This Week’s Events: Turamali, B Side, Vermouth Tasting, Macaron Workshop, Full Plates Dinner

| Posted in Events

Monday – the next edition of the Turamali (instagram) pop-up Mexican restaurant is taking place at Evo (2 seatings, 6 courses, $60 per person).

Wednesday – Maine & Loire is holding a Le Sot de L’Ange vermouth tasting, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Saturday – the B Side, an educational event at the Portland House of Music will explore “the myriad unexpected ways honeybees are part of the social and cultural fabric of our everyday life”, Suga Suga is teaching a Macaron Workshop, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – chefs from the Inn By the Sea, Union, Evo Kitchen + Bar, Sur Lie, David’s, and Five Fifty-Five are collaborating on a sold out Full Plates Full Potential dinner at the Inn by the Sea.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

Maria’s Moving into Espo’s Space

| Posted in Under Construction

The Press Herald reports that Tony Napolitano Jr. has purchased the Espo’s Trattoria building at 1335 Congress Street where he plans to move his family’s restaurant, Maria’s Ristorante. The Maria’s building at 337 Cumberland Ave was sold to Youth and Family Outreach.

Tony Napolitano Jr., owner of Maria’s, said Saturday that Espo’s will close sometime in mid-October and he will begin “light renovations” at the Congress Street location during the first part of November. Maria’s, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary in January, will reopen there sometime in December, Napolitano said.

“We’ll keep a lot of our same old classics (on the menu) and add some new ones,” he said. “We’re going to do some happy hour stuff with small plates at the bar. We’ve got a lot of great ideas for the place.”

Restaurant Impossible Return

| Posted in General News

The Press Herald reports that Restaurant Impossible will be revisiting Uncle Andy’s in South Portland. The show did an episode featuring Uncle Andy’s in 2014.

Robert Irvine and the rest of the show’s restaurant makeover crew came to Uncle Andy’s in 2014, infusing the diner with a new look, new color scheme and some new menu items. On Monday, they will be back to do another segment on the place, basically a look at how Uncle Andy’s has been doing since its TV makeover.

Vegan School Lunches

| Posted in General News

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about the vegan lunches available to students in Portland public schools.

This school year, Portland Public Schools unveiled new vegan lunch options at elementary schools — a rotating menu of falafel and brown rice, roasted carrot “hot dogs” and lentil-based sloppy Joes alongside its traditional meat-based fare. The vegan program replaces a vegetarian option that had been in place since 2011.

This Week’s Events: Wine Dinners, Coloniale, Portland Yard Sale

| Posted in Events

Tuesday – Evo is holding a Portuguese wine dinner, and there will be a Stekar wine tasting at Maine & Loire.

Wednesday – the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – Maine & Loire is holding a Chaumont wine tasting.

Saturday – The Tate House is holding “an afternoon of education and entertainment surrounding beer in the 18th and 19th century”, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – there will be a Rising Tide brunch, a Big Tree dinner at Wolfe’s Neck Oceanfront Campground, a Cape Farm Alliance dinner at the Inn by the Sea, and the Portland Yard Sale is taking place at the Maine Girls’ Academy.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

Review of Gather

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Gather.

Since we last reviewed it, the restaurant has broadened its culinary focus under the rubric of what chef Colin Kelly calls “New American” cooking, a change that has not always worked to its advantage. On the whole, Mexican and Asian dishes such as lobster ramen and fish tacos are not among the restaurant’s strongest. However, Gather’s pizza – especially the cauliflower and mushroom pie, oozing with mascarpone – remain excellent. Under Dylan Suagee, its bar program, including a menu of respectable craft cocktails and a succinct, fruit-forward, mostly New World wine list, has become reason alone for a visit.

Fork Food Lab Looking for New Digs

| Posted in Under Construction

Mainebiz reports that Fork Food Lab is looking for a new space.

After doubling Fork Food Lab’s membership, Seretta is searching for bigger space as he sets out to raise $150,000 from private donations to cover a loss. He’s looking for a building of 10,000 to 12,000 square feet and ideally on one floor that would be better suited to production.

“This is a neat building,” Seretta says, “but it’s not a manufacturing facility.” Having to walk up and down stairs is a hassle for the producers, on top of a shortage of production space, storage areas and parking spaces, and not even a loading dock.