Maine Cider & Review of Station 118

| Posted in Reviews, Cider

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a feature article on the fast growing Maine cider industry.

McGrath sees Maine’s robust food and beverage scene as a major force behind the state’s growing cider market. “Like in Oregon and Washington, part of it is there is an existing culture that celebrates apples. Maine just has a really rich cider culture,” he said. “The craft beer and local food scenes have created an atmosphere where consumers are excited to try the local cider.”

To learn more about Maine cider producers visit the Guide to Maine Ciders, and for information on Cider Club Portland read this article.

Today’s paper also includes a review of Station 118 in Thomaston.

Beef brisket is among Station 118’s stronger suits, especially pulled brisket seasoned with wonderful homemade pickled onions and a generous glug of chipotle-bourbon barbecue sauce (orders of magnitude better than all the other sauces at Station 118). Bundled into three overstuffed brioche-bun sliders ($22) and plated up with appealingly well-done fries, this plate is a must-order.

LyAnna Sanabria

| Posted in People

Papi beverage director LyAnna Sanabria is featured in a Wine Enthusiast article entitled 8 Hispanic Drinks Pros Making an Impact on the Spirits and Cocktail Scenes.

Looking back at her own journey toward defining a sense of identity after settling in Maine, “I realized that I had always been hosting Puerto Ricans, people of color and the queer community through flavor and hospitality. I was the representation I was looking for and I could represent through the menu, flavors and the bar space as a whole.”

Maine Food & Dining News

| Posted in Maine

Here are some recent food and dining highlights from around the state:

  • The Morning Sentinel reports that Main Street Skowhegan is working on a $1M+ project to launch a shared commercial kitchen and food hall in downtown Skowhegan.
  • A new business called Main Street Provisions (instagram) recently opened in Waterville. The shops stock beer, wine, and specialty foods sourced from local/regional producers.
  • Miller’s Market (website, instagram) is under construction at 29 School Street in Gorham center. Miller’s will be a butcher and seafood shop, sandwich shop and caterer. Owner Sam Smith hopes to be open on November 1st.
  • A coffee shop specializing in nitro cold brew coffee called Swell (instagram) is under construction in Saco (right photo). The shop will be located at 200 Main Street. In addition to nitro cold brew, Swell will serve teas and seasonal drinks as well as a small selection of baked goods. They will be sourcing their beans from Carrabassett Coffee Company. Swell is being launched by Kelsey and Peter Vacca along with business partners Chrissy and Taylor Archambault.
  • The Midcoast pop-up kitchen Albatross (instagram) has leased the former Gypsy Rose in Camden (left photo) where owners Maggie and Jeffrey Harris plan to transform their business into a brick and mortar restaurant. Albatross plans to serve a menu of globally-inspired small plates plus some sandwiches.

FoodTech Maine Program

| Posted in General News

The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs has announced the first cohort of businesses participating in their FoodTech Maine business accelerator program.

FoodTech Maine connects and fosters collaboration among early-stage and mid-sized companies, that are innovating and developing AgriFood industry services or products, to commercialize and scale their businesses and grow this industry in Maine. The program provides resources, expertise, and networking opportunities to enable participating companies to thrive and contribute to Maine’s robust FoodTech ecosystem.

This first set of participants include a very interesting set of companies:

  • Everything Seaweed – “creating and promoting sustainable use of products made from seaweed”. everythingseaweed.net
  • Cap N Stem – produces “wholesale USDA Certified organic mushroom substrate spawn and cultivation content”. capnstem.com
  • Maine Garum Company – produces “umami sauces with fish processing waste”. @mainegarumco
  • Ocean Farm Suply – produces shellfish harvest bags from 100% beechwood cellulose fiber. oceanfarmsupply.com
  • Salmonics –  develops biomedical products derived from salmon blood. salmonics.co
  • Springtide Seaweed – provide organic seaweed products, nursery supplies and seeds, and consulting. springtideseaweed.com
  • Tootie’s Tempeh – organic tempeh using locally grown soy beans. tootiestempeh.com

Banded Closing in Bayside

| Posted in Closings

Banded Brewing has announced that they’ll be closing their Bayside taproom. Their last day in operation on Hanover Street will be this Saturday.

We’ve made this decision with Banded’s sustainability and growth at the forefront. We believe that closing our Portland space will allow our team to better use our resources to support our home taproom and kitchen in Biddeford, and our production brewing operations. Biddeford has always been our home, and we’re excited to continue to elevate our taproom experience by providing the best beer, food, vibes, and service that we can.

New Old Port Pizzeria

| Posted in Under Construction

The Press Herald reports that Joshua Miranda will be renovating the former Lupita’s space and launching a pizzeria. He’ll be partnering in the project with two of his Via Vecchia team—Mark Hibbard and Mitchell Ryan—on the new restaurant.

The yet-to-be-named pizzeria will be located at 15 Exchange St., in the former Lupita’s Taqueria, and will sell New York-style pizza by the slice and foccacia-based sandwiches along with pre-bottled cocktails, beer and wine, though it won’t have a bar.

The pizzeria will be located at 15 Exchange Street in the space that longtime Portland residents will remember as the original location of Walter’s.

La Benedicion & Asia Eats

| Posted in Openings

Two new businesses have moved into the second floor of the Public Market House in Monument Square.

La Benedicion (facebook) opened just last week. They’re located in the space formerly occupied by the Frying Dutchman. The menu includes dishes like pollo con tajada, monjarra frito, burritos and tamales.  La Benedicion is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am – 8 pm.

Rathanin Chhloeum is just about to open Asia Eats (facebook) in the space formerly occupied by Pho Co. The menu includes buns, dumplings, soups, rice plates (katsudon, teriyaki, orange chicken, etc) and boba tea. Chhloeum hopes to open Asia Eats within the next week.

Community Plate – Sharing Meals and Stories

| Posted in Events

A new non-profit organization called Community Plate (website, facebook, instagram) seeks to  create community in Maine through shared meals and the sharing of stories. Community Plate was launched earlier this year by Karl Schatz and Margaret Hathaway.

The fall/winter series of Story Sharing Potluck Suppers are getting started with a supper on October 18th in Waterville.

These free public events bring people together in a traditional potluck supper with a twist: each attendee brings a dish, a recipe, and a story to share about what they brought. Over the course of the meal, led by an MC, and structured around story prompts, participants are encouraged to share stories and make connections. During coffee and dessert, practiced storytellers entertain guests with tales they’ve prepared in advance. In the weeks following the meal, each attendee receives a mini cookbook filled with recipes and stories for the dishes that were brought to the event.

Additional suppers are scheduled to take place in Freeport on November 16th and in Bowdoinham on February 3rd with additional events still in planning to take place in Cumberland, Orono, Brunswick, and Camden this winter. For more information on the suppers, storytelling workshops and other initiatives of Community Plate visit communityplate.me.

Hathaway and Schatz were editors of the Maine Community Cookbooks, authored several books including The Year of the Goat, and operate Ten Apple Farm in Gray.

A Change at Ramona’s

| Posted in People

Ramona’s has announced that Chad Conley has sold his stake in the company to his co-founder Josh Sobel. Both Sobel and Conley have shared that it’s a friendly and mutually beneficial change for them both. Conley is looking forward to spending more time with his family.

No major changes are anticipated to the menu or overall program at Ramona’s.

Ramona’s initially opened as a takeout service in April 2020 and began seating customers indoors in March 2022.

Upcoming Events

| Posted in Events

Thursday – Gross Confection Bar is holding a 3-course dessert and port tasting event in collaboration with Vieira de Sousa. The Black Goat Test Kitchen in Warren is serving a 3-course cider dinner featuring Absolem Cider.

Saturday – There will be a community cider pressing at the Mount Joy Orchard, and SMCC culinary student Madison Cavanaugh will be serving a 3-course dessert tasting with pairings—call (207) 773-4340 for reservations. Liu Bian Tan will be holding a Taiwanese pop-up at Forage Market on Washington Ave.

Sunday – Pacifico is holding Noche Nikkei a  6-course Peruvian-Japanese dinner, Twelve is holding a Harvest Party, and it’s the Great Maine Apple Day.

October 18 – La Gallera is holding a Puerto Rican pop-up featuring shrimp soup with mofongo.

October 20 – Evo is serving a dinner at the Wolfe’s Neck Center in Freeport.

October 21-22 – the Maine Fermentation Fair is taking place at Dandelion Spring Farm.

October 25 – Soth Portland restaurants Judy Gibson and Lambs will be collaborating on a Burger Night.

October 25-28 – Harvest on the Harbor is taking place.

October 26 – Bar Futo is hosting Roundtable, an event and dinner that “brings together chefs, organizers and neighbors for actionable discussion about social justice, mutual aid and sustainability.”

October 28 – Chefs Tracy Chang from Pagu, Ilma Lopez from the Ugly Duckling and Matt Ginn from Evo are collaboration on a dinner at the Ugly Ducking–sign-up for a Farmers’ Market Tour with the chefs and return in the evening for the dinner. The 18th Annual Veg Fest is taking place.

October 30 – Ore Nell’s North in Biddeford is holding a 5-course beer dinner.

November 5 – Chaval is holding a late harvest dinner at Wolfe’s Neck Center in Freeport.

November 9 – Judy Gibson is serving a 4-course wine dinner featuring wines from Lauren Bonnois.

December 7 – Secret Supper is holding a (sold out) holiday dinner in the Portland area.

June 26 – Secret Supper (instagram) is holding a dinner in the Portland area.