This Week’s Events: Vrienden, 5-course Brunch, Food+Farm Preview

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — release day for Vrienden a collaboration between Allagash and New Belgium Brewing. Vrienden is brewed with dandelions and elderberry and described by Allagash as “tart, fruity, earthy”.

Wednesday — Grace will be comparing wines from the Rhone Valley and Paso Robles for the April edition of their wine club.

Thursday —Boston Beer Company will be featured at this week at The Great Lost Bear.

Saturday — the Winter Farmers Market is taking place at the Irish Heritage Center.

Sunday — Wine Wise the Chadwick Bed & Breakfast are collaborating to offer a 5-course cooking class, brunch with wine education event.

Food+Farm — the 2011 Food+Farm is taking place April 14-17. It starts on Thursday with a dramatic reading of the the play Of Farms and Fables, continues on Friday with an appearance by Anna Lappé from the Small Planet Institute. On Saturday morning F+F moves out to Cape Elizabeth to “wake up” the Cultivating Community farm and that evening they’ll be a screening of The Greenhorns followed by a discussion with the director. Food+Farm wraps up on Sunday with a pair of workshops on urban farming at the Urban Farm Fermentory. Visit the SPACE Gallery website for more information and to buy tickets.

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.

Make sure you come by and watch the debacle as Doug from SoPO learns that like his ponytai his Ettouffe is old and long gone and while talk is cheap it takes money to buy land and he’s broke.

Review of the Sicilian Slab

| Posted in Reviews

Vin et Grub has published a review of the Sicilian Slab from Micucci Grocery.

Food and Wine, as well as Bon Appetit, have insisted on making a trip into Miccuci’s if it’s your first time visiting Portland.  I agree.  It’s hard to imagine that it’s even legal- because I really feel like its too indulgent.  But I think any first time visiter to Portland should split one with a friend, and ponder over whether or not it should be considered pizza.  Maybe it’s a revolution in the making? Maybe I’m just a little too stuck up to classify it in my normal pizza category for fear that it will soon take Otto’s # 1 seat?

Burger Review: Frog & Turtle

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Chubby Werewolf has posted a review of the Jalbert Burger at The Frog and Turtle.

Though the burger and poutine combination made for a filling meal, it stopped well short of being a deeply satisfying one. That said, one of the things that I really liked about my experience was that the general manager’s business card came to me stapled to my receipt. I have not seen this done on many occasions, and I really like the fact that the Frog and Turtle staff is so outgoing. The Jalbert Burger may have left me wanting, but I’ll definitely be returning to the Frog and Turtle soon, thanks to the great atmosphere, the friendliness of the wait staff and the various other temptations found on the menu.

Chocolate Lover’s Fling

| Posted in Events

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about the 25th Annual Chocolate Lover’s Fling which is taking place on Sunday.

Local chocolatiers bring in their most decadent creations, vying for one of several prizes bestowed by both the public and a panel of judges. For $20 in advance ($25 at the door; free for kids with adults), chocolate lovers can wander the room and sample anything they want, happily embracing their inner 5-year-old.

Jyang-Lee’s Authentic Chinese Treats

| Posted in People

The Locavore column in Wednesday’s Portland Daily Sun is about Angela Fagin and her company Angela Jyang-Lee’s Authentic Chinese Treats.

Growing up in Nanjing, Angela used to eat dumplings made with whole wheat flour. It’s what her mother could afford; “dark flour” was much cheaper and not rationed like refined white flour. Naturally when her mother came to visit her at her new home in Maine, she was astonished that the dumplings that were the core of her daughter’s successful American business were not only made of whole wheat but that they sold at a premium because of it.

Also this week from the Sun is a continuation of Natalie Ladd’s reporting on the food stands at Hadlock Field.

A man of action and few words, he is surprised that people are remotely interested in what goes on behind the rolling metal gate that separates Stand D from the general concourse where fans roam; seeing and smelling their food and beverage options. With eight short days left until the first ceremonial pitch is tossed, the three-man, in-house, professional food service team is as busy as they will be all season.