Category: Profiles

Strawberries Squared & Kids Gone Raw

| Posted in Farming, Cooking, Profiles

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald has an article on strawberries which includes recipes from 3 Portland chefs, a guide to farms where you can pick your own strawberries, details strawberry dishes on the menu at local restaurants, a calendar of strawberry festivals in Maine and info on a strawberry jam making class taught by Kate McCarty.

“My advice to people is to get out a little earlier this year to get what you want, and certainly call the farmer ahead of time to see how things are going,” David Handley, a small-fruit specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, said in an interview after last week’s stretch of hot weather. “I’ve been out in the fields for the last couple of days, and I’ve been amazed how two days of temperatures approaching the 90s will ripen strawberries so quickly.”

The season started a little early as well, anywhere from a week ahead of schedule to just a day or two, depending on the location of the farm.

Also in today’s paper is an article about Kids Gone Raw,

Sensing an opportunity, Knowles quickly contacted her friend Elizabeth Fraser, who runs the Girl Gone Raw cooking school in Portland. Over lunch at Local Sprouts Cooperative Cafe, the two came up with the idea of a raw foods cookbook filled with kid-friendly recipes.

The book is now written and the pair is in the process of determining which publisher they want to work with…In the meantime, the two are busy creating a line of raw vegan foods for children, making appearances at events and teaching classes.

MOOMilk

| Posted in Farming, Profiles

NPR’s food blog, The Salt, has published an article about MOOMilk.

Now, things are looking up, albeit modestly. MOOMilk has been picked up by Whole Foods and Hannaford’s, as well as by a swath of small purveyors across northern New England. Even with demand for organic milk booming, though, the cooperative is struggling to push past 5,000 gallons in weekly sales.

Bakery on the Hill

| Posted in Profiles

The Munjoy Hill News has published a report about Bakery on the Hill’s new owners.

This afternoon Smith’s 26 year old daughter Alexandra Trischler, was learning Gonier’s recipes as Smith watched. Trischler is an accomplished pastry chef in New York City in her own right. She used to work for Danny Meyer, one of the top restauranters in NYC; he used to own a dozen Michelin star restaurants. She’s a former sous pastry chef at Mialino, at the Grammarcy Park Hotel, NYC. Currently, she is pastry chef at the North End Grille, on Wall Street, for Chef Floyd Cardoz. Trischler plans on remaining in the area for a few months to insure that the transition in ownership is smooth before returning to NYC.

Golden on the LFK

| Posted in Profiles

The Golden Dish has posted a report on the opening of the LFK.

Without question LFK is also highly idiosyncratic. Vintage Remington Rand style typewriters are scattered about the room. And when at first I saw a young man at the typewriter I thought central casting had sent him over to perform. But during the course of the evening a sundry succession of typists took turns as though belting out pages of a collective work in progress.

The Holy Donut

| Posted in Profiles

The Portland Daily Sun has published a profile of The Holy Donut.

Holy Donuts! I’m coining a new phrase. It’s an attitude; a dare to be different approach to starting a business. It combines comfort food, family support, your favorite color, the things you love. Bring them together and humbly share them enthusiastically with others. The uplifting story of Leigh Kellis, co-owner of the Holy Donut on Park Avenue in Portland, is an inspirational story. It touches your soul, lifts you up, and inspires a can-do attitude that is oh, so delicious!

Cinco de Mayo, Slow Money, Oregonian Wines, Almanac of Eats

| Posted in Wine, Profiles, People, Events

Today Food & Dining section in the Press Herald includes articles on Saturday’s Cinco de Mayo & Deby Day celebrations,

If it seems as if Cinco de Mayo has been growing in popularity in Portland, hold onto your sombreros. This year, the Mexican holiday falls on a Saturday – and on the same day as the Kentucky Derby, offering local restaurants and bars a winning trifecta when it comes to attracting margarita- and mint julep-loving revelers.

about the Slow Money network,

The Slow Money Maine network has been in existence for only two years, but it’s already helped connect farmers and food producers with more than $2.7 million in capital.

about Maine’s special connection with Oregonian wines,

Clark and Laramy (who by 2010 had joined Clark on the west coast) started bringing bottles back to Maine on visits to share with friends. The friends loved the wines.

The partners started ORWA Wine Brokerage, which establishes relationships with the wineries. Devenish Wines, the Maine distributor, purchases the wines in Oregon and ships them directly to Maine to distribute here.

and about Maine food blogger, Steff Deschenes, who writes daily about national food holidays.

Steff Deschenes has already eaten her way through tempting food holidays such as National Waffle Day (March 26), National Potato Chip Day (March 14) and National “Have a Brownie” Day (Feb. 10). She chronicles these celebratory meals on her Almanac of Eats blog.

Papou’s Kitchen

| Posted in Profiles, People

Today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Christos Zoulamis and his business Papou’s Kitchen.

Behind the Westbrook Market on the corner of Stroudwater Street and William Clarke Drive, Zoulamis soaks chick peas, mixes in herbs and spices, and packages the falafel that can be found in the freezer sections of all the Hannaford supermarkets and Whole Foods stores throughout New England.

It’s on the menus of local restaurants, like Silly’s on Munjoy Hill, and served in the employee cafeteria at Idexx Laboratories.

Maine Mead Works

| Posted in Profiles

Mainebiz has published a profile of Maine Mead Works.

According to Christopher Philbrook, who handles media relations, the meadery from January to March sold 806 cases of mead — 373 in state and 433 out of state. Over the same period last year, the company sold only 402 cases in state. In-state figures include wholesale and retail, while out-of-state figures only include wholesale, he says.