Category: Profiles

Eat Maine has posted a profile of Oscar’s New American.

Often the elements of each dish are classic combinations that Krunkkala reimagines in his own way. The lamb belly, for example, is served with a delicate carrot puree, grilled asparagus, and fresh lion’s mane mushrooms. The meat is rubbed with garlic and rosemary then slowly braised for several hours in champagne vinegar and white wine, and finally is topped with pea shoots that are dressed in a lemon and mint vinaigrette. Plenty of familiar combinations, appropriate to the season, but still with a unique flavor and texture.

Urban Eye has posted an article on the opening of Liquid M2.

Opening three days ago on the emerging end of Fore Street, this heath-bar-meets-hip-lounge is the newest refueling station by Jacqueline Bradley.

Farm to bar means fruit and vegetables are added to smoothies and spirits for cocktails with a wholesome edge. Beet-infused vodka gives the ruby martini its hue. Not purple food coloring no. 2.

The Portland Daily Sun has published an articl about Vena’s Fizz House.

Vena’s Fizz House offers a whole lotta buzz in a variety of non-alcoholic drinks. Mixing natural sodas at their Fore Street bar and mixology shop, Steve and Johanna Corman say the decision to fill a niche in the Portland drink scene was one brought about by a confluence of events — the desire to add a mainland connection to their Cliff Island market, Steve’s job loss, and Johanna’s habitual brainstorming. “It just came to me,” she said of the idea for a soda bar.

The Portland Phoenix has published a profile of Tortilleria Pachanga.

Rowe has expanded her tortilla operation into a production space on Industrial Way in Portland next to established brewers Allagash Brewing and up-and-comers Foundation and Bissell Brothers Brewing Companies. A new machine, purchased with funding from a successful Indiegogo campaign, is capable of pressing and cooking 12,000 tortillas per hour. Rowe has learned to talk about “fixed overhead costs” and “profit margins,” while ensuring she stays true to her mission of using Maine-grown corn to produce fresh tortillas.

Star Chefs has published a profile of the Hunt + Alpine Club.

When he opened Portland Hunt + Alpine Club, he didn’t want to recreate that Portland. Instead, he wanted to help Maine develop its own cocktail and spirit culture. “In smaller markets in particular, it’s important that owners pay very close attention to what their guests are looking for,” he says—facilitating but never foisting, forcing, or otherwise (sometimes literally) funneling cocktail culture down local gullets. But with his nurturing and finesse, Portland Hunt + Alpine Club has received “an overwhelming positive response.”

Maine Today has posted a profile and set of photos of Vena’s Fizz House.

Owned and operated by Johanna and Steve Corman, longtime Portlanders who also own the seasonal Pearl Seaside Market & Cafe on Cliff Island, Vena’s is named for Johanna’s great-grandmother, a staunch proponent of Maine’s temperance movement in the 1900s. She would approve of the drinks mixed and served at her namesake shop: housemade sodas, shrubs, mocktails and slushes — all made from high quality ingredients and without a drop of demon rum (or gin, whiskey or vodka).