This Week’s Events: Book Launch, Island Dinner Cruise, Soil to Supper

| Posted in Events

Monday — it’s Labor Day, Shipyard is holding a “Summer Ender-Bender” pig roast and party at The Inn on Peaks Island to benefit Maine Coastal Conservation Association.

Wednesday — there will be a launch party for Portland, Maine Chef’s Table at the Portland Art Museum, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — Cultivating Community’s tenth Twilight Dinner of the summer is taking place (tickets available online), and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Baxter Brewing, and Bier Cellar is holding a tastings.

Friday — there will be a bourbon tasting at The Salt Exchange and a wine tasting at the West End Deli. It’s First Friday Art Walk on Friday so it’s best to make your reservations soon in order to get a table.

Saturday — Hugo’s will be participating in a sold out Outstanding in the Field dinner at Green Spark Farm in Cape Elizabeth, Maine Foodie Tours is leading an island dinner cruise, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — the Black Point Inn is holding a dinner to benefit Share Our Strength, the 8th Annual Soil to Supper is being held at Rippling Water Farm, and it’s Maine Apple Sunday.

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.

Pocket Brunch #2

| Posted in Events, Pocket Brunch

The 2nd edition of Pocket Brunch took place this afternoon. Chefs Josh Potocki and Joel Beauchamp were joined by Jay Loring from Nosh. Here’s the menu:

  • Edible Ocean – striped bass, periwinkle, mussel sea bean, crispy seaweed
  • Nightshade Elixer – tomato water, juniper extraction (shown right)
  • Duckhole – duck fat brioche, pickled peppers, duck egg, bogarones, tasso ham, chorizo dust
  • Jackalope – antelope and rabbit rillette, cracker, pickle
  • Summer S’Mores – cinamon sugar graham cracker, lime marshmallow, blackberry granache, white chocolate

The meal was accompanied by coffee from Tandem Coffee Roasters and cocktails by Nathaniel Mikeljohn.

2012 Potato Harvest

| Posted in Farming

The Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about the 2012 potato harvest.

This year, the farmers are struggling with the opposite extreme: too little rain, which is stunting the potatoes’ growth and will hit farmers’ wallets hard this fall.

Like the corn crop in the Midwest, Maine potatoes are withering, but they’re underground and out of sight, so how poorly they’re doing is a bit of a guessing game.

Review of The Well

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of The Well in Cape Elizabeth.

The setting is special and the food is a locavore’s delight, almost all of it sourced from Jordan’s Farm or nearby. This freshly harvested flavor translates to splendid entrees and sides that are prepared simply to let the ingredients shine, which they do. Seasonal, memorable al fresco dining — the kind of spot we are lucky to have in our rural state.

Review of Grace

| Posted in Reviews

Eat Maine has published a review of Grace.

My personal favorite of the evening is my next course: New Zealand cockles, sausage, brioche croutons, and butter-poached razor clams in a pool of romesco broth. The razor clams, which have been removed from the shell, impart the sensation of eating a sweet lobster tail dripping with warm drawn butter. A showering of parsley brightens the flavor and tightens the warmly spiced dish as a whole.