Be sure to congratulate the chef the next time you’re at Hugo’s. According the the Beard Foundation’s Twitter feed, Chef Rob Evans just won this year’s James Beard award for Best Chef: Northeast. Evans has been a nominee in this category for three years running.
A Logo for El Rayo
The exterior of El Rayo has been transformed with a new coat of paint and this large-scale replica of the restaurant’s logo. The restaurant is still under construction but they are hiring staff so an opening day is likely not too far in the future.
This Week's Events
The James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony is being held in New York tonight; Fore Street (Outstanding Restaurant) and chef Rob Evans of Hugo’s (Best Chef Northeast) are finalist this year. The weekly Food and Drink Trivia Contest is taking place tonight at Bull Feeney’s. On Tuesday, Five Fifty-Five is teaming up with Allagash Brewing to serve up a 6-course beer dinner. Black Tie Bistro is teaching a cooking class on Wednesday night. On Thursday there will be a wine dinner at David’s featuring wines from South Africa. The 2009 Food+Farm is taking place this week: lobsterman and researcher Ted Ames is speaking on Thursday, a pre-release screening of Food, Inc. is on Friday, eco-chef Bryant Terry is speaking on Saturday, and their are activities and class on gardening and farming throughout the weekend. On Saturday, the co-owners of Coffee by Design are giving a talk on the sourcing and blending of their coffees at PeRx-U-Up Cafe. Farmers’ Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
Indie Biz Awards 2009
Voting in Buy Local’s 2nd Annual Indie Biz Awards poll has begun. Dozen’s of restaurants are nominated Flavor of Portland category and many food business appear in the other seven Indie Biz categories including Portland Food Map which is a nominee in the category for businesses without a store front.
Joe's Boathouse Review
Joe’s Boathouse received 2 stars from the Taste & Tell column in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram.
Bar Lola in Travel+Leisure
According to this month’s Travel+Leisure, small is the new big. “If any trend has defined the recent trajectory of travel…it is the cult of the very small.” Portland’s East End restaurant, Bar Lola, made the short list of restaurants in the Guide to Small Places that accompanied the article.
Dinner at Paciarino
Paciarino is appearing before the City Council on Monday to apply for a liquor license with outdoor seating. Provided all goes well they hope to start serving dinner on Friday May 8.
Farmers' Market Season
The Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market opened for the season today with an abbreviated set of vendors. I picked up some flowers and a jar of Tom’s Honey. There has been some talk of adding an additional market on Monday in Monument Square to the existing Wednesday/Saturday rotation to provide an outlet for farmer’s currently on the wait list for a space.
April’s Stats
The 10 businesses looked up most often during the month of April were:
- The Farmer’s Table (2)
- Paciarino (1)
- Miyake (20)
- Bresca (3)
- Grassroots Organic Cafe (-)
- Emilitsa (4)
- Evangeline (7)
- Blue Spoon (12)
- Local 188 (17)
- Bard Coffee Roasters (-)
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Bar Installation at Grace
Tivi Design has posted photos of the new bar they’ve built and installed at Grace. The circular bar has a canopy of glass that echoes the window design of the historic Chestnut Street Church. Grace is still under construction, they plan on opening for business this summer. Eric Simeon is coming on board as their Executive Chef.