Category: People

Winter Markets & Terry Thiese

| Posted in People, General News

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article on Portland area winter farmers markets,

“As long as the (Monday) meeting goes well, we’ll be in the Irish Heritage Center starting Jan. 8,” said Lauren Pignatello of Swallowtail Farm, who is one of the coordinators of the Portland Winter Market and a vendor at the Brunswick Winter Market. “We’ll have lots of winter greens, root vegetables, cheese, yogurt, kefir, hard salami, pork, beef, chicken, lamb, rabbit, tempeh, bread, eggs, apples and flower bulbs.”

and an Appel on Wine column about wine guru Terry Thiese. Thiese will be in Portland Tuesday for a book signing with Rabelais and a sold out dinner at Bar Lola.

This is simultaneously the hardest and easiest column for me to write. Easy because it concerns Terry Theise, my personal wine hero (and writing hero, and life hero), and I have waited a long time for the opportunity to write publicly about him. Hard because the stakes are so high: if I fail to convince you to form a long-term relationship with Theise’s work, then I wonder why I speak about wine at all.

Vegan Thanksgiving, Box Wine and Brett DeBlieck

| Posted in Wine, People, General News

The Food & Dining section of today’s Press Herald includes advice on cooking a vegan Thanksgiving dinner.

In recent years, supermarkets have been flooded with processed vegan foods. And while faux meat products such as Tofurky and Celebration Roast can work in a pinch, you’ll satisfy more people at your table when you go the scratch-cooking route.

Also in today’s paper is a declaration by the Appel on Wine column that you can get good wine from a box and a Q+A with sous chef Brett DeBlieck.

Meat at Work, Red Crab, John Martin

| Posted in Fisheries, People

Today’s Press Herald includes a feature story about the red crab fishery,

He owns the majority of the handful of permits allowed to catch deep-sea red crab — a fishery valued at $2.4 million to $4.2 million a year between 2004 and 2008, according to the New England Fishery Management Council. Williams owns the dominant share of the crab fishing fleet and has just opened his own deep-sea red crab processing plant.

a Maine at Work article where reporter Ray Routhier learns to butcher meat at Fresh Approach,

We started the morning cutting some New York strip steaks, which would sell for $9.99 a pound. McCourt put the hunk of meat on the cutting table and handed me a knife — it looked more like a machete to me. It was about 2 feet long, with a curved blade.

and an obituary of John P. Martin,

Martin is probably best known in the Portland area for his restaurants, such as the Merry Manor in South Portland and the Art Gallery in downtown Portland, which operated for many years.

Desjarlais Leaving Evangeline to Become Full-Time Dad

| Posted in People

Erik Desjarlais has sent out a press release announcing his decision to resign his post as Chef at Evangeline in order to become a full-time parent to his daughter Cortland.
Here’s the full text of the announcement:

I’m bittersweetly pleased to announce my resignation as Chef of Evangeline restaurant.

As 2011 approaches, and my daughter Cortland nears 6 months, I’m recognizing the delicate role that is parenthood.   This recognition definitely makes this choice an easy one.

The intensity of my role at Evangeline drew me away from spending any time with our daughter whatsoever, and with two restaurant chef/owners under one roof, time is a valuable asset.

Moderating my time spent at Evangeline would have an adverse effect on the business, so I have decided to move my role as full time nurturer from the restaurant to our daughter, which I’m sure any parent would understand.

I’m very proud of what I have accomplished at Evangeline, and I am definitely excited to move forward from my role as Chef to my role as a full time Dad and supportive husband.

I feel very fortunate to be in a position in life to have this amazing opportunity.  And while I will sincerely miss firing up the ranges every day and making the food I love, I’m excited to be immersed in diapers, teething, baby-babble, and all of Cortland’s “firsts.”

I’d like to thank all of my wonderful staff, past and present, the family farms I have worked so closely with, and all of the guests who frequent my tables to enjoy my efforts at creating a dining experience.

Erik Desjarlais

Update: for additional reporting see Maine Travel Maven and the Press Herald.

The Bollard on Linda Bean

| Posted in People

The Bollard has published a feature on Linda Bean and the impact her growing lobster empire is having on towns in mid-coast Maine.

Bean uses the image of Maine’s fishing communities to market her company, but the reality of life in her Perfect Maine is far from perfect.

“It’s a divided peninsula: those on the payroll and those who aren’t,” a St. George resident said. Like numerous other locals interviewed for this article, she agreed to comment about Bean on condition of anonymity, for fear that criticizing her would bring economic retribution in this tiny town. The source has been asking St. George officials for help in a land dispute with Bean, but thinks the town government is powerless to rein in the heiress.

You can also see the discussion taking place on Facebook about Bean’s aspirations to brand Maine lobster.

Oysters, 2 Buck Chuck, Robert Pieper

| Posted in Wine, Cooking, People

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes Joe Appel’s take on the Trader Joe’s 2 Buck Chuck wines,

Yet. Yet there are hidden costs. The biggest one is a general dumbing down of the wine market. I know everyone’s shopping Trader Joe’s exclusively right now, but next time you feel the need for an edible vegetable, head over to any other Portland-area supermarket and note the changes in the wine departments. See?

Everyone’s racing to the bottom, all desperate to offer an alternative to $3 Chuck. The interesting bottles lose their shelf space, taken over by more and more case stacks of faceless, automaton wine engineered to move.

a feature article on Maine oysters,

Once, oysters were as much a part of holiday celebrations as cranberries and champagne.

There’s never been a better time to revive this tradition. There are dozens of Maine oyster growers who can supply the freshest shellfish for your holiday table.

and interview with sous chef Robert Pieper from Nosh.