Category: People

Interview with 555’s Steve Corry

| Posted in People

The Bowdoin Orient has published an interview with Steve Corry, chef and co-owner of Five Fifty-Five.

But while Corry is inspired by his team, he has also developed an individual methodology in his approach to creating a dish.

“First, it has to taste good,” he told me. “Then you have start thinking about balance, which of course plays into tasting good. You also have to consider seasoning. There needs to be acid and fat. There should be a liveliness. Appearance is also important. Visually, the components need to work in harmony. There should be some definition to the dish. There should be a hot and cold component to the plate.”

West End Deli Profile

| Posted in Profiles, People

The Portland Daily Sun has published a profile of the West End Deli and owner Nancy Arnold.

Nancy Arnold, owner of The West End Deli, is not afraid to speak her mind about how tightly she runs her business, whom she choses to do business with, and how she feels about the customers who frequent the little deli, grocery, and beer and wine establishment she’s owned and operated for eight years.

Local Food Authors: Jessica Porter & Susan Lebel Young

| Posted in People

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about two local food authors and their books.

In “The MILF Diet,” former full-time Portlander and current summer resident Jessica Porter presents a beautiful cookbook that shows women how to use the techniques of macrobiotic cooking to bring their bodies and lives back into balance.

In “Food Fix,” Falmouth resident Susan Lebel Young provides an accessible self-help guide based on personal experience and the principles of mindfulness to lead readers out of the junk food abyss and into a real food oasis.

Interview with Don Lindgren

| Posted in People

The Root has published an interview with Don Lindgren, co-owner of Rabelais.

What is the root of your selection criteria for books?
Well, we have many different types of cookbooks and other food and drink books, so the selection criteria vary. There are tens of thousands of cookbooks in print, and hundreds of thousands of titles printed throughout history, so even the largest store can’t handle it all, but the bottom line for us is that a book needs to treat its subject with respect, and be written by someone who brings knowledge and some skill to the task. In terms of rare books, it’s all about what we find, whether it’s an individual item or a whole collection. I love buying collections formed by chefs and food historians because they often contain obscure books on really specific subjects, like Papaya Culture in Hawaii, or a 19th century Goan cookbook, published in Bombay.

Modern Vegan Cooking School

| Posted in Profiles, People

The Portland Phoenix has published a profile of Chris McClay and her business the Modern Vegan Cooking School.

McClay, 38, is the proprietor of Portland’s new Modern Vegan Cooking School and the Maine representative for the Wellness Forum, a national for-profit dietary-education organization. She’s been eating a plant-based diet since 1992, when a college course piqued her interest in vegetarianism and then full-on veganism. She hasn’t eaten any animal-derived products since then — really. No meat, no cheese, no dairy products. And, perhaps most remarkably, no cravings.

Hot Chocolate, Sustainable Food, Trader Joe’s Parking

| Posted in General News, People

The Food & Dininng section in today’s Press Herald includes an article on hot chocolate along with drink reviews from several venues in town like this one for Gorgeous Gelato,

Don’t be surprised if you start hearing sleigh bells while you drink this. This is classic hot chocolate, the kind of drink you dream about when you hear the song “Winter Wonderland” or crave after coming in from a long day of skiing or playing in the snow.

It’s made with two kinds of Belgian chocolate and whole milk. Be sure to ask for whipped cream on top — it’s real whipped cream, cold, thick and delicious, and floats well and long on top of the chocolate…

a profile of Portland resident Dan McGovern who publishes the Sustainable Food News,

Produced in Portland, the online business magazine publishes Monday through Friday and chronicles the health food industry’s latest news and trends. The daily emails go out to 7,500 subscribers.

Also in today’s paper is a piece on the parking situation at Trader Joe’s.

 

Haitian Dinner, Others Profile and Perspectives from Former Restaurant Staff

| Posted in Profiles, People, Events

Friday’s Portland Daily Sun included a report on the Culinary Immersion Feast series that taking place on Thursdays at the Museum of African Culture,

If you’re hungry to learn about Haitian culture, and don’t mind feasting on a meal while delving into a Haitian-themed art exhibit, the Museum of African Culture may offer the perfect pairing. The museum is serving culinary immersion feasts, where the meal is an extension of the art on exhibition.

a profile of Others! in Monument Square,

At Others! a great deal of intent is evident in all aspects of the operation. The effect on the environment is a prime consideration, to be sure. The coffee stirrers, believe it or not, are strands of uncooked organic spaghetti. Bio-degradable coffee stirrers. And the to-go coffee cups and lids are state-of-the art bio-degradable as well. You wouldn’t believe the research Brad did to come up with them.

and perspectives from former restaurant workers on their old careers in the hospitality industry.

Nancy Farrell-Baker, Portland, 29. “I’d still be waiting tables if I hadn’t just had a second child. Even though my husband works days and my job was mostly nights, it was too stressful. He sells cars and does pretty well, but I still made more money and loved the people I worked with. Yeah, that’s the hardest part, not being around such great people.”

Artisanal & Roger Doiron

| Posted in Cooking, People, General News

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article about the overuse/misuse of the word artisanal,

Even real artisans need to lay off the word artisanal for a while. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that you are trying to do the right thing, and we do appreciate your craftsmanship. But do we really need to know that the bread you just made came from wheat sown by your great-great-grandmother Clara and was made with a recipe passed down from generation to generation in a Mason jar stored under the floorboards of your Uncle Ned’s log cabin? (Was that an artisanal log cabin?)

an article about Roger Doiron and Kitchen Gardens International, and a piece about a new locally produced cookbook.

Stavros Elias Shamos, 91

| Posted in People

Stavros Elias Shamos, the longtime owner of Quality Shop on Stevens Ave, passed away earlier this week at the age of 91.

Steve owned and operated The Quality Shop on Stevens Avenue in Portland for his whole working career, expanding the business to include his son, who owns it to this day. A local icon in Deering Center, many people knew Steve as a hard worker who ran his business as a perfectionist and a gentleman.