211 Danforth

The former Vespucci’s space at 211 Danforth has been under construction for sometime. It was slated to become a new restaurant named Blackbird. Owner Keith Hickman has decided to shelve the Blackbird project and will instead be leasing 211 Danforth out.

There are a number of chefs and food retail entrepreneurs currently searching for space for their projects so it has the potential to  find a new occupant rather quickly.

Tempo Dulu

The Bangor Daily News  has published a profile of Tempo Dulu, the new restaurant located in the Danforth Inn.

It begins with the bread basket, or lack thereof. Instead of rolls and butter, pastel lobster rice crackers — think shrimp crackers but with lobster flavor — with nutty hot sauce arrive on the white-clothed table to coax your taste buds into a new rhythm, the lively sway of Portland’s new restaurant Tempo Dulu.

This Week’s Events: Seaweed Festival, Sinskey Vineyards Dinner, Brett Camp, Grand Slam Dinner

MondayBaxter Brewing is holding their Grand Slam beer dinner at Hadlock Field.

Tuesday — Rising Tide is hosting a Summer Block Party in East Bayside.

WednesdayBlack Tie is serving a farm dinner in New Gloucester, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday — there will be a beer and cheese tasting at the Public Market House.

Saturday — the 2nd Annual Maine Seaweed Festival and dinner is taking place in South Portland, Rosemont is collaborating with Robert Sinskey Vineyards on a wine dinner on Great Diamond Island, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

SundayBrett Camp is taking place at Austin Street Brewery.

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.

Down East: Tempo Dulu, Island Eats

sept2015downeastThe September issue of Down East includes:

  • A review of Tempo Dulu, “The main course of the tasting menu is presented family style, and the dishes – delicate banana-leaf steamed halibut, the smokey wok-chared squid, deeply spiced and sweet Beef Rendang Padang and exquisite medallions of Sumatra lamb in a complex curry – quickly cover the surface of the table-top food warmer.”
  • A guide to island eats on Peaks, Chebeague and Great Diamond island.

Indie Biz Awards: Nominations

Nominations for this year’s Buy Local Indie Biz Awards are now open. You can submit the names of local businesses in any or all of the 9 categories:

  • Portland Icon
  • Best New Business
  • Creative Crusader
  • Environmental Hero
  • Portland’s Best Kept Secret
  • Flavor of Portland
  • Out of Sight, Not out of Mind
  • Portland Beacon
  • Best Neighborhood

Nominations will close on September 2nd and after the final voting takes place the winners will be announced in late October.

Interview with Rob Tod

The Press Herald has published an interview with Rob Tod, owner of Allagash.

Q: What attracted you to beer brewing?
A:
It combined everything I loved. It had a bit of science, biology and chemical reactions and it had a big creative component with recipe-writing and a mechanical component with pipes and wiring and valves. It wrapped up everything I loved in one nice package and on top of it all, it was beer.

Abilene Interview and Menu

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Travis Colgan and Anna Connolly, the owners of Abilene in Woodfords Corner, and a tasting report on their menu.

I began with Anna’s favorite dish on the menu, an appetizer called Manchego Toast, which consists of homemade focaccia bread, doughy and warm, topped with melted Manchego (a Spanish cheese), garlic, shallots and fresh mushrooms, over a sherry and mushroom broth. The bread soaks up the broth, and you can dip the toast in as well. However you choose to eat it, it’s rich, hearty and satisfying. Anna mentioned that, as she and Travis were drawing up the menu, this was the first item they knew they had to include. The dish, she said, evolved from working with a Spanish chef in a restaurant down in New Orleans.