Mainebiz has published an article about Mainely Hotdogs and its owner Derke Gibbs.
In case you missed it, July was national hot dog month, but the occasion wasn’t lost on Derke Gibbs, who started his Mainely Hotdogs push cart business at the corner of Commercial and Silver streets in Portland’s Old Port last month.
Maine Icons has published a profile of Alan Spear, co-owner of Coffee by Design.
The property Spear and Lindemann found for the company’s first coffeehouse wasn’t in what many would consider an ideal location. In 1994, instead of being known as the Arts District, Congress Street had a much seedier reputation. The space the two leased was located near the State Theater, which at the time was known more for its adult film showings than its concerts. But it was also conveniently located across the street from the Maine College of Art, home to students in need of caffeine.
Take has published an article about Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley, co-chefs for Hugo’s/Eventide/The Honey Paw.
Wiley says he and Taylor focus on using the best ingredients possible while presenting them in a thoughtful way throughout all three of their restaurants. “No matter what type of food, the local ingredients are what shine through,” he says.
For the latest episode, Food Stories host Stephen Joffe has interviewed co-owner Meg Stanley and chef Rich Maggi from Lazzari. You can learn about the meaning of the word Lazzari, the inspiration for the restaurant, the history of the building, hear about the menu, learn the secret to their pizza dough and the process of developing the restaurant.
You can listen to the full interview on the WMPG website.
Munjoy hill resident, Sean Ryan Turley, will be writing a weekly apple column this fall for the Press Herald. Turley is an ardent heritage apple enthusiast. Along with his wife Cecilia Ziko, Turley has organized an annual rare apple tasting for the past three years (2015, 2016) that’s assembled upwards of 80 apple varieties for attendees to try.
You can follow Turley on instagram where he publishes under the monicker The Righteous Russet.
The Press Herald has published a feature story on Renee Rhoads, the former school teacher who launched the Mashed food truck earlier this year.
At first, Rhoads peeled every potato by hand – she goes through at least 200 pounds in a week – but after she, her husband, and her sister-in-law spent 24 hours peeling potatoes for a local festival, Rhoads bought a $700 potato-peeling machine. “You don’t start a snow removal business with a freakin’ shovel,” she told her husband. “I’m buying the machine.”
Mainebiz has published an interview with Nathan Hann, CBD’s Director of Training,
MB: On the retail side, what’s the first thing you teach people?
NH: It’s still a work in progress, but right now we’re doing the espresso fundamentals class. It’s a three-hour class where they’re introduced to the machine and overall cleanliness and upkeep. Then we migrate into espresso and milk texturing and then constructing of the drink. We do that for wholesale accounts as well. It’s a long process that goes for weeks to make sure they’re ready.
Mainebiz has published an article about the Portland Barrel Co. and its owner Ed Lutjens.
Lutjens works alone, planing staves so they fit together tightly, sculpting the staves’ inside and shearing off some wood outside so they’ll form a round barrel when set into hoops. He starts from the top of the barrel, placing the staves, which are of different widths, inside a metal hoop that he also hand makes. No glue is involved, so the sides of the staves need to be planed flat and fitted carefully.
Portland-based interior designer Brett Johnson from Maine Street Design Co. is working on a prominent new restaurant in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood called Heritage Restaurant & Caviar Bar. Johnson has designed interiors for several Maine restaurants including Fore Street, the White Barn Inn, The Edge and Stripers.
Johnson’s work in Chicago is an example of a trend of Maine hospitality and design expertise being exported beyond the state’s borders. Branding and design firm Might & Main worked with chef/owner Michael Scelfo on the launch of his new restaurant Waypoint, both in Boston. Eventide is expanding into the Boston market this year, Boda opened a second location in Portsmouth last year, and the Brewers Guild built and delivered the Maine Beer Box to Iceland.
Maine agricultural and fishery products (lobster to China, native blueberries, glass eels and urchins to Japan) have been widely sought after for some time. It’s nice to see homegrown talent and concepts following their foot steps to have impact in the wider food world as well.
The good folks at Knack Factory has produced a wonderful video about Rabelais Books and its owner, resident bibliomaniac and culinary historian, Don Lindgren.