Harvest on the Harbor

| Posted in Events

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald provides an overview of Harvest on the Harbor, the Portland food festival taking place later this month. The article includes interviews with chefs and highlights of some of the key events.

Chef Michael Ruoss has enjoyed watching Portland’s reputation as a food town grow ever since he toiled in the student kitchens at Southern Maine Community College.

Ruoss worked at the Seaman’s Club and the Snow Squall just across the bridge, then went on to make a name for himself in New Orleans.

He worked his way up to chef de cuisine at Emeril Lagasse’s flagship restaurant, NOLA, and now works on developing new restaurants with a restaurant group called 3 of a Kind.

Immigrant Kitchens: Iraqi Cooking Class

| Posted in Cooking

Immigrant Kitchens has published photos and recipes from an Iraqi cooking class held in Portland last Friday.

The kitchen of St. Pius X Church at the north corner of Payson Park (429 Ocean Ave., Portland, ME) was particularly steamy on the unusually hot night of October 1st. Forty people were inaugurating a new international cooking class series taught by refugees, a project of the Catholic Charities Maine Refugee & Immigration Services. The head cook was a woman from Iraq. She’d been an architect there, working for the U.S. government in reconfiguring Saddam Hussein’s palaces for new uses, but had to flee because her colleagues and their families were being kidnapped and killed

Review of Bar Lola

| Posted in Reviews

Appetite Portland has published a review of Bar Lola.

I love the food. I love the menu structure. I love the complete lack of pretension of owners Guy & Stella Hernandez. In short, I am horribly biased.

So, if you abhor odes – you might as well stop reading now.

But, if you want to know why Bar Lola is one of the best, most consistent and welcoming restaurants in Portland – read on.

This Week's Events

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — Bar Lola is hosting a Piedmontese wine dinner.
Wednesday — Wine Wise is teaching the first of 2 classes on sparkling wine at The Wine Bar.
Saturday — there will be a wine tasting at Black Cherry Provisions.
Sunday — The state-wide Open Creamery Day is Sunday, and Mycologist Greg Marley, author of Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares: The Love, Lore and Mystique of Mushrooms, will be at Rabelais for a book signing.
Farmer’s Markets — the traditional series of Farmer’s Markets are taking place Monday (Monument Square), Wednesday (Monument Square) and Saturday (Deering Oaks Park). Cultivating Community is running their new series of markets Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at various locations around the city.
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.

This Week’s Events

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — Bar Lola is hosting a Piedmontese wine dinner.

Wednesday — Wine Wise is teaching the first of 2 classes on sparkling wine at The Wine Bar.

Saturday — there will be a wine tasting at Black Cherry Provisions.

Sunday — The state-wide Open Creamery Day is Sunday, and Mycologist Greg Marley, author of Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares: The Love, Lore and Mystique of Mushrooms, will be at Rabelais for a book signing.

Farmer’s Markets — the traditional series of Farmer’s Markets are taking place Monday (Monument Square), Wednesday (Monument Square) and Saturday (Deering Oaks Park). Cultivating Community is running their new series of markets Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at various locations around the city.

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.