Breakfast at Exchange Street Cafe

| Posted in General News

According to an article in Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun, the Exchange Street Cafe plans to start serving breakfast.

Manager Cynthia Tubbs-Maier, 56, is a proven fixture on the Portland food scene having started Black Tie Catering in 1987 with then business partner, Chris Webber. Selling her ownership in 1995, and parting amicably. Tubbs-Maier went on to the Whip ‘N Spoon as the General Manager and Directer of the cooking school, a concept just ahead of its time. Moving on to other ventures such as being the general manager of The Portland Club and overseeing things at The Danforth Inn, Tubbs-Maier has brought her skill set to spearhead breakfast at Exchange Street Cafe. Located at 7 Exchange, Tubbs-Maier has also brought along Patrice Keating, her right hand from past ventures.

Donut Tour & Holy Donut Interview

| Posted in General News

The Bangor Daily News published the results of a Portland donut tour,

I believe it was the venerable philosopher Homer Simpson who waxed so eloquently on the subject of this week’s Foodie Files: “Mmm. Doughnuts.”

His sentiments are exactly mine, especially when it comes to freshly made doughnuts from a locally-owned bakery. Two weeks ago, I decided to take a doughnut tour of the Portland area, with the help of BDN Portland bureau chief Seth Koenig, and my husband and self-taught doughnut connoisseur Zachary Robbins…

And word spread yesterday that The Holy Donut will be featured on an upcoming edition of the Anderson Cooper Show.

Q&A: Larry Matthews

| Posted in People

MaineToday.com has published a brief interview with Larry Matthews, chef/owner of the Back Bay Grill.

How did you get here?
I was born here and never really left. That’s the truth. I was born in Portland and I’ve lived in 12 different towns over the years. My family on both sides goes really far back – in fact, we can trace family to Campobello Island in the 1600s. I am a seventh generation Mainer on both sides. At some point we obviously crossed the bridge from Canada and came to Maine, and we stayed. My dad was a lobsterman, so was his dad.

Edible Coastal Maine

| Posted in Under Construction

A new magazine called Edible Coastal Maine is preparing to launch mid-year in 2013. Editor Heather Carroll tells me she’ll be pursuing stories all along coastal Maine from the New Hampshire border to Hancock County.

ECM is part of a family of  60+ regional food magazines from Edible Communities which works to “connect consumers with family farmers, growers, chefs, and food artisans of all kinds.”

This Week’s Events: Local Food Networking, Scandinavian Christmas Dinner, Italian Wine Lovefest

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — a Local Foods Networking Breakfast is taking place at Local Sprouts.

Wednesday — the December edition of Cloak & Dagger is serving a Scandinavian Christmas Dinner.

Thursday — there will be a wine tasting at Aurora Provisions.

Friday — Rosemont Market is holding their annual Big Italian Lovefest wine tasting and there will be a beer tasting at the West End Deli.

Saturday — the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

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.

Golden’s Lunch: Eve’s, The Salt Exchange, 20 Milk

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has published the first of a 3 part series on lunch options in Portland.

In such a barmy, restaurant-crazed metropolis like Portland, lunch is given short shrift—as though it were a forbidden meal from the impecunious fringe.   But we’re hardly a city of mere brown baggers–plenty of lunchtime portals offer interestingly good midday meals.

Review of Kamasoutra

| Posted in Reviews

What’s the Soup has published a review of Kamasouptra.

On my recent visit, I was lucky enough to sample several of their very best. I started with their vegan Ribollita, which looks like a rainbow in a bowl. It was a nutritious knock-out! A tomato-based broth loaded with kale, white beans, tomato, carrots, celery, and garlic and finished with a touch of lemon to brighten it up. The soup gets thickened with their scrumptious wheat rolls that they bake on the premises each day. The soup was hearty and satisfying and packed with flavor. I felt like I was getting my daily vegetable requirements all in one bowl.

Pocket Brunch: Kings & Commoners

| Posted in Events, Pocket Brunch

The lucky few who managed to snag  ticket (they sold out in less than 2 hours) for the December edition of Pocket Brunch assembled this afternoon for a Games of Thrones-themed meal prepared by Josh Potocki, Joel Beauchamp and guest chefs Joe Ricchio and Nolan Stewart.

  • Soup – Dothraki Wedding Stew with a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
  • Salad – Dove and Parsnip Pie with Oxbow Saison Noel Ale
  • Egg – Roast Quail and Quail Eggs with R. Nicoll Dry Mead
  • Meat – Boar Leg  and Belly with Bunker Scotch Ale
  • Dessert – Fig Tart with mulled wine

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Premeal eats were accompanied by coffee from Tandem Coffee Roasters and drinks by Nanl Meiklejohn.

For more photos from Kings & Commoners visit Zwickerhill Photography.

Wild Mushroom Foraging Law

| Posted in Farming

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published an update on the Maine mushroom foraging law.

But eight months later, the law still has not been implemented. The program to certify wild mushroom foragers and brokers has not been put in place. An advisory board established by the law has yet to be formed.

Meanwhile, wild mushrooms are still being peddled to restaurants and retailers — unchecked and unsupervised.

David Levi in Food & Wine

| Posted in General News

Chef David Levi was mentioned in the 2013 food trends article in the new issue of Food & Wine.

Sea Foraging
In their quest for wild sea ingredients, chefs are sourcing more than just seafood from the ocean—for instance, Portland Maine’s David Levi cooks with sea buckthorn while Joshua Skenes at Saison in San Francisco uses seaweed to bundle fish fillets.

Earlier this year Levi, along with Gather chef Chad Conley, were hosting. Levi’s now seeking a location for a new restaurant he’s calling Vinland.