Category: People

Under Construction: Interview with David Levi

| Posted in Under Construction, People

SoupWhiteBackground4-300x284The Ink & Pine podcast has posted an interview with David Levi about his restaurant Vinland.

Listen in to hear how top chefs in Italy and Denmark influenced Levi’s decisions about Vinland, how to fill a Maine kitchen with exclusively Maine foods, why lard has a bad rap and much more. Here, David Levi will discuss everything from a future Portland culinary school to foraging for edible mushrooms in New York City’s Central Park to the gourmet preparation of reindeer lichen. What food staples could be locally grown in Maine, but aren’t?

El Rayo Bartender in GQ

| Posted in People, Distilling & Cocktails

henrysaphireEl Rayo’s Henry Jost participated earlier this year in the Bombay Saphire Most Imaginative Bartender competition. Jost (2nd from the left in this segment of the image) and the other 45 bartenders from the competition are featured in a 4-page tableau in the December issue of GQ.

Jost’s entry in the competition was the High Port which is made with “fresh honeydew juice, fresh lemonade infused with three botanicals, juniper berry, coriander seed and orris root; Cocchi Americano Apertif; and Bombay Sapphire gin”.

El Rayo’s holding a release party for Jost on Tuesday, 6-8pm at El Rayo Cantina.

Interview of Maine Pie Line

| Posted in People, Profiles

mpl_logoThe Press Herald has published an interview with Briana Warner about her new bakery/pie CSA, Maine Pie Line (website, facebook).

Warner, 30, grew up in Pennsylvania and studied international relations and economics at Yale and George Washington University. She first started baking pies when she was dating her husband, Matt, and found out how much he loves them. But she didn’t get really serious about them until the State Department posted her to Guinea, a tiny west African country south of Senegal and north of Sierra Leone, as an economic and political officer. There was a lot of political turmoil at the time – the embassy had to be evacuated while Warner was there – and she used pie as a cultural bridge.

Today”s paper also includes an article about a Maine sweet potato farm and a list of local bakeries where you can order pie for your Thanksgiving table.

Interview with David Levi

| Posted in Under Construction, People

Frontier Psychiatrist has published an interview with David Levi about his background and his upcoming restaurant Vinland.

FP: So, the burning question: what is the food going to be like?
DL: Wild foods are the ultimate for me. We are biologically wild animals, we evolved to eat wild foods, wild foods are more nutritious, they are more unusual and exciting and varied than anything we can buy, and they connect us in the most fundamental way to our landbase. I’m really interested in fermentation, especially wild fermentation (as in, fermenting without a starter culture, just relying on wild bacteria and yeast), so there will be lots of fermented ingredients and lots of foods that can be stored through the winter. Clearly, I won’t be using any food ingredients I can’t get in Maine. So, no olive oil, no black pepper, no lemon. This is where creativity comes in.

Restaurant Inspector Paid to Leave

| Posted in People

Former restaurant inspector Michele Sturgeon was given a settlement by the city to leave her job, according to a report from the Press Herald.

Michele Sturgeon, criticized for giving too many eateries failing grades, got $18,600 and agreed not to ‘speak ill’ of city officials or services.

Today’s paper also includes an article about the shutdown’s impact on seafood processing inspection.

Interview with Jack Barber

| Posted in People

Bank of America has published a Q&A with Mainely Burgers co-owner Jack Barber.

We came up with this crazy idea because we were meeting up in Boston at these food trucks. We thought: ‘Why don’t we try to bring these to Portland? No one’s done it yet.’ We seized the market opportunity, pooled our resources with friends and family, and purchased a food truck. At the time, Portland didn’t allow for them. In December, a friend of ours in the food industry suggested that we target a local beach.

Anna E. Russo, 93

| Posted in People

Anna E. Russo (article, obituary) passed away last week. Russo and her husband Alphonso ran Al’s Luncheonette on India Street from the 1940s until 1964.

She married Alphonso Russo in 1942, and the couple had six children. Together they operated Al’s Luncheonette at 45 India St. until 1964, when they sold the business to a neighborhood man who was hawking Italian items from the trunk of his car, said her son Joseph Russo. It would become Micucci’s grocery.

Interview with Chef Nick Krunkkala

| Posted in People

The Forecaster has published an interview with Nick Krunkkala, the chef who recently opened Oscar’s New American in Yarmouth.

Krunkkala, 32, opened his first restaurant, Oscar’s New American, late last month on Route 1 in the space previously occupied by Sea Grass Cafe. He hopes to continue Sea Grass’ tradition, while serving patrons his own brand of Southern and Spanish flavors and small plates.

“My goal is to provide the most unique dining experience in the area,” he said.