Anti-Trust, Competition, and Trader Joe’s

| Posted in Under Construction

The Christian Science Monitor has published an in-depth look at the process that’s led to Trader Joe’s buying the former Wild Oats as the result of Wild Oat’s merger with Whole Foods. (via About Town)

So if we’re treating competition as a zero-sum game, was it “lost” when Whole Foods acquired Wild Oats, when Whole Foods bought out The Whole Grocer, or maybe when Wild Oats decided to compete directly against The Whole Grocer? Remember, the stated goal of antitrust is to “restore” competition that might be lost.

Interview with Guy & Stella Hernandez

| Posted in General News

The Portland Daily Sun has published an interview with Guy and Stella Hernandez on their purchase of the Hilltop Coffee Shop.

Deciding whether to expand seating in the cozy shop and offer live music are things the new owners have yet to decide on. “We don’t really know potential of space yet, but we wouldn’t rule anything out,” said Stella. “We want to figure out who our customers are, and what they like about it.”

Interview with Guy & Stella Hernandez

| Posted in General News

The Portland Daily Sun has published an interview with Guy and Stella Hernandez on their purchase of the Hilltop Coffee Shop.

Deciding whether to expand seating in the cozy shop and offer live music are things the new owners have yet to decide on. “We don’t really know potential of space yet, but we wouldn’t rule anything out,” said Stella. “We want to figure out who our customers are, and what they like about it.”

America's Best Farmers' Markets

| Posted in Farming

The Portland Farmers’ Market made it onto the Travel + Leisure list of America’s Best Farmers’ Markets. Steve Corry is quoted in the intro to the article.

“When I plan my restaurant’s menu, it’s not just my choices going into the dishes, it’s the farmers’,” Corry says. “It’s their menu as much as mine.”

Today’s was opening day for the Wednesday market and Delicious Musings was there with camera in hand to capture the start of the season.

I did not realize how much I had been aching for the return of a weekly outdoor farmers’ market until I saw a post this morning on Facebook by the Portland Maine Farmers’ Market it would be returning to Monument Square today. Let the weather be as fickle as it likes, let the wind blow, the temps rise and fall, and rain away (I should add snow since flakes were reported over the weekend)…The farmers are in town with their goods, bees are buzzing about, black flies (ugh) have set up a welcome center at your nearby pond, and summer is imminent.

See additional reporting on the Farmers Market in the April 27 edition of the Portland Daily Sun.

America’s Best Farmers’ Markets

| Posted in Farming

The Portland Farmers’ Market made it onto the Travel + Leisure list of America’s Best Farmers’ Markets. Steve Corry is quoted in the intro to the article.

“When I plan my restaurant’s menu, it’s not just my choices going into the dishes, it’s the farmers’,” Corry says. “It’s their menu as much as mine.”

Today’s was opening day for the Wednesday market and Delicious Musings was there with camera in hand to capture the start of the season.

I did not realize how much I had been aching for the return of a weekly outdoor farmers’ market until I saw a post this morning on Facebook by the Portland Maine Farmers’ Market it would be returning to Monument Square today. Let the weather be as fickle as it likes, let the wind blow, the temps rise and fall, and rain away (I should add snow since flakes were reported over the weekend)…The farmers are in town with their goods, bees are buzzing about, black flies (ugh) have set up a welcome center at your nearby pond, and summer is imminent.

See additional reporting on the Farmers Market in the April 27 edition of the Portland Daily Sun.

Review of Nosh

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Nosh.

Finally Nosh answers the question: where next, poutine? Last year’s trend gets a pretty nice new treatment at Nosh. The steak-cut fries are crisp, but the thicker cut preserves the inner potato from greasy obliteration. They don’t overdo it with the thin gravy, or the soft cheese, so you don’t end up with a plate of goop. Little squares of pork belly, maybe a bit too crisp, mingle with the fries.

Cruelty to Blueberries?

| Posted in General News

According to today’s Press Herald, Tracy Reiman from PETA has written a letter to Governor Baldacci to object to his efforts to convert the Stinson sardine cannery to a lobster processing plant.

“Can the cruelty,” Reiman urged the governor, “and turn Stinson into a cannery for Maine’s famous wild blueberries instead.”

To which Baldacci spokesman David Farmer, who heard about the letter for the first time Tuesday, tactfully replied, “But what about the blueberries?”