Category: People

The Press Herald has published an interview with former Bon Appétit managing editor, Scott DeSimon about growing up in Cumberland and about the Portland food scene.

Q: Here’s the inevitable question: Where do you eat when you are in Maine?
A: The Portland restaurant scene continues to baffle and amaze me. How is that possible? How are there enough people in Portland to eat and keep these places going? Generally, I used to go directly from the airport to J’s Oyster and get a fish sandwich, a bucket of oysters and a beer. Less so now that I have kids. I really love Hunt and Alpine Club. I love Central Provisions. Everyone loves Eventide. I love Eventide. But it’s (expletive) annoying. It’s always too packed. There’s a late flight, a jet that gets in at 11. What makes me happy is that you arrive and Miyake noodles is open. And it’s crowded. It’s a signal that Portland has come a long way from when I was a kid. There are so many great places. It is hard to keep up. I try to go to a new place every time I’m in town, but I still try to go to J’s.

Arcadia National Bar co-owner, Ben Culver, is one of 8+ people running for Portland Mayor this fall.

The Portland Phonix interviewed Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy, chef/owners of East Ender, for this week’s edition of the newspaper.

Two worlds collided when East Ender proprietors Bill Leavy and Karl Deuben met while working at Hugo’s 11 years ago. The two grew up in very different areas of the country — Deuben in Denver and Leavy on Staten Island — and were working in education and advertising, respectively, before discovering their culinary passions. Once they got their first taste (pun intended) of the restaurant business, however, they couldn’t stop, and became staples of the Portland dining scene even before founding SmallAxe Food Truck in 2012 and East Ender eight months ago.

The Press Herald has published a Where Are They Now article about chef Jonny Saint Laurent, best know for Uncle Billy’s Southside Bar-B-Que and Uncle Billy’s Resto-Bar.

Now the chef is a caterer and restaurant consultant for most of the year. At the summer camp, his hours are filled with making three kinds of meatballs (vegetarian; gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free; and “normal”), baking 175 homemade cookies a day, experimenting with ways to get girls to eat eggs, and generally trying to please persnickety palates.

Mainebiz has selected Rising Tide co-owner Heather Sanborn for their 2015 short list of business Women to Watch in Maine. Each year Mainebiz highlights women who “have shown the skill, tenacity and smarts to make a difference not only at their own companies or organizations, but in their particular industries as well.”

If you want to know the movers and shakers behind Maine’s booming beer industry, getting to know Heather Sanborn would be a good first step. And that’s not just because she’s the director of business operations for Rising Tide Brewing Co…Sanborn’s legal expertise has been especially helpful in pushing Maine lawmakers to adopt laws that protect the beer industry and fight off the vestiges of the state’s Prohibition-era regulations. In working with the Maine Brewers’ Guild, Sanborn helped draft three major pieces of legislation that have had a significant impact in improving Maine’s beer culture.

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with El Rayo general manager Kate Poze.

LO: What do you tell your wait staff the secret is to excellent service?
KP: Always make eye contact, be attentive, accommodating and personal, know the menu. Control the chaos and be ahead of your tables, ask if they would like another drink before their glass is bone dry, mark their table, and don’t serve them soup without a spoon.

Anthony Napolitano founder of Maria’s Ristorante passed away this weeks at the age of 79.

Mr. Napolitano opened his first restaurant, Napoli’s Restaurant on Veranda Street in Portland, in 1960. He ran it until 1972 and then opened the first Maria’s Ristorante in Westbrook. He ran that restaurant for four years before moving to its current location on Cumberland Avenue.

A Blissful Interlude has published an audio interview with Fred Eliot from Petite Jacqueline.

Fred recounts what Sunday dinners were like growing up in Normandy, France, and lists his industry influences and inspirations. He also shares his secrets for bliss and his favorite dishes and dining spots (hint: he has a soft spot for American Chinese cuisine). 

The Daily Meal has published an interview with John Berry, chef of Union.

The Daily Meal: In a nutshell, what is the concept of UNION and what inspired it? 
Chef Josh Berry: The cuisine at UNION can be best explained as “enhanced local.” We focus on a particular ingredient and try to showcase it at its zenith state through preparation methods and flavors. Inspiration can come from anything at any time. I have no particular muse that I rely on, with the exception of the season. Seasonal cooking is very important to me, and that shows through in the cuisine.