This Week’s Events

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — Local Sprouts is hosting the monthly Local Foods Networking Breakfast.

Wednesday — there will be a sake tasting at Old Port Wine Merchants, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — there will be a wine tasting at the Public Market House, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing a selection of beers from Magic Hat Brewing.

Friday — there will be a beer tasting at the West End Deli

Saturday — the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Po’Boys & Pickles are holding a Parking Lot Crawfish Boil.

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 Pepperclub

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Pepperclub.

Find satisfying and globally inspired entrees of all sorts at Pepperclub, a good choice for vegetarians and gluten-sensitive individuals as well as couples or groups with a mix of eating styles. For the most part, the food — seafood, meat, vegetarian and vegan — is ample and interesting, with diverse flavors. The restaurant has a comfortable, bohemian vibe.

Review & Update on Vignola/Cinque Terre

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has published an update on the recent merger of Vignola & Cinque Terre and a review of the new entity.

Portland diners have not lost a restaurant in this merger. Instead we’ve gained from a pairing of equals that keeps this former twosome unified into one great dining venue, which I am not shy to proclaim offers the best Italian fare north of Boston.

Review of The Holy Donut

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a review of The Holy Donut.

The whole experience sort of pulls you one step out of the traditional simple experience of eating doughnuts, and it’s pretty pleasant out there. They manage to make their unusual flavors distinct, but subtle enough that the doughnut never turns into a sugary cartoon of the flavor it is supposed to represent. A sweet potato ginger had a sort of ambiguous spiciness, and the pomegranate a pleasant tang of fruit. The pistachio has plenty of nuts (allergic types, you’ve been warned). Only the lemon disappointed a bit — seeming a bit candied rather than genuinely sour.

Review of Local Sprouts

| Posted in Reviews

Edible Obsessions has published a review of Local Sprouts.

The staff was kind, patient and attentive amongst the organized chaos that we created at the counter and the weeds we threw the kitchen into.  They were more than helpful in asking if we needed anything while setting up and didn’t rush us out when we kept them past closing. They made us feel like every member of our group, even those of us who were there for the first time, was part of their cozy cooperative family. And it’s that vibe, but more so the food, that will bring us back again and again.

Exploring Job Market Options

| Posted in General News

Sun columnist Natalie Ladd has written  an article about applying for a job at a restaurant,

My current job is aces and I’m happy with what I have, but like the rest of my staff mates, I just wish I had a bit more of it in terms of shifts. All of us feel the seasonal slowdown that happens in our type of restaurant, and I can’t help wonder if there’s something bigger and better (aka more lucrative) out there. “You owe it to yourself to at least look!” my 17-year-old lectured me, and “at least look” I did.

Restaurant Health Inspections

| Posted in General News

The Forecaster has published an article about changes in the way restaurants are inspected in Maine.

A change in Maine law now requires all local health inspectors to have delegated authority from the state for inspections of restaurants, campgrounds, lodging establishments, public pools and spas and youth camps.

But obtaining delegated state authority, or being licensed, to inspect food establishments could become much more difficult if administrative rules changes by the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention Division of Environmental Health are enacted this summer.