This Week’s Events: Austrian Wine Dinner, Muddy Boots, Dinner of the Gods

| Posted in Events

Monday — Giffords, Hannaford, LL Bean and Oakhurst dairy are holding a “consumer event and press conference” to launch the sale of Gifford’s Muddy Bean Boots Ice Cream. The muddy boots flavor honors the 100-year anniversary of L.L. Bean.

Tuesday — Local Sprouts is hosting the monthly Local Foods Networking Breakfast, and it’s Growler Nite at Bunker Brewing.

Wednesday — the Cloak & Dagger is putting on a 21-course Dinner of the Gods, the Bier Cellar is holding a beer tasting featuring Lagunitas Brewing, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — Cultivating Community’s eighth Twilight Dinner of the summer is taking place at their farm in Cape Elizabeth (tickets available online), and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Slumbrew and Nosh is showcasing beer from Lagunitas.

Saturday — the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — The Well in Cape Elizabeth is holding an Austrian Wine Dinner.

Upcoming Events — registration for Kitchen & Cork’s pie and cupcake baking contest is now open, call 207-885-5727 to enter the contest. Tickets are now on sale for the Common Ground Fair taking place September 21-23 in Unity. There are only 13 seats left for the next Pocket Brunch. Food Day 2012 is taking place October 24, Maine Food Day coordinator Sharon Kitchens is asking that anyone interested in running a Food Day event contact her at kitchens.sharon@gmail.com.

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.

Under Construction: More on Chef Gould’s Upcoming Restaurant

| Posted in Under Construction

Maine a la Carte has published an interview with chef Chris Gould about the small plate restaurant he’s planning on opening this Spring in Portland.

“It will be like tapas-style small plates, but it’s not going to be necessarily Spanish or French or Italian,” Gould said. “It will be kind of chef’s whim, and the menu will change every day, depending on what’s available, what’s fresh. And it will be anything from pastas to sashimi dishes, fresh oysters, all from Maine. I’m using a lot of local products, whether it’s veal and lamb in the spring or braised short ribs or beef cheeks in the winter. But all small plates, all good price points, anywhere between $5 and $20 – mostly right around $12 a dish.”

Flavors & More on Portland

| Posted in Reviews

Flavors & More magazine has published an article on their culinary adventures in Portland. The article mentions Local 188, J’s Oyster Bar, Standard Baking, Portland Lobster Company, Two Fat Cats, Eve’s, and The Lobster Shack.

At first glance, Portland, Maine reminds me of a mini Portland Oregon – very few chain restaurants, mostly sustainable kitchens, authentic bakeries and trendy cafes, coffee bars and serious burger joints. Locally-grown ingredients preferred. Guests sit at high tops and couches and almost everyone is sipping local craft beers, a pride factor in this area of Maine.  And yes, the tradition of lobster joints is still abundant and a lesson in how to preserve an honored New England tradition of lunch on the pier.

Dining Highlights from the MST

| Posted in Reviews

In lieu of a restaurant review, in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram restaurant critic Nancy Heiser has decided to “highlight a few things that we’ve found particularly noteworthy around the state.”

The cannelloni at Caiola’s, the fried chicken at the East Ender, the “unfailingly gracious service” at Vignola/Cinque Terre, Back Bay Grill and the Sea Grass Bistro, the buttermilk panna cotta at Bresca, and the Red radishes sauteed in duck fat at Bar Lola were all called out in the article.

Portland Coffee Shops

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Daily Sun has published a survey of six Portland coffee shops: Hilltop, Crema, Arabica, CBD on Washington, Bard and Aurora Provisions.

Traveling, local or otherwise, is not always sunny. You don’t always want to spend quality time with your family at the beach or at the hotel pool. Sometimes you want a friendly place to read the paper and have a little downtime, alone. Portland coffeehouses meet the criteria for cozy, cool and neighborhoody, and here are six of my all-season favorites within shouting distance of downtown.

 

Hayride Autumn Ale

| Posted in Beer

Baxter Brewing has announced the upcoming release of their Fall seasonal beer, Hayride Autumn Ale. Hayride should be showing up on Portland store shelves in just a couple weeks at the start of September. According to the press release,

Cold conditioned on a bed of American oak, Hayride is a blend of rye malts and exotic New Zealand hops, enhanced with touches of peppercorns, ginger and sweet orange peel, which produces a unique beer perfectly timed for leaf-peeping, apple picking, evenings around the campfire,  and hayrides.

Restaurant Day

| Posted in Events

I cam across a Facebook page last night for an organization called Restaurant Day Portland, Maine. It’s part of a larger international effort of Scandinavian origin which encourages people to run one-day pop-up restaurants.

This year’s international Restaurant Day is scheduled for this Sunday, August 19. Unfortunately, word about this event is getting out a little late here in Maine and so there aren’t any Portland locations on the map. However, it seems to be an interesting concept and hopefully by next year there will be some Restaurant Day events taking place in the city.

Maine Beer Tours

| Posted in Openings

A new company, Maine Beer Tours, is offering tours of Maine breweries on Friday and Saturday each week. MBT is run by Mark and Nichole Stevens.

Mark and Nichole have been dreaming of getting into the beer scene for years, and finally decided there was no time like the present.  They love craft beer, and know there are many people just like them.  Mark started homebrewing back in 1998, as a freshman in college, with his first batch brewed through his Mr. Coffee.  While it may have been pretty horrible, the love affair with all things beer was born…

The Friday tours visit Shipyard, Sebago, Maine Beer Company and Bull Jager. The Saturday tours go to Allagash, Urban Farm Fermentory, Rising Tide and a 4th stop which is TBD. Tickets are available online.

Local Hop Farm, Reviews of Mellen Street Market and Congress Bar & Grill, Lobster Dinner Math

| Posted in General News, Reviews, Farming

Today’s Press Herald includes a bar review of Congress Bar & Grill,

The menus were tucked in between condiments in round tins on the bar. Specialty drinks range from the house-made sangria for $6 to the “JD Rita,” the bar’s spin on a margarita, for $12. There are eight beers on tap for $4 or $5 apiece, and a number offered by the bottle for $2 to $4. There’s also a selection of white, red and pink wines costing $5 to $7.

and a review of Mellen Street Market.

I ordered a steak-and-cheese with green peppers and onions for $6.49, which I thought was a fair price. The bun was chewy, the veggies were freshly grilled, and American cheese embedded underneath the meat melted into a favorable gooey mix.

The steak? Eh. So-so. It was very chewy, which disappointed me. But it was mostly chunky and not cut into strips, so it was easy to eat.

Also in today’s paper is an article about Rock Island Hop Farm in Springvale which raises hops for Sebago Brewing Bunker Brewing, and a detailed explanation from the President of the Maine Restaurant Association on what factors go into the price of a lobster dinner.

Calculating the average lobster cost at $4.25 per pound, a 1.25-pound lobster means a $5.31 raw lobster food cost for a typically served one and a quarter pound lobster. Add drawn butter, side salad or fries and a roll and you arrive at a total food cost of $6.815. This would result in a retail price of $20.63 for the meal, with a 33 percent food cost. All of that retail price except for $1.03 (5 percent profit) goes to pay the business overhead.