Rebel Cheesesteaks

A new food cart called Rebel Cheesesteaks (instagram) is under development and owner Peter Murphy hopes to be out on the streets of the Old Port sometime in early May.

Rebel will be serving a choice of “local shaved ribeye or smoky north spore mushrooms served on a 10” botto’s hoagie roll with philly cream cheese whiz choice of American, cheddar, mozzarella, pepper jack and options to add peppers, onions, mushrooms, bacon and eggs”.

Murphy has spent the past two and a half years working at the Other Side Deli on Veranda Street. He hails from New Jersey near Philadelphia.

This Week’s Events: Turamali, French Wine Dinner, Cushnoc Tasting, PWW Dinner, Mary Ann Esposito

Monday – Belleville is hosting a sold out Mexican pop-up dinner being produced by Turamali.

ThursdayFred Eliot from Scales will be the guest chef for a sold out French wine dinner at Hugo’s, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Maine Beer Company.

Friday – the Bier Cellar is holding a Cushnoc Brewing beer tasting.

Saturday – the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

A Look Ahead – here are a couple events happening a little further out that you may want to check out.

  • The Portland Wine Week Grand Opening Dinner is taking place June 17th. The dinner will feature “5 outstanding Maine Chefs and 10 Greater Portland Sommeliers who all happen to be women”. The 5-course dinner will take place on the greens of the Falmouth Country Club.
  • Mary Ann Esposito will be the guest of honor for a 5-course dinner at Solo Italiano. The ticket includes a signed copy of her latest book Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy.

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.

Tio Pepe Challenge Finalist

Congratulations to Chaval bar manager Pat McDonald for becoming a national finalists in the 2019 Tio Pepe cocktail competition.

McDonald’s cocktail is the Alcázar,  a combination of “Gonzalez Byass “Leonor” Palo Cortado Sherry | Spanish Olive Oil washed Tanqueray Malacca | Gonzalez Byass “La Copa” Extra Seco Vermouth | Barspoon Meletti Anisette | Homemade Saffron Bitters | Expressed Lemon Oil | Pickled Fennel Garnish”

Reviews: Top of the East, Amigos

The Portland Magazine has reviewed the Top of the East, and

Great drinks aren’t the only offer at the Top. It serves up romantic city views of our illustrious skyline and Portland Harbor. Your prospects are up in lights from this Olympian perspective. If you haven’t been up here for a while, it’s twice as good as you remember it.

the Press Herald has reviewed the Amigos.

Not just a summer venue, Amigos is also a friendly place to hang out on weekdays after work before it’s warm enough for the patio, especially over a game of pool.

2 Maine Brewers Among Fastest Growing

The Brewers Association released it’s 2nd annual list of the fastest growing craft brewers on Wednesday. Two Maine brewers, Lone Pine and Mast Landing were in the top 50. Lone Pine is #5, Mast Landing is #24.

Representing 27 states across the U.S., these small and independent breweries experienced a median growth of 163 percent with the median size being 1,350 barrels of in-house production in 2018. Breweries on the list range from 50 barrels to more than 40,000, and grew from less than 70,000 barrels collectively in 2017 to more than 170,000 barrels in 2018. As a group, these brewing companies represent approximately 10 percent of total craft growth by volume for the year, and include 13 brewpubs, 35 microbreweries, and two regional craft breweries.

2019 Beard Award Nominee

The list of nominees for the 2019 James Beard Foundation awards were released today.

There is one nominee from Maine this year. Rob Tod from Allagash Brewing Co. is a nominee in the Outstanding Wine Beer or Spirits Professional category.

This year’s semifinalists were announced in February. The 2019 award winners will be announced on May 6th at the Awards Gala in Chicago.

Related information:

Food Writing Workshop

Acclaimed Maine author, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, will be teaching a food writing workshop this summer in Rockport, June 23-29.

Want to be a food writer but don’t know how to start? Already a food writer but feeling stumped or uninspired? Whether a beginner or experienced writer, you’ll explore every aspect of writing food, from recipes to restaurant reviews, from profiles to feature articles, from food memoir to food history to the issues that make food a compelling read in today’s news. Read, write and share thoughts about what makes the best food writing, what makes it salable, how to pitch a story, how to craft a cookbook, or just how and where to begin.

Join award-winning cookbook author and food journalist Nancy Harmon Jenkins and several of her peers including Brian Kevin, editor of “Down East” Magazine, and Edward Behr, editor and publisher of the online publication, “The Art of Eating”. Together, we’ll break apart the complex world of food writing and see what makes it work when it does—and also when it doesn’t.

The Down East Food Issue

The new issue of Down East is out and it’s all about Maine Food. The articles include:

  • A discussion of some of the leading female chefs of Maine
  • A list of the 35 “Maine-iest” Foods
  • An article by  Guest Editor Sam Sifton
  • A look at the diverse cuisines being served on Forest Ave
  • An article about American Unagi
  • A profile of a 97-year old lobsterman
  • and a lot more

Most of the articles are not yet available online.