Category: Uncategorized

Foodcoma’s Annual Pumpkin Beer Survey

| Posted in Uncategorized

Joe Ricchio and friends have published their annual survey/review of Pumpkin beers, 26 in all.

Before I introduce this year’s judges, I feel the need to say that, over the years, as the pumpkin beer craze has grown, we’ve see our number of entries grow from six in 2009 all the way to almost thirty, only five years later. Along the way, we have all tasted lots of disgusting beer, but I feel like this time it was much harder to distinguish them from one another. It’s as if they all collectively decided to dial their flavors back and go for something more quaffable, perhaps in anticipation of the pumpkin spice backlash? I’m not sure, but it would appear that even the brewers are over it with their own pumpkin beers.

Interview with Pete McAleney

| Posted in People, Uncategorized

The Press Herald has published a Q & A with Pete McAleney who recently sold his business New Meadows Lobster to DiMillo’s.

Q: Is seasonality a big problem?
A: You need lobsters in the summertime – that’s when people want them. You also have to realize you’ve got your business associates in Canada – notice how I said that – whose season will open up in a month right at the time our lobsters will be getting a firm hard shell. But it’s November and you don’t sell a lot of lobster in November. Then demand comes on strong in December and then it’s kaput. When you ship out at Christmastime, you have to worry about storms. We used to be big shippers to Belgium and France for the holidays – a lot of fishermen would help us pack the trucks and take them to Bangor (for shipping to Europe). But if there was snow, the flight would sit there and you would go crazy. You have to have a sense of humor in this business.

Dinner at the Beard House: Piccolo and Opus Ten

| Posted in Events, Uncategorized

Chefs Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez from Piccolo will be heading down to NYC in early November to prepare a meal at the James Beard House in the West Village.

At Portland, Maine’s intimate Piccolo, chef Damian Sansonetti and wife/partner Ilma Jeil Lopez pay homage to the rustic, soul-satisfying cuisine of Central and Southern Italy with great care and passion. For this Beard House dinner, the former Bar Boulud chef de cuisine will return to his roots with a tantalizing menu inspired by the rich flavors of Italy’s Calabria and Abruzzo regions.

You can see a detailed menu with pairings and make reservations on the JBF site.

As previously reported chef David Turin from Opus Ten is also scheduled to prepare a meal at the James Beard House. His dinner is taking place later this month on October 21st. More details on the meal are now available. You can see a detailed menu with pairings and make reservations on the JBF site.

Farm Produce Distribution Challenges

| Posted in Uncategorized, Farming

The new issue of Mainebiz includes a feature article on the challenges farmers and local food stores face in selling and distributing local produce.

Constant negotiating with buyers and other farmers is a way of life in Maine’s fragmented food distribution system, especially for small farmers and purveyors of specialty items like jams and honey. Those small operations practically define the local food and farm-to-table movements that sparked consumer interest in where food comes from and how it is grown or produced.

But that curiosity hasn’t helped broaden Maine’s food distribution system for the small producers to any significant degree, says Spear. The result: many small operations sell only within Maine or at most a day’s delivery drive, thus limiting their market.

Under Construction: Huong’s Vietnamese & Ramen Suzukiya

| Posted in Under Construction, Uncategorized

Two new restaurants have submitted their liquor license applications with the city:

  • Ramen Suzukiya is a new noodle house under construction in the newly renovated store front at 229 Congress Street. According to their cover letter, father and son owners Katsuaki and Cory Suzuki plan to serve “fresh homemade ramen noodles using a variety of flour[s] from grain mills in Maine and New England” and that they eventually hope to “cultivate many of the vegetables we will use in my restaurant.”The Suzukis hope to open the restaurant in October. The draft menu (page 68) includes several ramen dishes (shown below) as well as gyoza and rice bowls.
    suzukiya_menu
  • Huong’s Vietnamese Restaurant is under construction at 267 Saint John Street in the space formerly occupied by Vietnam Restaurant. Owner Huong Thi Thu Le hopes to open the restaurant later this month serving “authentic Vietnamese food”. Here’s the salad and pho sections of the menu. The full draft menu is on page 47 of the materials for Monday night’s City Council meeting.
    huongs_menu

For information on all the restaurants under development see the Portland Food Map under construction list.

Profile of Lolita

| Posted in Uncategorized

Eat Maine has published an article about Lolita.

Other dishes go for all-out comfort—the harissa-spiked lamb meatballs are baked in a skillet with tomato sauce, Aleppo chili, hearty croutons, and a single egg then topped with yogurt that with the addition of ghee becomes more decadent and aromatic. “You can eat this morning, noon, and night,” Guy says.