Dinner at the Beard House: Piccolo and Opus Ten

| Posted in Events, Uncategorized

Chefs Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez from Piccolo will be heading down to NYC in early November to prepare a meal at the James Beard House in the West Village.

At Portland, Maine’s intimate Piccolo, chef Damian Sansonetti and wife/partner Ilma Jeil Lopez pay homage to the rustic, soul-satisfying cuisine of Central and Southern Italy with great care and passion. For this Beard House dinner, the former Bar Boulud chef de cuisine will return to his roots with a tantalizing menu inspired by the rich flavors of Italy’s Calabria and Abruzzo regions.

You can see a detailed menu with pairings and make reservations on the JBF site.

As previously reported chef David Turin from Opus Ten is also scheduled to prepare a meal at the James Beard House. His dinner is taking place later this month on October 21st. More details on the meal are now available. You can see a detailed menu with pairings and make reservations on the JBF site.

Bar of Chocolate Cafe Profile

| Posted in Profiles

John Myers has written a profile on the Bar of Chocolate Cafe for Eater Maine.

Somewhere along the way, Martin developed a flair for chocolates; she’d bring them to work to hand out to her favorite guests. Sam Beringer was one of those guests. A longtime bartender at Brian Boru’s sister bar, Una, Beringer encouraged Martin to enter her desserts in the Chocolate Lover’s Fling, an annual competition and fundraiser. If she could win there, he argued, they could leverage that momentum to open a dessert and cocktail lounge.

Blueberry Files: Geary’s, Eventide, The Well

| Posted in Reviews, Beer

A new post from The Blueberry Files combines a report from the grand opening of the Geary’s tasting room, a review of Eventide and a review of The Well.

My connection to the food scene was obvious in thinking about what makes Portland my home. My love affair with Portland was ignited by the incredible food and drink scene I discovered upon moving here. And nowhere is that sense of place through food expressed better than at Eventide. Local this, local that; in tune with the seasons, the land, and the ocean…and of course, tasting great at every step.

The Holy Donut Algorithm

| Posted in Profiles

holydonutHoly Donut owner Leigh Kellis has an evolving set of rules that help her determine just how many doughnuts to make on any given day so there are just enough without having any left unsold at closing time.

Check out this article in today’s Press Herald to read more about it.

So Kellis took careful notes on the constellation of factors that seemed to impact doughnut demand…In some cases, demand varied, inexplicably from week to week. Sales dropped by 20 percent the week after Labor Day, for instance. The next week, they jumped by 10 percent.

But other, unique buying patterns also started to emerge.

Awards: Food & Wine, Indie Biz & SEDCO

| Posted in General News

Awards season is here:
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  • Indie Biz Awards – Portland Buy Local has kicked off the voting for the 2014 Indie Biz Awards. Food businesses are contenders in nearly every category. Visit the Buy Local website to cast your vote.
  • F & W Best New Bar – today is the last day to cast your vote in the F & W People’s Best New Bar competition in support of the hometown favorite, the Portland Hunt and Alpine Club.
  • SEDCO – the Scarborough Economic Development Corporation has recognized El Rayo as their 2014 Outstanding Project of the Year and Broadturn Farm as their 2014 Outstanding Hidden Gem.

Sur Lie Now Open (Updated)

| Posted in Openings

surlieSur Lie (facebook) is now open. They’re located at 11 Free Street.

Sur Lie serves a small plate menu divided into three main categories: Crisp, Pleasant and Bold along with some cheeses, charcuterie and other smaller starters. Chef Emil Rivera moved to Maine from DC where he worked for several years as part of the ThinkFoodGroup—a family of 15 restaurants founded by chef/restaurateur Jose Andres.

Update: For a look at the restaurant take a look at these photos by Ryan Brownewell.