Sampling Forest Ave

| Posted in General News

The latest A Slanted View column in the Press Herald explores the ethnic markets that line Forest Ave.

Which brings us to the Woodfords Corner section of Portland’s Forest Avenue. Clustered along a three-block stretch is a culinary profusion of Iraqi markets, Vietnamese restaurants (two across the street from one another!), an African supermarket, an Eastern European shop … it’s a United Nations of food. Even Haggarty’s, the Brit-Indi specialist, is now also serving “Middle Eastern Cuisine.”

Last week, illustrator Katie Wilber and I purchased samples of exotic delicacies from some of these venues. Then we made a buffet dinner, with my family joining in. Here’s some of what we enjoyed.

Bunker Down Fest

| Posted in Events

There’s an article in today’s Press Herald announcing Bunker Down Fest, a party/fund-raising effort to keep to the credit/debit/EBT card program at the market up and running.

The gathering at the East Bayside brewery will include the chance to eat well, rub elbows with local farmers and chefs, play games and listen to local music. Farmers are donating fresh vegetables, cheeses, chickens and whole pigs for an omakase-style spread prepared by some of the town’s best culinary talent. The protein on the menu will include smoked and roasted pork, charcuterie and spit-roasted local broilers.

The event is scheduled for September 29, 2-8 pm at Bunker Brewing in East Bayside.

Grace Interview

| Posted in Profiles

Love & Lobster has published an interview with Grace.

L&L: We love your fun cocktail names and Maine-themed menu.  Does your menu change often?  Do you take special requests for rehearsal dinners and weddings as well?
GRACE: Our menu changes constantly. We try to utilize as many local ingredients as possible and work with farmers and other local purveyors in order to do so. We do have a lot of special requests, from signature cocktails to cakes in the shape of a stack of pancakes for one couple that got engaged over a special breakfast.

Review of Tandem & Speckled Ax

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Portland’s newest coffee shops, Speckled Ax and Tandem Coffee Roasters.

The Speckled Ax is run by Maine’s longest tenured new-wave coffee freak: Matt Bolinder of Matt’s wood roasted coffee. The café is named for a fable mentioned in Ben Franklin’s autobiography about the dangers of perfectionism — a fable Franklin mentions only to reject. Bolinder’s café strikes a balance between Franklin and the fabulist, since his café offers all the trappings of the new trends, but does so with a light touch.

Maine Visit by Use Real Butter

| Posted in General News

Jennifer Yu from Use Real Butter has published part a two part report on her food filled trip to Maine. Part 1 deals with with the dinner at El Rayo, and an eating tour in Portland and the Midcoast. Part 2 is about a sailing trip aboard The Schooner J. & E. Riggin.

There is a special love I have for the state of Colorado – the place I call home. You can probably sense that from the way I photograph and write about Colorado in this space. It is not unlike the adoration that Mainers have for Maine. Before last week, Maine was never much on my radar except when good friends of mine waxed nostalgic for it (my pal in graduate school always referred to her as, “Maine, the great state”). But my western-centric attentions were pointed East when my friend, Sharon (who I met at IFBC Seattle in 2009 on a chance shared cab ride), invited me out on behalf of The Maine Office of Tourism and The Schooner J. & E. Riggin for a trip to explore some of their fine state. So yeah, I was in Maine last week and it was… AWESOME.

Jen’s visit was part of a public relations effort for the state by Sharon Kitchens from Delicious Musings and the Maine Department of Tourism that brought 3 prominent bloggers from Colorado, California, and Tennessee to Maine.

Review of Joe’s, Organic Study, Portland Brew Fest

| Posted in Reviews, Beer, Farming

Today’s Press Herald includes a front page article that examines why people buy organic in light of a recent study that found no difference in nutritional value,

“I tend to buy organic because of the impact conventional farming has on the environment and the pesticides that are in a lot of conventionally grown food,” said Anna Korsen of Portland, who shopped Wednesday at the farmers market in Monument Square with her 2-year-old son, Arlo Korsen-Cayer. “I don’t want that in my body or my family’s bodies.”

Today’s paper also contains a report on last week’s Portland Brew Festival, and a review of Joe’s NY Pizza.

For additional reporting on the organic foods study listen to this report from MPBN.

New Grist Mill in Skowhegan

| Posted in Events

According to MPBN, a new grist mill is holding their grand opening this weekend in Skowhegan. The mill is a part of the infrastructure needed for Maine to develop greater self sufficiency in where its food comes from.

Turning a jail into a grist mill made perfect sense to Lambke, who had been looking for a way to contribute to the community transformation and restore a lost art to central Maine. “New England was once a major producer of grains and we wanted to revive that here in Maine,” she says. “There were bakers that were eager for local grains and farmers willing to grow it.”

For additional information see reports from the Press Herald, WABI and WLBZ.

Maine Food Law Colloquium

| Posted in Events

The Maine Law Review has issued a call for “papers for oral presentation at its Food Law Colloquium“. The colloquium is tentatively scheduled for February or March of 2013. It will deal with issues such as,

local food ordinances and states’ rights movements; the effects of the 2012 Farm Bill on small-scale agriculture; food safety and security; judicial responses to competing interests of seed patent owners and farmers; the challenges of securing financing for farmland conservation; administrative hurdles confronting the seafood industry; cooperatives and securities law; comparative analyses of food law frameworks; and emerging issues in food law.

It sounds like it could be a real interesting event to attend.

Dating Destinations

| Posted in General News

Columnist Natalie Ladd provides some Portland dating destination advice in today’s Portland Daily Sun.

All this talk of pre-date meetings and actual first dates, not to mention a second one, got me thinking about Portland and what a perfect place it is to accommodate these kinds of social situations. What if someone was from Meddybemps (pop: 157) or St. Agatha (pop: 756) and had to go to the same hang-out every time they wanted to meet someone?