Prompted by images of crowds on Wharf Street Friday night, the City of Portland is assigning code enforcement officers to monitor conditions on Wharf street and made clear that if “the regulations are not followed by businesses then the City will be forced to eliminate outdoor dining on Wharf Street and in other areas in which violations are found.”
For more information see reports in the Press Herald and from News Center Maine.
30 eateries across Maine are taking part today in Food Industry Action. As part of the program participating businesses are raising money for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund by donating “5% of sales…on behalf of a united food community”.
You can see a full list of participating establishments in Maine and across the country on the Food Industry Action website and adjust your plans accordingly to support the initiative.
A new mobile app Food Truck Movement (facebook, instagram, twitter) that tracks a growing number of food trucks from across Maine launched earlier this month. The app is the creation of Julian and Rachel Gallo, and is available via the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Food Truck Movement currently tracks the location of 9 food trucks including Bogs Bakery, Mac Daddy’s Seafood and Tots, Mainely Meatballs, Muthah Truckah, Nom Bai, Rose’s Spring Rolls, Taco Cat, The Moody Dog, Vantage Point Provisions.
A second food truck tracking app for both Apple and Android called Food Trux (website, instagram, twitter) is in the final stages of development and is launching today in Denver with plans to launch soon in Portland as well.
And a web-based food truck app called Maine Food Truck Tracker (website, instagram, facebook) launched earlier this year. Maine Food Truck Tracker is used by 23 Maine-based food trucks.
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Via Vecchia (instagram, facebook, website) is scheduled to open on Friday with options for both indoor and outdoor seating. Via Vecchia is a new restaurant and bar from Blyth & Burrows owner Joshua Miranda.
Located at 10 Dana Street in the 3,900 sq ft space formerly occupied by Vignola/Cinque Terre, Via Vecchia will be serving a menu of Italian food (think pizzettes, house-made pasta, polenta fries, etc), classic and creative cocktails, and Italian wines.
The Via Vecchia design team have created a beautiful space that draws its inspiration from pre-WWI European bistros. The front room features a circular bar. The back dining room has seating in the mezzanine and a table for larger parties on the ground floor.
Reservations for Via Vecchia are available on Resy.com.
The Somali Bantu Community Association in collaboration with the Agrarian Trust has launched a crowdfunding campaign so the association can acquire a 107-acre farm in Wales, Maine. The goal is to raise $367k by December 1st. Donors have already contributed $57,875.
For more information and to make a contribution online visit agrariantrust.org
A new food truck called Liu Bian Tan (instagram) is under development. Owner Chung Heng Liu hopes to launch sometime this fall serving a menu of “old school” Taiwanese street food such as house-made noodles, buns, pancakes, dumplings. Liu wants to “share often overlooked Taiwanese flavors” and recreate the comfort foods remembered from growing up in Taiwan.
Liu had 20 years+ of experience working in the family Chinese restaurant before moving to Portland three years ago. The name of the food truck is a mash up between Lu Bian Tan which means street stalls in Mandarin and Liu’s last name.
Ned Swain from Devenish Wines has launched an effort to raise money for restaurant workers impacted by the pandemic. Inspired by the Depression Era WPA project arts initiative, he commissioned four artists to produce designs for t-shirts which are now on sale online.
The four artists are Kimberly Convery, Ryan Adams, Hannah Hirsch and Emma Lucille.
Devenish Wines will be donating profits by this initiative to the Restaurant Worker’s Community Foundation, who are “working to provide resources and advocacy for the hospitality workers we know and love–along with the many who too often go unrecognized and for whom the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a pre-existing quality of life crisis.”
You can see the designs and order a shirt now through July 1st at devenishwine.com/shop
The former general manager and chef de cuisine from Five Fifty-Five, Yazmin Saraya and Kyle Robinson, have launched their own restaurant, Chez Rosa (website, facebook, instagram), in Kennebunk.
The French bistro is located in the former Bandaloop space 2 Ocean Ave in Dock Square. Chez Rosa began outdoor dining service on June 10th and continues to do curbside takeout.
Mumbai to Maine has posted a podcast interview with Leigh Kellis, owner of The Holy Donut.
Back in 2011, Leigh started The Holy Donut, with nothing but a few simple ingredients in her pantry and a whole bunch of love and permission to indulge in her cravings. She was also going through a pretty tough time in her personal life. But soon donuts became more than a distraction. They became an obsession. She made batch after batch on her kitchen stove tinkering with recipes and finally landed on ‘The Holy Donut’!
Chef Ilma Lopez, co-owner of Chaval and Piccolo, is one of 100 chefs who have contributed a recipe to a United We Cook. Lopez provided recipes for Coq au Vin, and Chocolate Budino.
Editor Nadia Mashar has gathered food and cocktail recipes from restaurants in 37 US cities and 24 states.
The digital cookbook is available online, and “100% of proceeds go to participating restaurants & local food banks”.