Vena’s Fizz House (facebook, website, twitter) is opening for business today. Vena’s is mixology supply shop that stocks bar tools, glassware, a wide assortment of bitters and syrups, as well as a natural soda bar that serves “natural and organic fruit and herb sodas and slushes”.
Vena’s is located at the corner of Silver and Fore Streets across from Rosie’s in Boothby Square. The shop is the creation of Johanna Corman who together with her husband also runs a general store on Cliff Island.
Maine a la Carte has published an article about Elsmere BBQ & Wood Grill (facebook, website), a new restaurant under construction in South Portland.
Powers calls barbecue “the only true American cuisine.” He spent at least 15 years “studying” barbecue, stopping at every little diner and BBQ joint he could find on road trips, searching for the perfect smoke, the perfect sauce. He constructed two smokers himself out of 1950s refrigerators.
At Elsmere, in addition to the Texas smoker, Powers and Rush will use an Argentine grill from California. The grill, which hasn’t arrived yet, has a big wheel that raises and lowers the cooking grates. It takes an hour and a half for the wood to burn down to embers, then the coals are raked forward in a continuous feed.
The 207 Foodie has published a review of Compass Rose.
Overall, Compass Rose is like a pearl, still in the shell. It may have yet to be truly discovered, but I know that once you do, you’ll come back. The meat, the seafood…it’s all truly decadent and fantastic, and anybody that loves great food in a great place will come back for more. Located on Fore Street, Compass Rose is soon to be your new favorite. Try it out and you’ll see why.
The Press Herald has published an article on Maine’s locally produced gins.
With the launch of its Alchemy gin on July 3, Maine Craft Distilling in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood became the fourth distillery to produce “American-style gin” in the state. Alchemy joins Back River gin from Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery, Maine Distilleries’ Cold River label and New England Distilleries’ Ingenium, each of which has a signature flavor profile.
Today’s paper also includes a report about a white fly infestation that is forcing Backyard Farms to hit the reset button on their hydroponic tomato farm.
Backyard Farms, which produces more than 27 million pounds of tomatoes a year, says an infestation of whiteflies in its greenhouses will force the company to destroy its entire crop of half-a-million plants and start over.
David Levi, chef/owner of Vinland, appeared in three news publications on Tuesday. NPR’s food blog, The Salt, quoted Levi on an article about the drain of culinary talent away from NYC and to smaller cities like Portland,
“Because rent is just so much lower, it just gives you a lot more freedom to not drive yourself completely crazy and take a few more risks,” Levi says.
and then the Wire blog published by The Atlantic picked up the story emphasizing the the role interest in local foods is having encouraging chefs to move,
and finally The Forecaster published an article about Levi’s vision for Vinland and it’s connection to local food/farm community.
“This is not just a restaurant, not just a job,” Levi said Monday. “This is about building the local economy, doing more for our land, and creating a truly Maine cuisine. Vinland is totally mission-driven.”
The locavore trend is nothing new, especially in foodie destinations such as Portland. But Levi is taking “local” to the extreme.
Levi is currently running a campaign on Kickstarter to raise part of the capital needed to launch Vinland.
Eater Maine has published an interview with Eventide’s general manager Arlin Smith taking a look back at their first year in operation.
As far as the concept itself, the three of us all have dreams of what our ultimate restaurant would be, but individually, as a restaurateur, I don’t think it’s the smartest thing to just do what you want. We do a lot of things well, so we decided to look at what Portland wants. It didn’t have an oyster bar. We loved the idea of getting an incredible amount of local oysters that weren’t available anywhere in that quantity, and doing a Hugo’s-style casual fare — a New England-style sushi bar. Once we started throwing those ideas around, it was a no-brainer for us. We had this really cool, fun, relaxed space, and it went gangbusters.
A movie called Hey Bartender is scheduled to be shown at Space Gallery on Monday August 19, 7:30 pm. The movie “is the story of the rebirth of the bartender and the comeback of the cocktail. Featuring the world’s most renowned bartenders and access to the most exclusive bars in New York with commentary from Graydon Carter, Danny Meyer and Amy Sacco.”
The event at Space is sponsored by The Bearded Lady. Tickets are now on sale at brownpapertickets.com.
Wednesday — Black Tie is catering one of their Graze Dinners at Pineland Farms, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — there will be a wine and cheese tasting at the Public Market House, The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Southern Tier Brewing and Jonah Fertig from Local Sprouts will be the guest chef at this week’s Twilight Dinner at Turkey Hill Farm.
Saturday — a craft beer festival is taking place on the Maine State Pier, Novare Res is holding an all day celebration of Dogfish Head Brewing, there will be wine and food tasting at Rosemont Produce, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.
Sunday — The Language Exchange is holding a Bastille Day dinner at Turkey Hill Farm to benefit Cultivating Community, Petite Jacqueline is serving a special 4-course meal in honor of Bastille Day, and Wine Wise is hosting a wine and oyster sail in Casco Bay.
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.
A new dinner series called Supperpie is being launched next week. It’s the creation of Rocco Salvatore Talarico who was the featured guest chef at the first Pocket Brunch last summer and has played a supporting role at two others.
Supperpie is billed as “meticulously hand-crafted, righteously & unnecessarily gluttonous”. Each of the six dinners in the series will be a 9-course meal. Tickets are $150 per person and are available online at supperpie.com/tickets.
Carman’s Cafe is now open for business. They’re located at 64 Market Street across from Fit to Eat. The store is owned by Darren Thomas and Abigail Johnston and named for Thomas’s grandfather.
Carman’s serves gluten-free baked goods made by Johnston and coffee from Matt’s Wood Roasted Coffee. In addition to be a coffee shop, Carman is also a small bookstore.