Category: Profiles

A Locally Sourced Focus at Small Axe

| Posted in Profiles, Farming

Kate McCarty has written an interesting article for the Portland Phoenix about the Small Axe food truck and the chefs’ use of local farms and purveyors when sourcing ingredients for their menu.

The meat, fish, dairy, and produce Small Axe serves is all from local sources, drawing on Deuben’s and Leavy’s longstanding relationships with nearby purveyors. Small Axe’s vegetables come from two farms, one in particular that focuses on unusual varieties appealing to chefs: Green Spark Farm. Deuben first noticed the attractive display of Green Spark Farm’s produce at the Portland farmers’ market while shopping for Miyake’s tasting menu. He was further drawn to the farm for the varieties of produce growing there, in particular Asian greens and cabbages like totsoi and red choi.

McCarty is also the author of The Blueberry Files. This piece is the first of a monthly column she’ll be writing for the Portland Phoenix.

Portland Food Co-op

| Posted in Profiles

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about the Portland Food Co-op and their efforts to scale up and open a retail store.

In a warehouse in downtown Portland, scores of people share a secret. Two nights a week, a local farm-fresh cornucopia including beets, chard and free-range chickens are packed into boxes and sent out the door.

Is it the best farmers market you’ve never heard of?

Not quite. It’s the Portland Food Co-op, and it hopes soon to be a visible part of this food-centric city.

Little Bigs

| Posted in Profiles

The Bangor Daily News has published a profile on Little Bigs bakery.

Set up like an open kitchen, Pamela makes dough in one area while her husband prepares fillings in another. Little Bigs takes customers off guard. Is it a shop or a commercial bakery?

It’s neither.

“We call it a food studio. A place where we come to work and it just so happens that we sell the stuff that we do,” James said. “We are both very happy to do what we do.”

Betsy Nelson, Vegan Cheesemaker

| Posted in Profiles

The Press Herald has published an article about Portland-based vegan cheese maker, Betsy Nelson.

“A lot of people say to me, ‘I would go vegan, but I can’t give up cheese,’” said Nelson, 31, who lives on Munjoy Hill in Portland. “That was the thing I missed, too.”

To satisfy her taste for cheese, Nelson began making small-batch, artisanal cheeses from fermented nut milks. Her soft cheeses can be served on bread or crackers and pair well with fruit and wine. They are totally dairy free.

BDN: Portland Hunt & Alpine

| Posted in Profiles, Distilling & Cocktails

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about the Portland Hunt & Alpine Club.

The sleek cocktail lounge on Market Street has been shaking up the downtown drink scene since September. With craft spirits from across the country and state, owner Andrew Volk said he hopes to do for cocktails what the Port City has done for beer and food.

“We want to focus on one thing we do well and give local distilleries a stage,” said Volk, who has bartended his way across the country, including a high-profile gig at Clyde Common in Portland, Ore.

BBQ: Salvage & Elsmere

| Posted in Profiles

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about the grow selection of Maine barbeque destinations.

Chef Josh Craigue, sliding ribs into Salvage’s indoor smoker on a recent Friday afternoon, took a minute to explain.

“We are getting the basics down and then will add a Maine touch. That’s what we are excited about,” said Craigue. “We have the an opportunity to put Maine on the map as a barbecue destination.”

Maine Pie Line

| Posted in Profiles

Eater Maine has published an article about Briana Warner and her new business, Maine Pie Line (website, facebook).

Briana Warner has used pie to bring violent youth leaders to the table in Guinea and tested her recipes on ambassadors in Belgium. But after several years of her pies playing a secondary (though complementary) role to her work as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department, Warner is now making pie her primary focus.

Schlotterbeck & Foss

| Posted in Profiles

The Business section in today’s Press Herald provides a look at Schlotterbeck & Foss.

While Schlotterbeck & Foss sells its own branded sauces, toppings, dressings, marinades and other specialty food products at Whole Foods, the biggest and fastest-growing part of the business is creating “co-branded” products for grocery stores.

That means Schlotterbeck & Foss often doesn’t get the recognition for its creations, which are sold by various retailers under their own brands.

Schlotterbeck & Foss was founded in 1866. It’s 2nd oldest food enterprise in Portland after the Farmers Market (1768).

Also in today’s Business section is an interview with Kathleen Fleury, the new executive editor at Down East. Fleury began her career at DE as the magazine’s food writer.