Restaurant Health Inspections

| Posted in General News

The Forecaster has published an article about Portland’s restaurant health inspector and the level of rigor she’s bringing to the job.

Sturgeon’s position was created to strengthen the public safety aspect of restaurant inspections, the city said. At the same time, the city also changed its inspection system from a numbered scale going up to 100, to a pass/fail system.

Now, to pass inspection, a restaurant can incur up to 13 code violations, no more than three of which can be deemed critical. Some violations may be resolved on the spot; for critical violations, Sturgeon returns within a week or two to check if they’ve been fixed.

This article is part of the paper’s ongoing coverage of restaurant health inspections.

Under Construction: Gather

| Posted in Under Construction

Maine a la Carte has posted an article about a restaurant called Gather that’s under development in Yarmouth.

[Owner Matt] Chappell has hired Chad Conley, the chef who managed the Freeport farm that serves the Miyake restaurants in Portland, to run the kitchen. In addition to his time with Miyake, Conley has worked at Hugo’s and Yosaku in Portland, at Jean Georges in New York, and at the Harborside farm of organic gardening expert Eliot Coleman.

Shucks Maine Lobster World Series

| Posted in Events

According to an article from the Examiner, chefs from Asia, Europe and the US are competing in something called the Shucks Maine Lobster World Series.

The Chefs Challenge Grand Finale kicks off with a the three day ‘Maine Lobster Experience” event, established by Shucks Maine Lobster Marketing Director, Caitlin Hathaway, to celebrate and showcase the natural geography that has Portland, Maine gaining international acclaim both in the world of fine food and for its most notable ingredient, Lobster.

 Linda Greenlaw, Ben Conniff and Luke Holden from Luke’s Lobster in NYC and food writer Dez Bartlett are judges for the event.

See this article in the Press Herald for additional details.

Under Construction: In’Finiti & more

| Posted in Under Construction

A few new under construction factoids:

  • The new business that Novare Res has under development on Commercial Street will be call In’Finiti (see building permit below)
  • The latest issue of the Stir email newsletter, indicates that both Harding Lee Smith (the Rooms) and David Turin (David’s, David’s 388) are working on new restaurants. From what I’ve heard, Smith is working on a seaside seafood restaurant.
  • According to a tweet from Meredith Goad, there are rumors that “Buck’s Naked BBQ might be moving into the old Havana South space.”

This Week’s Events: IPA Night, Backyard Locavore Day, Rising Tide, Italian Bazaar

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — stop by Bunker Brewing on Anderson Street for Growler Nite to sample some of their beers and pick-up a growler to go.

Wednesday — there will be a wine tasting at the Bier Cellar, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — Cultivating Community’s sixth Twilight Dinner of the summer is taking place at their farm in Cape Elizabeth (tickets available online), and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing a collection of IPA’s.

Friday — there will be a wine tasting at the Rosemont on Brighton.

Saturday — Backyard Locavore Day is taking place in Cumberland County (tickets available online), Rising Tide is having the Grand Opening for their new digs in Bayside, the 87th Annual Saint Peter’s Italian Bazaar is taking place, CRUX is holding a pop-up dinner, Wine Wise is leading a wine walk focusing on sweet whites, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — it’s the last day of the Saint Peter’s Italian Bazaar.

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.

AP on the Out of the Blue Program

| Posted in Fisheries

The Associated Press has written an article about GMRI’s program to get Maine chef’s to put unappreciated fish on the menu.

Twenty Maine restaurants from Kittery to Bar Harbor put Acadian redfish dishes on their menus in June, and 23 eateries served up menu items with Atlantic mackerel in July as part of an effort to raise public awareness — and demand — for unappreciated seafood species.

 

Joseph L. Discatio, 97

| Posted in People

Earlier this week Joseph L. Discatio passed away at the age of 97. Discatio founded Joe’s Smoke Shop on Congress Street in 1945.

In 1945, after the war, Joe had an opportunity to buy a small store on Congress Street. He named his store ‘Joe’s Smoke Shop’ and there he blocked hats, shined shoes, sold newspapers, soda and cigars. Several years later, after St. Stephen’s Church was razed, he bought that land which abutted his small store. He then expanded the size of his store and added magazines, cigarettes, groceries and a snack bar. The remainder of the land became his parking lot. Joe’s Smoke Shop was to become his legacy.

Awards for Cheesemakers and Food Writer

| Posted in General News

Three Maine farms recently won awards at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition (via the Edible Obsessions twitter feed):

  • Turner Farm Creamery was in first place in the Flavor Added – spices, herbs, seasoning, fruits –
    all milks category
  • Pineland Farm Creamery received a 3rd place finish in the Flavor Added Monterey Jack – spices, herbs,
    seasonings, fruits – all milks category
  • Spring Day Creamery was in first place in the Original Recipe/Open Category – made from
    cow’s milk category

In separate news, Avery Yale Kamila, who writes the Natural Foodie column for the Press Herald, won an award from the New England Associated Press News Executives Association contest for the quality of her Twitter feed.

Restaurant Valet Service

| Posted in General News

The Bangor Daily News reports on the nascent restaurant valet industry in Portland.

“They said, ‘We’ve been driving around for 20 minutes and can’t find a place to park — can we leave the car with you?’,” [Carl] Loomis recalled Thursday.

Loomis, founder of the city’s first valet service, was happy to oblige. And Sebastien’s [sic] welcomed a car load of diners who didn’t have plans to eat there initially.

For those of you interested in offering valet service at your restaurant, the new valet company is called Valet4ME and you can find more info at www.valet4me.net.