Soni’s Market Place

| Posted in Under Construction

 

Yardie Ting owner Shanna-Kay Wright is taking over the former Karmasouptra space on the second floor of the Public Market House where she’s planning to open Soni’s Market Place (instagram) which will serve grab and go breakfast and lunch including sandwiches, pasta bowls, desserts, tea and coffee.

In addition Wright plans to use Soni’s to give Portland area micro businesses a little helping hand by stocking and selling their products at the Public Market House. She hopes to launch Soni’s by early September.

The business is named after Wright’s daughter who passed away at the age of 5. She plans on decorating it “pretty and pink…just the way she liked everything”.

Novel Book Bar & Cafe

| Posted in Under Construction

A new business called Novel (website, facebook, instagram) is under construction at 643 Congress Street. Business partners Joshua Ames and Nate Donovan are hoping to open their doors by January.

Novel will be a combination cafe and bar “nestled in the ambience of books” where customers can socialize with friends, work and read. Novel will eventually also include an event space where they plan to host local musical talent, book readings and other performances.

Ames and Donovan plan for Novel to “capture the spirit of the growing American trend of Book Bars and to be reminiscent of the classic European Cafe Bar. Come for atmosphere, good company, and great service.”

Novel will be house-roasting their own coffee with beans sourced from Guatemala, and will have a full liquor license serving beer, wine and cocktails. Ames and Donovan are getting help on the development of their menu from Jason and Amy Cote from Cote’s Cafe in One Portland Square.

DutchPot Part of Roux Residency

| Posted in General News

The new cohort of business leaders taking part in the Roux Institute’s 2022 Founder Residency program includes DutchPot  (website, instagram) co-founder Tamika Francis.

DutchPot is described as a digital platform for culinary collaboration that “curate[s] a trusted but dynamic map of collaborative business opportunities. The platform enables culinary creatives to connect, expand their teams, and work together on projects.”

Upcoming Events: Gluten-Free, Maine Apple Camp, Turkey and the Wolf

| Posted in Events

Thursday – a gluten-free sushi and slushi event at Apres co-produced with Mrs. Gee Free Living.

Friday – Sunday – the 2022 edition of the Maine Apple Camp is taking place.

Sunday – Crispy Gai and Turkey and the Wolf from NOLA are holding a joint food event and book signing.

September 3 – Tender Table is holding their 2nd Annual Food & Art Fair in Congress Square Park.

September 12 – Me Lon Togo in Rockland will be hosting winemaker Tinashe Nyamudoka from  Kumusha Wines in South Africa for a wine dinner.

September 19 – 25 – Maine Lobster Week is taking place.

September 23 – 25 – the Common Ground Fair is taking place in Unity.

October 8 – Oxbow is holding their annual Goods from the Woods event in Newcastle.

October 9 – Dandelion Spring Farm is holding a Harvest Feast. The meal will be a “Contemporary American style dinner influenced by Kristie Rudolph’s Korean American heritage. This multi-course dinner will be celebrating the best of seasonal produce along with local proteins.”

October 9 – the Maine Cheese Guild is holding Maine Open Creamery Day.

A History of Maine Restaurant Unionization

| Posted in History

The Maine chapter of the AFL-CIO has taken a look at the history of restaurant union organization in Maine.

As early as the 1890s, Maine restaurant and hotel workers began organizing and forming worker organization known as “labor and benefit” orders, according to labor historian Charlie Scontras. In 1919, members of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ International Alliance and Bartenders’ International League of America (HERE) established locals in Augusta and Portland. Then in 1928, the Portland local brought HERE’s international president, Edward Flore, and an organizer to the city where they reportedly “met with good success, adding several new houses to the fair list and strengthening the Local.”

Tender Table

| Posted in People

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about Tender Table, an organization that “celebrates Black and Brown community by connecting and honoring our identities, traditions, joy, resilience, and fight for collective liberation through storytelling and food.”

“I knew this was a space I hadn’t seen or experienced in Portland before that I deeply knew I wanted to be a part of as a biracial person,” added Perez, who works as a sculptor and is now a Tender Table co-organizer with Tran. “Tender Table allowed me to embrace that part of my identity I thought was gone or missing.”

After being introduced to Tran and Tender Table, Perez grew motivated to cook traditional Puerto Rican dishes they remembered their father talking longingly about, like mofongo, a plantain-based dish with plenty of garlic and salt.

Review of Cafe Louis

| Posted in General

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a 4½ star review of Cafe Louis.

The food: Exceptional. Chef/owner Evan Richardson, whose restaurant Eaux closed during the pandemic, moved across the bridge to South Portland, gutting the former RJ’s Pub and transforming it into a restaurant that deserves national attention. Nearly everything I ate on a recent visit was memorable, from mussels in coconut green curry and stewed yuca, to cheesecake-like rhubarb-rosewater flan, to an insanely inexpensive and insanely tasty cabbage salad topped with puffed wild rice and pineapple vinaigrette ($5).

Rebel Blend Fund

| Posted in General News

Coffee by Design is now accepting applications for their Rebel Blend Fund which helps support Maine artists and small arts organizations. They are especially interested in “projects which somehow fall below the funding radar screen; projects that we believe are thought-provoking and engage people in the State of Maine in conversation.”

The Rebel Blend Fund is supported through the sale of CBD’s Rebel Blend coffee which is a blend of coffees from Asia, Americas and Africa. Coffee by Design donates $1 from each pound sold or brewed to the fund.

To apply for a Rebel Blend grant send in your application by the August 31st deadline.

Indie Chefs 2022

| Posted in Events

The Indie Chefs organization is returning to Maine in September for a series of 3 dinners that brings together Maine chefs with peers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, DC, Texas, South Carolina, California and New Hampshire. The dinners are scheduled to take place September 8, 9 and 11 at Tao Yuan/Zao Ze in Brunswick—tickets are now on sale.

The fun kicks off Thursday, September 8th, with the first Collaborative Dinner. Featuring half of the lineup, each cooking a course of their own showcasing their culinary aptitude, night one will be followed by the second dinner on Friday, September 9th featuring the other half of the roster. Sunday, September 11th, we wrap up the weekend with a Grand Finale collaborative evening, featuring all the chefs together for one incredible dinner, where each chef is paired up with a partner and given a key ingredient to incorporate into their dish. 3 nights of unique multi-course menus. All dinners will start at 6pm.

The line-up of participating chefs includes:

The dinners will take place outdoors in Brunswick to “ensure the well-being of the chefs and guests alike, at Zao Ze Café and Market”.

Indie Chefs was last in town 3 years ago for 3 nights of dinners featuring 22 chefs from Maine and away.