Mark’s Hot Dogs

| Posted in People, Profiles

The Portland Daily Sun has published an article about Mark’s Hot Dogs and the food cart’s longtime owner Mark Gatti.

The entrepreneurial spirit and history of the cart began when Mark was fresh out of college. He did a brief stint setting appointments for insurance sales, a high pressure job he was good at, but “hated” and struggled to make money doing a variety of different temp assignments. He reminisces, “I was pushing a broom after a really long and difficult day doing manual labor, making the going minimum wage rate of $3.35 an hour. It was the early ’80s and I had just moved back to Maine from Colorado and had seen a few vendor street carts in my travels. The idea set in and I worked fast to get it going. I knew I had to sell a lot of hot dogs.”

Mark is celebrating his 28 year anniversary this Monday. Mark’s can be found nearly every day at the intersection of Middle and Exchange Streets in front of Tommy’s Park.

The Holy Donut

| Posted in Openings

Portlanders now have a new source for fresh donuts. Leigh Kellis has started up a new business called The Holy Donut. You can find her wonderful creations at several local coffee shops including Bard Coffee and Hilltop Coffee Shop. Kellis is also looking to expand into direct sales to offices. So if you need some snacks for your next morning meeting consider giving her a call.

This Week’s Events: Italian Life Expo, Old Port Festival, The Art of Breakfast

| Posted in Events

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

Thursday — it’s the opening day of the Italian Life Expo, Karl Wente from Wente Vineyards will be at Old Port Wine Merchants for a tasting and at The Farmer’s Table for a wine dinner, there will be an wine and cheese tasting at the Public Market House, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing Summer beers.

Friday — 2nd day of the Italian Life Expo.

Saturday — last day of the Italian Life Expo and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — the 38th Annual Old Port Festival, Hugo’s is holding a wine dinner called Into the Wild, Down East is hosting a launch party for The Art of Breakfast by Dana Moos and there will be a wine tasting at Rosemont on Brighton.

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.

Review of Petite Jacqueline

| Posted in Reviews

Petite Jacqueline received 4 stars from today’s review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

At Petite Jacqueline, tables are close, portions are reasonable, service is casual and attentive, and food is consistently excellent. The traditional French fare may be regular sustenance to those across the Atlantic, but in Maine, cassoulet, foie gras, coq au vin and steak tartare expertly prepared in-house and served in a lively bistro atmosphere has added another welcome dimension to the city’s dining choices.

Immigrant Kitchens: Panamanian Arroz con Pollo

| Posted in Cooking

In the latest entry on Immigrant Kitchens Lindsay Sterling learns how to make Panamanian Arroz con Pollo from Gina Barria (read the recipe and see the photos).

“Panama,” she said, breaking into a smile. Her answer was particularly thrilling to me because a dish from Panama was a missing puzzle piece on my world culinary tour. The prospect of what might unfold from here gave me the butterflies. Learning my first dish from a country, even if I never step foot out of Maine, feels like a major geographic feat, a country traveled, a grand vista earned. So…would she teach me to cook her favorite dish from home?