Category: People

Portland Food Heads has published an interview with Lee Farrington. Farrington is in the process of opening a new restaurant called Figa that will focus on “globally inspired cuisine”.

…and offer small tastes, and then have a couple different sized portions along with thoses tastes. I really wanted people to try things that they would never necessarily try.  So we’ll have a board of things between $2 and $4—just weirdness—and hopefully people will spend $2 try things, and if they like it they can get a larger portion.

Today’s newspaper includes a ShopTalk interview with Susan Violet, Executive Director of the Wayside Soup Kitchen.

Q: Sounds like extensive preparation for the soup kitchen.

A: Oh, well! People don’t always understand the full extent of Wayside’s work and the impact on all of Cumberland County. There’s a lot more going on here than managing a soup kitchen.

We’re also Wayside Food Rescue, which sources and distributes food, which might have gone to waste, throughout Cumberland County to food pantries, soup kitchens and a few social service agencies. We help with Milestone, for example, on India Street, and the Friendship House here in Portland.

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Anthony Allen, owner of Otto Pizza.

People queued up along Congress Street during the First Friday Art Walk last week may have been in town for the art, but they were in line for the pizza. As one of the few late-night eateries downtown, Otto Pizza has caused a buzz in Portland during its four short months in business.

An obituary for James Ledue, a pioneering Portland restauranteur, appeared in today’s paper (via Meredith Goad).

Mr. Ledue, who helped start Portland’s restaurant renaissance with businesses such as The Good Egg, Alberta’s Cafe and Bella Bella, died Oct. 23 after a lengthy illness. He was 57 years old.

Mr. Ledue had a limitless range of interests, from surfing to acting to wine and poetry.

“He crowded in an awful lot,” said his father, Herbert Ledue of Portland. “If he wasn’t at the restaurant, he’d be out surfing or kayaking.

Portland Food Heads has published a video interview with Mary Allen Lindemann, co-founder of Coffee by Design.

The State Theater had just been restored at the time…a number of independently owned businesses were in that neighborhood, and there was an amazing energy that was really starting…we had projected 25 customers the first day and had 250.

Portland Food Heads has published a video interview with David Kleban, co-owner of the Maine Beer Company which produces Spring Peeper Ale.

Maine Home + Design has posted the profile of Bob and Laura Butler, owners of Rachels L’Osteria, that appeared in the September issue of the magazine.

While the lovingly selected menu is based on Laura’s passion for food, the carefully considered wine list remains Bob’s forte. The trips to Italy have helped fine-tune his growing love for Italian wine, and for the last five years Wine Spectator has recognized Rachel’s 250-label list. While the emphasis is on Italian wines and some older vintages of California Cabernets, small boutique wines also have their place on the list. Whether it’s the $130 bottle or the $23 bottle, Bob has a photographic recall when it comes to wine. “I can’t remember what Laura said five minutes ago, and yet I can remember a bottle of wine people came in and ordered six months ago,” he says.

Portland Food Heads has posted a video interview with Guy and Stella Hernandez, co-owners of Bar Lola.