The Press Herald has published the first installment of a 3-part series authored by Black Dinah owner Kate Shaffer on the experience of moving her business to Westbrook.
I know that it will be over in the next couple of weeks and ultimately that the construction will bring us more business. And in a funny way, the earth-shaking demolition and re-building is an apt metaphor for my own life: I feel blasted from my own foundations, blown away by how much things have changed in the last 10 months.
The Press Herald spoke with 3 vegan chefs who work in non-vegan kitchens about how they balance their job responsibilities and personal diet.
I tracked down and spoke with three vegan chefs who are working in Portland to ask them how they manage it. (A fourth who was on extended holiday in London eluded me.) Among the challenges they face: Needing to taste animal products before they send dishes out of their kitchens, career limitations and the contradictions between strongly held personal beliefs and professional ambitions.
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about former chefs who have found success in new careers,
Food magazines are chock-full of stories about talented young chefs yearning to show their chops in the kitchen and work their way up to executive chef. Maybe they’ll even own their own restaurant one day. But sometimes, though we don’t hear about it as much, life happens in the reverse. Talented chefs walk away from their stations, sometimes with scarcely a look back. And, like Durham, they end up in a completely – or at least somewhat – different place.
and an interview with mother and daughter duo Nancy Harmon Jenkins and Sara Jenkins,
Mom is a 13th-generation Mainer and an expert on the cooking of the Mediterranean, with eight cookbooks (and two non-food books) to her name. Daughter is the chef of two beloved Manhattan eateries – the sandwich shop Porchetta and the pasta-centric Porsena – and is set to move to Maine next month with her husband and 9-year-old son to open a Mediterranean restaurant in Rockport.
The Press Herald has published interviews with Maine’s four 2016 James Beard award nominees: Mike Wiley, Andrew Taylor, Brian Hill and Rob Tod.
Maine will be well represented at the 2016 James Beard Awards ceremony Monday in Chicago, with three chefs and one craft brewer up for the coveted medals.
Portland resident Jack Van Paepeghem is one of just six people in the world to have earned the Advanced Cicerone Certification. The day long exam for the advanced level includes six hours of written questions, four taste panels, and two oral exams.
“It is incredibly exciting to be named as one of the country’s very first Advanced Cicerones,” said Van Paepeghem. I am proud to represent not just Oxbow and The Maine Brew Bus, but Maine’s beer community as a whole.”
Both the Press Herald and Bangor Daily News has posted reports on the new chef at Tempo Dulu.
Michael MacDonnell, former sous chef at Natalie’s, the restaurant at the Camden Harbour Inn, has been named executive chef at Tempo Dulu, the swanky Southeast Asian restaurant located in the Danforth Inn on the West End.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has hired Andrew Ross to serve as the paper’s new restaurant critic.
Ross was selected by the Sunday Telegram for the job from a pool of more than 70 applicants, and along with other finalists for the position was asked to write a sample review. Editor Peggy Grodinsky tells me that “Andrew was the clear winner among the lot, and we’re very pleased to have him.”
Ross moved to Maine last year, but has had ties to Maine since childhood. He is the former editor of a now defunct website called NYCnosh.
Be sure to pick-up a copy of this weekend’s Maine Sunday Telegram to checkout his first restaurant review.
Portland Magazine has published an interview with Ralph Hersom, the former sommelier at Le Cirque and now Portland resident working for Hannaford managing the wines, beer and spirits products at their supermarkets.
Hannaford shoppers have benefited from the updated and more sophisticated food selections available there in recent years. Is your job to do the same for beverages?
Exactly. I’ve been hired by Hannaford to help improve upon the selection of wine, beer, and spirits they currently carry. I’m fortunate that past [decisions] have established a great foundation for me to build upon. I’ll use my fine-wine, craft beer, and specialty spirits background to bring some excitement to the center-store aisles, helping to elevate it to the next level.
I had the chance to meet Hersom last month at the Piccolo truffle dinner and am looking forward to seeing his selection make an impact on the Hannaford wine shelves.
For their latest episode the Great Beer Adventure has interviewed the wives of brewers from Fore River, Dirigo and Mast Landing.
Here in Maine the Brewer’s Wife has a lot in common with the Sea Captain’s Wife: many nights are spent home alone or with the kids while the men work late into the night and they provide moral and financial support while the new business blooms into something we beer drinkers take for granted. Surprisingly, there is more to being a brewer’s wife than you think. Listen in to learn what is is like to find all your missing sweaters and scarves wrapped around a fermentor in the bathroom sink and how one woman turned her Coors only drinking husband into a craft brewer.
The Forecaster has published an article about Becky’s Diner. Becky’s recently celebrated their 25th anniversary.
“We had a line the first day; I ended up doing dishes because we had not staffed up,” she said. “I think the whole waterfront was rooting for me. I hope they came back for the food.”
With her home riding on her business, Rand said failure was not an option.