Category: People

The Press Herald has published an interview with James Schwartz on the advent of his 1-year anniversary as the restaurant critic for the Maine Sunday Telegram.

Q: If you could give advice to a restaurant about how to do things right, what would you say?
A: The first thing I would say is cleanliness makes a huge difference. Nothing turns off a diner more than a sticky table. Next, warm service is good. Warm, professional service is better. It’s very nice to have a waiter or waitress who is nice. But it’s better to have a waiter or waitress who is nice but knows what they are doing. The last thing for me would be, simple is always better. A beautifully prepared piece of sautéed fish or chicken is better in my opinion than a poorly prepared piece of fish that is exuberantly sauced. I think gilding the lily is unnecessary.

Peter P. Profenno, Jr. passed away on Friday at the age of 81.

Along with his late wife Mary, he founded Profenno’s Pizzeria in Westbrook in 1962.

Po’ Boys and Pickles founder Peter Zinn has sold the business to Chris Bettera. Bettera doesn’t plan to make any major changes to Po’ Boys, “When you have an amazing product and a great crew, there really isn’t a need to start from scratch.”

Bettera is a 3rd generation restaurateur. His grandfather owned 5 restaurants in the Hartford Connecticut area, and his parents ran La Trattoria Restaurant in Canton, CT for over 40 years. Bettera grew up working in restaurants and has been working at Bonobo’s since moving to Portland while searching for the right opportunity to own his own restaurant. He spent the prior “16 years traveling the world while working in the field of international education”.

Zinn plans to now spend his time growing the Choomi Cookies business he launched in 2013.

The Portland Phoenix has interviewed Chris Harris, co-owner of Crooners & Cocktails.

LO: What do you feel makes your restaurant stand out from the other dining options in Portland?
CH: Attention to detail. I do my walkthrough of the dining room every single night. I measure the silverware. I measure the glassware. I measure how far the napkins are from the edge of the table. … We don’t want people to think it’s stuffy, because it’s not. But we are such professionals here, in every aspect. Everyone here is after the same goal, and that’s absolute perfection. We’re trying to do something special here in Portland, and there’s nothing else like us here.

Ben Alfiero, co-owner of Harbor Fish Market, passed away earlier this week at the age of 59.

Alfiero and his brothers, Nick Alfiero and Mike Alfiero, have been involved in the operation of the Harbor Fish Market since their father Ben Alfiero Sr. founded the business in 1969.

For years, Benjamin A. Alfiero ran the retail store for Harbor Fish Market, which is located at 9 Custom House Wharf on the city’s waterfront.

For more information and public comment see this facebook post by Harbor Fish.

Andrew Regios, co-owner of Pizza Villa, passed away on November 11.

“He always had a compliment for you,” his sister-in-law said. “Someone referred to him as a sweet, zany Greek boy. He was very joyful, but he was also a prankster. He loved to make up jokes. He could be really corny. He had a sweet, fun and youthful side to him.”

See the obituary for details on today’s memorial service.

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Lance Meader, owner of Rivalries.

LO: Why did you decide to open a sports bar?
LM: I come from a sports background and a sports family. My dad’s been a college basketball coach for 40 years, and was a college baseball coach for 20 years. I was an athlete in college and I originally had a business partner who I bought out six or seven years ago — Jeff Libby — who was a former professional hockey player. We grew up together and were both living in Portland at the time … we were in our 20s at the time and going out and there wasn’t really a (sports) place to go. We just thought that no one else is going to do it, we might as well do it.

Plate has published an interview with Chris Gould, chef and co-owner of Central Provisions.