Interview with Rob Tod

| Posted in Beer, People

Eater Maine has published an interview with Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing.

When you started the company in 1995, legend has it you couldn’t give Allagash White away in bars because of the public’s and the industry’s unfamiliarity with Belgian styles. What was the worst response you got?
I used to walk into bars and restaurants with samples and the first thing they said is, “What’s wrong with it?” That was the common response. I got used to it. You just spend time trying to educate people: “Hey, this is a traditional Belgian style beer. It’s supposed to be cloudy ’cause it’s unfiltered and that contributes a lot to the quality of the beer.” Even if I could talk someone into a draft line it was generally the worst selling one. Accounts weren’t familiar with the beer and neither were customers. It was a long slow grind, the first ten years. Probably the first twelve years, really.

Cartender Delivery Service

| Posted in Openings

cartender_logoA new Portland delivery service called Cartender(website, facebook, 207-200-3125) launched yesterday. Cartender has partnered with Old Port Spirits to “deliver beer, wine, spirits, and mixers to your door”. Cartender operates 7 days a week: 4-8pm M-Th, 3-8 on Fri, and 12-8 on the weekends.

For more information read this article on Active Beer Geek,

Have you ever been sitting in your apartment in Portland and wanted a beer but didn’t want to go anywhere? Jim O’Brien and Scott Nevers has created a service that was perfectly designed for that occasion, Cartender. It’s a delivery service that brings beer, wine, spirits and mixers to your Portland residence. You place your order online and they drive it to you.

Snowmageddon Eats

| Posted in General News

A few Portland eateries are still scheduled to be open today. Here are the one’s I’ve heard  about:

If you hear of any others, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.

WBUR: Vinland’s Local Cuisine

| Posted in Profiles

WBUR has posted an article on Vinland.

David Levi is the brain behind Vinland. His food is 100 percent locally produced. Every leaf, every grain, every fish — is from Maine or pretty darn close. Going hyper local in Southern California is one thing. Doing it here, where the growing season is 156 days long, seems like a risky business plan.

“It forces us to be creative,” says Levi. “It’s like I’m writing a sonnet. I only have so many syllables in this line; I have to come up with something other than my first inclination.”

MECA Culinary Arts

| Posted in Events

The winter/spring semester of MECA’s Culinary Arts program begins this week. Here’s the full list of classes:

  • Food Blogging Workshop, taught by Susan and Ted Axelrod
  • Puff Pastry, taught by Andrea Swanson from Foley’s
  • Professional Cake Building, taught by Andrea Swanson from Foley’s
  • Whole Pig Butchering, taught by Evan Mills from from Rosemont
  • World of Wine, taught by certified sommelier Jennifer Flock

You can see the full program on the MECA website.

This Week’s Events: R. Stuart Dinner, Brew Pub Cap, Brewers wo/ Borders, Natural Wine Tastings

| Posted in Events

bwbWednesday — Outliers is serving a 5-course dinner featuring Willamette Valley wines with special guest Rob Stuart from from R. Stuart Wines.

Thursday — The Farm Stand is holding natural wine tasting , Rosemont is also holding a wine tasting, there will be a wine and cheese tasting at the Public Market House, the Bier Cellar is hosting an Allagash tasting, and the 16th annual Brew Pub Cup is taking place.

Friday — Novare Res is holding a Brewers Without Borders event to raise funds for the Hof ten Dormaal brewery is Belgium that was recently damaged by a fire,  and The Farm Stand is holding another wine tasting.

Saturday —  Maine & Loire is holding their first wine tasting, and the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Valentine’s Day — restaurants have started announcing their plans for Valentine’s Day. I’ll be adding to this list and reposting it on a weekly basis now through then.

  • Congress Squared, special menu served on both the 13th and 14th.
  • David’s Opus Ten, 9-course dinner for 2 with wine pairings for $150
  • Five Fifty-Five, 4-course dinner for $75 per person; with optional pairings and supplements.
  • Novare Res is teaming up with La Crème Chocolat to serve beer and chocolate pairings on the 13th and 14th.
  • Petite Jacqueline, 3-course menu for $65 per person; optional wine pairings available.
  • Piccolo, 5-course dinner and a glass of rose prosecco, $75 per person; optional wine pairings available.
  • Rising Tide, on the 13th Rising Tide Brewing will be releasing Nuit D’Hiver, a “limited rum barrel aged version of D’Hiver, our dark rye saison with winter spices and sweet orange peel” along with D’Hiver, 2013 Cellared D’Hiver, Nuit D’Hiver on tap and chocolates truffles from La Crème Chocolat.
  • Vinland has a number of options including a 10-course dinner for 4 for $300.

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.

Scallop Divers

| Posted in People, Fisheries

Today’s issue of the Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about Maine’s diver scallop fishermen.

“I’ve been caught in currents and dragged,” said Brian Preney, 55, a diver out of Boothbay who is a member of the Urchin Advisory Council and has been fishing with scuba gear since 1980. He learned how to dive at Colby College, in the pool, and married into a family of fishermen. Fishing for urchins, which generally don’t take a diver below 30 feet, is like “picking cotton” in comparison to the more exciting pursuit of scallops, which have the power to dart away, fast. “I liken scalloping more to hunting.”

The Salt: Brewers Gone Wild

| Posted in Beer

NPR’s blog The Salt has posted an article about Allagash and wild fermented beers.

The team at Allagash has been experimenting with Brett and other “nontraditional brewing microbes” (for making wild and sour beers) for about a dozen years. The first time the brewers discovered that an ambient strain of local, wild Brett had contaminated a barrel of beer, “we panicked!” Perkins recalls. “We learned quickly that the character was very unique.” So they isolated it, cultured it and created a small but ambitious wild beer program that puts Brett on center stage.

Review of Ebb & Flow

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Ebb & Flow.

If looks could kill, Ebb & Flow would be slaying customers in the Old Port. The dining room is attractive, the presentation colorful and the tableware sparkling and elegant. But three months after opening, the Mediterranean-inspired cooking here remains uneven. Play to the kitchen’s strengths and order a selection of mezze (small dishes) served with the outstanding house-made pita. Or go for dessert and share a plate of sugary galaktoboureko, the chef’s lighter version of a traditional custard-and-phyllo confection that tastes like food for the (Greek) gods.