Opening a Restaurant During a Pandemic

| Posted in Under Construction

For today’s paper, the Maine Sunday Telegram has talked to owners and chefs that have taken on opening a restaurant during the pandemic.

These restaurateurs cite personality traits like flexibility, resilience, grit, optimism and a sense of humor as key to opening in these profoundly challenging times. They also credit reasonable landlords; strong relationships with purveyors; kind neighbors; and supportive staff, families, customers, and state and local officials. Did we mention hard work? Very, very hard work.

Beard Chef Series: Krista Kern Desjarlais

| Posted in People

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published the fourth and final article in their series with Maine chefs who were 2020 Beard Awards nominees. For this week they’ve interviewed Krista Kern Desjarlais and published her recipe for a shaved brussels sprouts salad. I first ate that salad in 2007 and having tried (and failed) to reverse engineer the recipe especially appreciate this article.

She has been understandably cautious about bringing back her North Yarmouth bakery/café during the ongoing pandemic, waiting until “I’m able to do it absolutely the right way.” For Desjarlais, a finalist this year for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Northeast award, that has meant anticipating the winter with equal parts pragmatism and imagination.

Prior articles in the series have focused on Vien Dobui from Cong Tu Bot, Ben Jackson from the now closed Drifters Wife, and Chad Conley and Greg Mitchell from Palace Diner.

Lois’ Consolidating Operations

| Posted in Events

Lois’ Natural Marketplace has announced they’ll be “hibernating our store on India Street for the winter” and consolidating operations and staff to their original store in Scarborough. The Portland store will close on November 25th.

Our entire Portland crew will be joining our Scarborough store staff. We have expanded our hours and our deli will be reopening to serve hot soups and coffee again. We are looking forward to new changes and a lot of new talent joining our Scarborough store.

Winter Business Sustainability Grant Program

| Posted in General News

The city has announced a grant program to help businesses with costs for outdoor operations during the pandemic. The application deadline is December 9.

The City of Portland’s Winter Business Sustainability Grant Program (WBSG) is being launched today, November 19. Offering grants of up to $10,000, the Program’s purpose is to assist Portland businesses with the cost of maintaining a portion of their operations outside through the fall and winter, due to the pandemic. The program’s main objective is job retention.

Grant funds can be used for a variety of items including furniture, equipment, heaters, coverings, platforms, lighting, signage, barricades and other things needed to extend outdoor business operations as the temperatures goes down. Items must be purchased after November 19, 2020 to be eligible for grant reimbursement.

see program guidelines | download application

9 PM Curfew

| Posted in General News

Governor Mills has announced a new measure intended to help curtail spiking Covid numbers by implementing a 9 pm curfew November 20th through December 6th.

Beginning tomorrow, Friday, November 20, 2020, through Sunday, December 6, 2020, all outdoor and indoor amusement venues, movie theaters, performing arts venues, casinos, and businesses that provide seated food and drink service, including social clubs, restaurants, and bars and tasting rooms currently open for outdoor service, will close for the night by 9:00 p.m. This limit on hours is designed to limit extended gatherings at a time when many students and family members are returning to Maine and at a time when social gatherings are more common, both of which will likely lead to more COVID-19 transmission.

Crispy Gai Fried Chicken

| Posted in Under Construction

Chefs Jordan Rubin (aka Mr. Tuna) and Cyle Reynolds are launching a new takeout restaurant called Crispy Gài Fried Chicken (instagram). The Crispy Gai menu (see draft below) will be focused on Thai cuisine included dishes influenced by culinary traditions from elsewhere is Southeast Asia. Gai is the Thai word for chicken.

Crispy Gai will be doing a takeout pop-up this coming Tuesday from High Roller Lobster. The menu for that is up and you can place your order online.

The full official launch of Crispy Gai’s takeout service will be sometime in December. The business will operate out of the Public Market House.

Fried Chicken – ไก่ทอด:

  • ไก่ทอด – 4 pc Bucket – 2 Drum, 2 Thigh, 1 Sauces
  • ไก่ทอด – 8 pc Bucket – 4 Drum, 4 Thigh, 2 Sauces

Wings – ปีกไก่

  • แกงเผ็ด – Gaeng Pèt – Red curry wings with kaffir lime leaf
  • เสฉวน – Sichuan – Numbing spice “Thai-Chi” inspired hot wings
  • ต้นฉบับ – Classic – Extra crispy wings cured in white pepper allium paste

Sandwiches – ขนมปัง

  • ต้นฉบับ – Classic – Extra crispy thigh with kewpie and iceberg on a sesame seed bun.
  • เผ็ด – Spicy – Extra crispy thigh with spicy karaage mayo and tsukemono pickled cucumber on a sesame seed bun.
  • ต้นฉบับ – Chicken Skin – Extra crispy skin with kewpie and iceberg on a sesame seed bun.
  • หนังไก่ – Spicy Chicken Skin – Extra crispy chicken skin with kewpie, iceberg, and fermented thai hot sauce on a sesame seed bun.

Sides – อาหารจานเริ่ม:

  • ข้าวมันไก่ – Chicken Rice – Hainanese style rice toasted in chicken fat and cooked in chicken stock
  • น้ําสต๊อกไก่ – Chicken Broth – chicken broth with cilantro, bitter melon, and white pepper
  • สลัดกะหล่ำปลี – Cabbage Salad – fried shallot, peanut, bird eye chili, red onion, and herbs.

Sauces – น้ำจิ้ม:

  • แจ่ว – Nahm Jim Jaew – Isaan dipping sauce, spicy, umami
  • น้ำจิ้มไก่ – Nahm Jim Kai –  Sweet and sour
  • น้ำจิ้มข้าวมันไก่ – Nahm Jim Khao Man Gai – Hainanese dipping sauce, umami, ginger

New Maine Food at Luke’s

| Posted in Events

Starting this Friday the Luke’s Lobster in Portland is launching the New Maine Food section on their menu. Each month Luke’s will feature a dish which celebrate the food culture of one of Luke’s employees. The series is a collaboration between Luke’s and Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center, and a portion of the proceeds from every dish sold will be donated to the Immigrant Welcome Center.

First up  is a dish created in collaboration with Luke’s wharf manager Denny Fiaalii who is from Samoa. Fiaalii’s Tuna Oka is being prepared with Maine bluefin tuna and cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, onion, scallion, sesame oil, sirachca mayo and lime juice.

Future months will feature dishes from Cambodia, El Salvador and other food cultures represented by members of the Luke’s staff.

The initiative seeks to pair the many flavors of our “New Mainer” community with Maine’s natural local bounty. Each special dish will be a family recipe from one of its seafood company teammates or a friend from the New Mainer community. A portion of the proceeds from every dish sold will be donated to the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center, a non-profit with whom Luke’s has recently partnered on business mentoring, food insecurity, and civic engagement projects.

Fruit Wines on the Rise

| Posted in Wine

An article in Vinepair makes mention of two blueberry wine producers in Maine: Bluet, and RAS Wines—a new business co-owned by Joe Appel.

Terrien’s first protégé is RAS Wines, set to release the inaugural vintage of its Arkadia sparkling blueberry wine in March 2021. Co-owner Joe Appel, along with partners Dan Roche and Emily Smith, took their learnings from Terrien, but they approach vinification slightly differently. They plan to do longer macerations — anywhere from two-and-a-half to four weeks — and will focus on a Pét-Nat style, where the wine won’t be disgorged after second fermentation. Unlike Terrien, they work with frozen fruit. “The freezing process makes the cell structure break down,” says Appel, “so it’s easier to ferment.”

More information from RAS Wines,

It’s terrific to see and be a part of so much new energy in winemaking, especially all the producers looking to the full spectrum of their regions’ native fruits. While we at R A S have been experimenting in small batches with frozen wild Maine blueberries, with excellent results, the vast majority of the wines we produce for sale will be from fresh wild berries from the 2020 harvest. (Anticipated release is March 2021.)