This Week’s Events: Latte Art Competition, Twilight Dinner, Rose Tasting & Walk, Farmers Markets

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — a discussion on setting up a Community Supported Fishery is taking place, and Bunker Brewing is having their 4th Growler Nite.

Wednesday — the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — Bard is hosting the July Latte Art Competition, Cultivating Community’s fourth Twilight Dinner of the summer is taking place at their farm in Cape Elizabeth (tickets available online), Browne Trading is holding a Rose wine tasting, there will be a wine tasting at the Bier Cellar (yes, really), and Sea Change Cooking is teaching a Mid-Summer Harvest cooking class.

Saturday — Wine Wise is leading a Rose wine walk in the Old Port, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — the first Pocket Brunch 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.

Review of Carmen at the Danforth

| Posted in General News, Reviews, Events

Carmen at the Danforth received 4 stars from today’s review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

Carmen at The Danforth offers marvelous Latin-inspired twists on familiar items while introducing ingredients seldom found on Maine menus. The restaurant’s intimate, elegant setting in a historic inn in Portland’s West End makes it hardly a spot you’d expect to find this delicious and fascinating cuisine. But that’s all part of the magic.

Also in today’s paper:

Under Construction: Outliers Eatery

| Posted in Under Construction

Portland Magazine has published a report on Outliers Eatery, the restaurant under construction on York Street.

Though the chef still remains a mystery, Verrill has fresh ideas on the brain for Outliers Eatery, the name he’s chosen. “We’ll offer an ever-changing seasonal menu. We don’t have the exact details nailed down until I can sign the chef I want, but you can expect a few fish dishes, meat dishes, and several vegetarian options. We’ll also offer small plates for happy hour and only the best local ingredients.” And as far as the bar is concerned, “We’ll only be serving the finest small craft beers. I’ll work with the chef for beer and wine pairings. We’ll also have a very extensive and affordable wine list. I don’t want people to think they can only drink great wine for a special occasion.”

Those of you with good memories will recall that this former home of Popeye’s Ice House was slated to be another Tod Dana (owner of the El Rayo’s) restaurant called River House. Dana, however, sold the property earlier this year to Peter Verrill. Verrill’s name may be familiar because he was part of the team that launched Grace.

Review of LFK

| Posted in Reviews

Portland Magazine has published a review of LFK.

Parisian, perhaps, but with Longfellow seated outside and Emily Dickinson vibrating within (see the poem inscribed on brass keys at the bar). Inviting texts in every nook add depth and volume; sounds register loud in happy cacophony, and we leave fully satisfied that LFK is decidedly Whitmanesque.

Interview with Mitchell Kaldrovich

| Posted in People

Maine Travel Maven has published an interview with chef Mitchell Kaldrovich from the Sea Glass Restaurant.

How does your Argentinian background influence your cooking?
Because I’m Argentinian, I’m humble and appreciate food. I came from war, and the economy was up and down all the time. If I had $2, I saved it. I run my kitchen the same way. I peel asparagus; puree scraps. I want to help the culture of America to become healthy, to use less fat, less bacon, do less cooking out of the box. Cooking is easy and it’s important. We all should be able to cook instead of microwave. We pay the price when we’re older if we’re not cooking.

Food Coma TV Disbanding

| Posted in General News

After 2 seasons of scouring byways and backwoods of Maine for good food and good times the team behind Food Coma TV has decided to wrap up and move on to other things. Different visions for the series played a part in the end of FC TV. According to a post by producer Alex Steed,

Worry not, none of us are going very far! The Food Coma entity is not going anywhere as Joe will continue to blog and he’ll undoubtedly keep being Joe. The production team (Kurt, Zack and I) are creating a digital media production firm where we will be working with other FCTV regulars Thomas Starkey and Beth Taylor, and we are working on creating a documentary together. Joel will keep being fabulous, no doubt.

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about the end of the TV series.

The cast and crew of FCTV became known in Maine and beyond for visiting towns and locales in the state outside of well-known food enclaves like Portland and Mt. Desert Island, to investigate and partake in the restaurants, bars, institutions and events that give them all local color. From firing guns and eating ployes in Fort Kent to shining the spotlight on Downtown Bangor‘s burgeoning food and nightlife scene, FCTV helped showcase Maine as more than just a handful of towns that tourist visit, but as a vibrant, unique corner of the country, full of interesting, entertaining people and fun places to eat and drink. It’s also laugh out loud funny and unabashedly, gleefully profane.

Gourmet Live & Details

| Posted in Reviews

The August issue of Details magazine provides a 3-day eating itinerary for Maine that stretches from Scarborough to Belfast. The Portland area restaurants highlighted in the article are Bar Lola, 158 Pickett Street Cafe, Standard Baking, Pai Men Miyake, The Lobster Shack, J’s Oyster Bar and Rosemont. Further up the coast the article recommends well known spots like Red’s and Chase’s Daily.

Petite Jacqueline has been included in a list on Gourmet Live of 10 French restaurants across the country “where to eat and what to order to enjoy French fare sans fuss”. The recommendation of Petite Jacqueline to the list came via Jillian who writes for the Maine food blog From Away.

Petite Jacqueline presents a French paradox: As you stand in the narrow entryway, you will desperately wish you were more slender, yet you will soon stuff yourself silly on all the best things in life…

Urban Farm Fermentory Expanding

| Posted in Uncategorized

The UFF has recently leased a 5,000 square foot space adjacent to their operation on Anderson Street. Some of the the new space will be used for the UFF to expand but there’s also expanding the Bayside food ecosystem by subleasing out sections to other food producers. According to a note on their Facebook wall a cheesemaker is already on board and they’re seeking out other partners.