Chef/owner Krista Kern Desjarlais has authored a third installment in the Press Herald series about opening The Purple House.
“I can’t believe you’re out of bagels before 10:30 a.m.!!” These are words I never expected to hear on day two, ringing out like a gong and sending waves of anxiety through my body. I smiled – at that customer and everyone else who showed up over the next two hours – as I explained again and again that the 200 bagels we’d made had sold out in just two hours.
Food Stories has posted an audio interview with Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy, owners of East Ender.
This is the 12th episode of Food Stories, a WMPG “radio show where we interview owners, creators, executives of food and beverage business in the evolving food scene in Portland”.
Prior episodes of Food Stories include interviews with:
Joseph Hardy and Adam Moore are planning to purchase have purchased Howie’s Pub from its founder Howie Chadbourne later this month.
Update: The Bangor Daily News has published an article about Chadbourne.
It’s not flashy. It’s hard to find, even for locals in the know, and it seldom pops up on Instagram feeds. But Howie’s Pub has become a local destination because of the bar’s namesake: Howie Chadbourne.
But the 62-year-old owner of the no-frills East Deering watering hole is in the process of selling his pub and expects to pour his last pint by Jan. 31.
Today’s Press Herald includes an interview with Maine native and Bourdain cinematographer Zach Zamboni about growing up in Maine and his life on the road with Anthony Bourdain.
They may be buddies, but Zamboni is nothing like Bourdain’s no-holds-barred public persona. Soft-spoken and thoughtful, Zamboni often speaks in imagery that evokes the landscape, whether he is describing the rolling hills and deep forests of Maine or talking about how when you eat an oyster, you’re tasting the tides. He credits his rural childhood in Maine with helping to prepare him for the life he leads now.
and an interview with Bourdain.
Q: Our culture is so engaged with food now – almost to the point of fetishizing what’s on the plate. Is there any turning back? Or is this fascination with food a good thing?
A: We are more educated about what we’re eating and where it comes from and who’s making it than ever before. I think as silly as it is and as excessive and fetishistic, it signals a real cultural shift where we actually care about what we’re eating and who’s cooking, and this is good. I imagine that at some point we will shift to a more emotional response to food without taking pictures of it. We’re sort of catching up with France and Italy. On balance, however ridiculous it is at times and lampoonable, I’m happy with it.
Bourdain will be in Portland on October 9th for a show at the civic center.
Mike Wiley, co-chef/owner, of Hugo’s, Eventide, and The Honey Paw, has penned an article providing a behind the scenes look at staffing a restaurant. This is the first of a three-part series by Wiley.
When I try to be frank with our guests about where the ideas and food come from, I get the sense they think my explanations are false modesty. That’s not it at all: A lot of really talented and hardworking people work in our restaurants, and everything is a collaboration.
The September issue of Dispatch includes an interview with Sean Wilkinson, co-founder of Might & Main, about restaurant branding.
Might & Main have worked with a number of successful restaurants in Portland such as Eventide and Central Provisions, and are now building a client base elsewhere such as Alden & Harlow in Boston.
Erin French’s book The Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom, Maine is now available for pre-order with an anticipated publication date of May 2017.
The book is described as “An evocative, gorgeous four-season look at cooking in Maine, with 100 recipes” and will be available in hardcover and as an e-book.
The Press Herald has interviewed Christopher Kimball about his new venture, Milk Street Kitchen.
“This is not really about me cooking Thai food or Cantonese or Moroccan food,” Kimball said. “It’s just about finding techniques and combinations of flavors, or ways of thinking about cooking to expand the repertoire. I’m not trying to cook somebody else’s food. Here’s the difference: Instead of going in the kitchen and taking an oatmeal cookie and making it 45 times, I’m starting somewhere else in the world to learn from somebody and listen to what they have to say and trying to figure out how I can adapt that back here.”
Kimball will be kicking off a cross-country Culinary Mystery Tour on the stage of the State Theater on September 8. Tickets are available online.
Maine Women Magazine has published an interview with Leslie Oster from Aurora Provisions which includes some pointers for putting on a great event.
Leslie Oster is a bit of a legend in Maine. As general manager and catering director for Aurora Provisions (the café, catering company and market in Portland’s West End neighborhood), Oster will oversee a whopping 23 weddings this year and more than 50 catered events. She creates original menus and is known for her stunning table arrangements.
Chef Mike Smith and wife Robyn Luongo Smith are leaving their positions at Scales and The Honey Paw to lead the kitchen and front of house staff at the new off-peninsula restaurant Central Provisions has under construction in the Back Cove neighborhood.
Chris and Paige Gould, founders of Central Provisions, have purchased the former Borealis Bistro at 182 Ocean Ave where they plan to open a wood-fired Italian restaurant. The as-yet unnamed restaurant will seat 48 including a 9-seat bar and will serve Neapolitan-style pizza as well as pasta, salads and crudo and is slated to open in December or January.
For more information see this article in the Press Herald. It includes an interview with Smith.
Update: Chefs Fred Eliot and Travis Olson will co-leading the kitchen Scales. Eliot is the former chef de cuisine at Petite Jacqueline and Olson is the pastry chef at Scales.