Bad Management

| Posted in General News

Today’s Portland Daily Sun takes a look at the pros and cons of the staff trying to oust a bad restaurant manager.

A tight-knit group of twenty-to-life restaurant people I know are plotting the downfall of their worse than stereotypically bad manager. He makes their working hours miserable and in some cases their precious non-working hours as well via friendly texts that are thinly disguised demands for them to pick up shifts on their only full weekend off all summer. Saying no has ramifications felt only in industries where strategic scheduling is everything and your financial fate is in the hands of the person with the Excel spreadsheet.

Best Foodie Walking Tours

| Posted in General News

AOL Travel has included Maine Foodie Tours on their list of the Best 9 Foodie Walking Tours in the country.

From Maine-smoked seafood to local wild blueberry preserves spread on scones, Old Port promises plenty of opportunities to entice your taste buds and teach you about what makes these local products so uniquely delicious. Make sure to spring for a piece of original whoopee pie while aboard the tour.

SoPo Angelone and Mussel Aquaculture

| Posted in General News, Fisheries

Today’s Press Herald included articles about the Calendar Island Mussel Company,

The Calendar Island Mussel Co. — named after an old term for the Casco Bay islands — joins similar aquaculture operations near Clapboard, Bangs and Basket islands, in the western part of the bay, that are growing mussels, oysters and seaweed.

They’d like to make a dent in shocking international trade statistics that show about 85 percent of seafood sold in the United States comes from other countries, and about half of the imported seafood is farm-raised. Shrimp from Thailand. Salmon from Norway. Mussels from Chile.

and about the South Portland branch of Pizza by Angelone,

Neither Mains nor her mother, Trina Angelone Mains, plan on being around when the bulldozers show up here at the corner of Broadway and Ocean Street.

The metal-wrapped building with distinct rounded corners, built as a gas station in 1940, will be demolished to make way for a new branch of the Bath Savings Institution. The gas station was converted into a pizza shop by Jack Angelone in 1969, as he expanded his pizza franchise from his home restaurant at Monument Square.

This Week’s Events: Local Breakfast, Slow Dinner, RealFood Class, Open Farm Day

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — in the morning Local Sprouts is hosting a local food networking breakfast and in the evening Slow Food Portland is holding a potluck dinner at the Quimby Colony.

Wednesday — the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — the RealFood Project is teaching a cooking class.

Saturday — Wine Wise is leading a white wine crawl in Portland and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Maine Open Farm Day is taking place at farms across the state. About a dozen farms in Cumberland County are participating in the event.

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.

Green Grocer

| Posted in General News

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram reports on the Brighton Ave Rosemont’s green certification by the DEP.

The program, which is free, offers grocers technical assistance to identify no-cost measures to help them reduce their environmental impact. The participants are awarded points for sustainable practices, such as using non-toxic cleaning products and reducing stormwater runoff. Independent grocers need 100 points and large chains 150 points to be certified.

SoPo Farmers Market

| Posted in General News, Profiles

Edible Obsessions has posted a report on her visit to the inaugural farmers market in South Portland with a special focus on the Wicked Sharp knife sharpening service.

So, I resigned myself to the notion of having slightly sharp knives for ever. That was, until I noticed Wicked Sharp had posted on their Facebook page that they would be joining the new Farmer’s Market in South Portland and would be sharpening knives while you shopped. I was already heading over to Thomas Knight Park to pick up my online order from the Cape Farms’ Market and this made it so I didn’t have to deal with my separation issues. Brilliant.

For additional commentary on the market see The Golden Dish.

Under Construction: Bam Bam Bakery

| Posted in Under Construction

According to a report from the Press Herald, Bam Bam Bakery is in the process of opening a retail location on Commercial Street.

Portland will get its first full-fledged gluten-free bakery in August.

Bevin McNulty, owner of Bam Bam Bakery, has been making wholesale gluten-free baked goods in her home for the past two years, but now she’s ready to expand and take her products direct to consumers.

Hannaford Brands

| Posted in General News

An article in today’s Portland Daily Sun bemoans the retirement of the in-store Hannaford brand of products.

After I left the store, knowing full well that more than likely the products were the same contents with just a different label, I asked myself whether this brand change was something that was bothering just me and Drew, as we’re both a little quirky. I certainly hadn’t seen anything in the news about the change and it seems as though Hannaford is trying to quietly extinguish the Hannaford brand in the stores. After a little search, I found out we were not alone.

For additional commentary to the 2 letters to the editor about Hannaford’s change of in-store brands.

Review of Zapoteca

| Posted in Reviews

From Away has published a review of Zapoteca.

The inevitable success of Zapoteca spells the end of careless, cartoonish, bottomless-margarita kid-friendly Mexican cuisine in Maine. Each dish we tried included an unexpectedly sophisticated, delicious surprise, whether it was in the use of additional ingredients, or in the different way those ingredients were assembled and presented. Ultimately, where Zapoteca succeeds most completely is in its dedication to authentic ingredients, with clever twists and spins that don’t take each dish outside the realm of what it essentially is.