Category: People

Interview with Master Beekeeper Erin Forbes

| Posted in People

Maine Woman has published an interview with Master Beekeeper Erin MacGregor-Forbes from Overland Honey in Portland.

According to MacGregor-Forbes, news about tainted honey products has increased the demand for local honey in Maine, a market that was already strong. A new, all-things-honey store, the Honey Exchange, opened up on Stevens Avenue in Portland this fall to help beekeepers get started in business, and also to educate the public about the local market.

“Most beekeepers don’t have any problem selling their honey,” she says. “In fact there’s more demand than supply right now.”

Interview with the Lindgrens

| Posted in People

Find. Eat. Drink. has published an interview with Don and Samantha Lindgren, owners of Rabelais.

Q. What are your thoughts on the “There’s an App For That” mentality towards technology melding with the book world?
A. Don: We’re not Luddites, we own iPhones and an iPad. I frequently look at electronic books online – mostly from academic sources for early texts. But I think the rush for publishers, the food media and much of the public, to expect an app with every book release is just stupid. I read an interview with the authors of the new Eleven Madison Park cookbook, which I think is a terrific book, but the interviewer lost sight of the great new book in front of herself, and kept asking about the possibility of future apps. It’s like sitting down with Scorsese and asking when the video game is coming out.

Interview with Chef Desjarlais on Bresca Day

| Posted in People

Chubby Werewolf has published an interview with Krista Kern Desjarlais about the new lunch service she’s launching at Bresca.

Despite a very busy schedule, Chef Desjarlais graciously agreed to sit down with me in advance of the launch of Bresca Day and answer some questions. Over the course of a very enjoyable hour or so, we discussed Bresca’s roots, the “celebrity chef” culture so pervasive on television these days and the ability of your average toddler to out-demolish even the most crazed high-on-bath-salts lunatic. Somewhere along the way, we also managed to talk about Bresca Day. I can neither confirm nor deny rumors that several minutes of the interview may have been spent by a teary-eyed Yours Truly, begging for a lunchtime version of those braised beef cheeks. But here’s what I can tell you…

According to the interview lunch service at Bresca will 11-2 and will initially be offered on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Bakery on the Hill

| Posted in People, Profiles

The Portland Daily Sun has published a profile of the Bakery on the Hill and its owner Wolf Gonier.

When asked about the inevitable concerns that come with opening a new dining establishment, Gonier smiled and said, “We’re still feeling out our identity, but I am passionately proud of my cakes and pastries. I only use the very best chocolate, butter, cream and supplies. It may sound egotistical, but all I have to do is get the food in their mouths. I just need one chance. We love Portland and want to make everyone feel welcome.”

The Low Down: Head into Bakery on the Hill for freshly brewed coffee and a sample smattering of up to a dozen individually sized desserts, six to eight whole cakes, a dozen bars and/or cupcakes and seasonal offerings, all available daily.

The Honey Exchange

| Posted in People, Profiles

This week’s Food & Dining section in the Press Herald features an interview with Phil and Meghan Gaven, owners of The Honey Exchange on Stevens Ave.

“This is a spring honey from a hive in Ferry Village, and this is the fall honey from that same hive,” Meghan Gaven said. “So the same bees in the same place, just different times of year, made these two different colors and flavors of honey.”

A recent selection at the tasting bar included a honey made by a police officer/beekeeper in Wells and a basswood honey from Pennsylvania that is “everything I like about honey but with the volume turned way up,” Phil Gaven said. “It’s real crystalline and brilliant.”

Maine Beer Week & Jim Gerritsen

| Posted in Events, People

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Jim Gerritsen, a Maine farmer who is leading the challenge against Monsanto over GMO seeds,

The lawsuit questions the validity of Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seeds, and seeks protection from patent-infringement lawsuits for the plaintiffs should their crops become contaminated with Monsanto’s transgenic crops.

“The viewpoint of Monsanto is that (in such a situation) we have their technology, even though we don’t want it and it has zero value in the organic market,” Gerritsen said. “We think they should keep their pollution on their side of the fence.”

and an inside look at what restaurants are planning for Maine Beer Week,

Allagash Black chocolate cake. Beer-battered fried pork rib with ginger barbecue sauce. Ale-braised pork osso buco.

Expect to see some especially creative collaborations in Maine restaurants over the next eight days, when chefs and brewers start showing off what they can do by putting their heads together for the first Maine Beer Week, which starts tomorrow and runs through Nov. 17.