Peddleman’s (facebook, instagram), a new falafel vendor, will be partnering with Union Bagel to sell “falafel sandwiches and mezze to-go” from the Cumberland Ave shop, evenings 5-9 pm. Peddleman’s owners Tara Rancourt and Scott William Ryan hope to launch sometime in March.
You can get a taste of Peddleman’s cooking at an upcoming pop-up they’re holding at Bao Bao on February 23rd. This is the first of an ongoing pop-up series that Bao Bao will be hosting throughout the year.
Here’s a video recording of Rabelais Books owner Don Lindgren’s recent talk at Bowdoin College using examples from the Esta Kramer Collection of American Cookery to speak “about what the physical attributes of cookbooks can tell us about our social, cultural, and environmental past”
Lone Pine Brewing (website, facebook, twitter, instagram) has posted a set of photos from the ongoing build out of their brewery on Anderson Street in East Bayside.
With all of our shiny new gear unpacked, unwrapped, and resting peacefully in its place, the race is on to get everything in order and start filling tanks. We have one remaining inspection before we can get brewing, so we are taking our time to get the system right.
Lone Pine Brewery is the project of Tom Madden from Madden Beverage in Saco.
Run for Breakfast has reviewed Slab,
I love Slab as a lunch/dinner place, and it seems like restaurants like that often do breakfast/brunch as an afterthought, but definitely not so with Slab. It’s unusual for me, but I think I actually prefer their brunch menu. (But definitely don’t skip it if you’re not here on a Sunday. Go! And, if nothing else, get the classic namesake Sicilian Slab.)
They serve brunch until 8:00 tonight. Would it be weird to go twice in one day?
and The Golden Dish has reviewed brunch at Top of the East.
The brunch flatbread, which I chose, was a fairly large piece of housemade flatbread topped with apple-wood smoked bacon, Gruyere, baby arugula and a pair of organic fried eggs. The bread was buttery and crisp like a thin-crust pizza and the simple layers of ingredients were delicious.
The 10 restaurants PFM readers checked out most often last month were:
The number in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Monday — bottle release at Allagash for St. Klippenstein, a “Belgian-style stout hopped with Chinook & Northern Brewer hops…aged 3 months in Bourbon barrels”.
Thursday — GMRI is hosting a talk on Plankton & the Future of the Gulf of Maine Ecosystem, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Baxter Brewing.
Friday — Stop by Roux & Cyr Gallery during First Friday Art Walk to see an exhibit by painter Dan Graziano of Maine restaurant professionals at work.
Saturday — the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Sunday — Rosemont is holding their monthly Bean Supper.
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.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Custom Deluxe in Biddeford.
Malz’s tribute to his New England roots – a bean supper ($14) – may be his best entrée. At first glance, it looks ordinary, with a few alarmingly crimson chunks of Maine Reds piled into a bowl with a spoonful of baked beans. But looks are deceiving. The beans are earthy, sugary, complex. And no wonder. Malz cooks them with turnips and carrots and – get this – bottles of Moxie and root beer, then finishes them with miso, the traditional Japanese seasoning made of fermented soybeans. As for the Maine Reds, they’re boiled in dashi, a Japanese broth flavored with fish flakes and seaweed. Underneath the beans, dogs and a few fatty chunks of ham, is a mound of sticky rice showered with sesame seeds. Though a crazy cross-cultural mashup, the dish is as comforting as a warm blanket. I loved it.
This is restaurant critic Jame Scwartz’s last review before stepping down from the job. The paper has begun the search for a candidate to fill the position. If you’re interested in the job contact the paper’s food editor, Peggy Grodinsky.
Pine Pitch Press has put out an open call for submissions for their newest book, a Maine narrative cookbook.
If you want to test the limits of your gluten allergy, or figure out how your mom made that birthday cake, or recreate the first meal you made in college that wasn’t in a hot pot, here’s your chance. We don’t want to just hear your golden-hued memories of Nana’s Thanksgiving stuffing (though we do want that). We want the recipe for the lasagna you can only make, for whatever reason, when you’re sad. We want the special sauce for your third straight loss in the town BBQ championship. We want, above all, to hear not just how you make something but how you make it yours.
The narrative part? Well, that’s up to you. Basically, it’s anything that’s not pure instruction.Tell us how you found the ingredients. Or cut and paste a poem from the back of the Barilla box. Or shoot a photo essay of all the people that pass by your door while you’re waiting on the beef bourguignon. There has to be a recipe that is somewhat make-able and then…something else. We’re ready to be surprised and confused.
Pine Pitch Press is based in Portland. They specialize in “publishing the written, drawn or otherwise printable in small-batch anthologies”.
The annual Rum Riots series has grown up and now in its third year is rechristened as the New England Cocktail Conference (website, facebook, instagram, twitter). The conference will “bring together the bartending industry, and enthusiasts, from all over New England to celebrate, learn and raise a glass together” this summer, June 2nd through the 5th.
Along with the new name comes an expanded scope and size. Bartenders from Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire will be participating in the event and each day classes, dinners and events are themed to focus on a particular type of spirits.
For more information on the NECC and to check out the draft schedule visit newenglandcocktailconference.com.
Best Chefs America interviewed Krista Kern Desjarlais for their article on How to Open a Restaurant.
Krista Kern Desjarlais, of Bresca and the Honey Bee and the upcoming bakery The Purple House, thinks that most restaurants fail because people haven’t financially planned for the worst. There will be delays in construction, zoning, and gaining licensure. Extra costs always show up during the design process. You’ll need reservoirs of cash to pay for overhead during thin times, or if you aren’t slammed the moment you open your doors. It takes most restaurants at least a year to start making a profit.