Southern Smoke Foundation (SSF) has announced they’ll be partnering with the University of Maine to pilot their mental health program for food and beverage workers in Maine this summer. The program is called Behind You.

SSF is providing a grant to University of Maine’s Psychology Services Center to provide no-cost counseling to F+B workers across Maine through the Behind You program. A Behind You grant covers the cost of counseling for F+B workers who qualify through the SSF website and allows student clinicians to diversify their training by seeing a community of seasoned F+B workers with various backgrounds. A licensed clinical supervisor and the university program director supervise all student clinicians. In addition, SSF requires university partners to provide telehealth services to increase accessibility for workers with demanding schedules or living in rural areas with limited access to in-person services. The initial grant will be for a pilot program with hopes of expanding services in 2025.

SSF credits Jordan Rubin—co-owner of Mr. Tuna, Bar Futo and Crispy Gai—with advocating to SSF to bring Behind You to Maine.

“I’ve gotten the chance to work alongside the team at Southern Smoke Foundation for a few years now – whether that’s cooking at their annual Southern Smoke Festival in Houston, TX, or connecting my staff and friends in the industry with them to apply for Emergency Relief Funding,” said chef Jordan Rubin. “The fact that the Behind You program will now also be available to my team and other food and beverage workers across Maine to receive free counseling if they’re interested makes me so happy.”

Here’s a link to the full press release from SSF. The Southern Smoke Foundation also offers an Emergency Relief program for food and beverage workers.

Mainebiz has published an interview with Danielle Camarata, an owner of B + B Bakery. The business recently moved to Cape Elizabeth from Fore Street in Portland.

MB: Why Cape Elizabeth?
DC: Our Portland location was good for visibility, but we didn’t have great parking for pick-ups and looked around at what our options were for moving. We knew our lease was coming up there, so we opted for Cape Elizabeth for the convenience. It’s still close enough to Portland, and there’s great parking and it’s convenient for employees. We live in Cape Elizabeth, too.