2021 Valentines Day List

| Posted in Events

Valentines Day is just a few weeks away, and local bars, restaurants and confectioners are just now starting to announce specials they’re offering this year. Check back often, we’ll be adding new entries as they get posted online.

  • Ada’s – “Pink Sorpresine (naturally dyed with beets) or a pink and white Lasagna with pink pasta, mushroom duxelle, and a white Ragu sauce”
  • Allagash Brewing – releasing Heart of Hearts, a “ruby-colored, foudre-aged sour beer rested for four months on fresh-plucked raspberries”
  • Bao Bao – “6-course Valentine’s menu includes a fried tonkatsu oyster sandwich with yuzu koshu aioli.” $68 for two people.
  • Baristas + Bites – heart shaped baked goods.
  • Basket Island Oysters – a dozen oysters, a bottle of Resurgam Spruced Up hot sauce, and a shucking knife.
  • Ben Lu Bakery – has a collection of Valentine’s Day treats available.
  • Big Sky Bakery – Valentine’s Day themed baked goods.
  • Blue Spoon – will be serving their regular menu plus some Valentine’s Day specials.
  • BlueFin – a special Valentine’s Day menu.
  • Botto’s Bakery – truffles and cupcakes.
  • Broken Arrow – serving a 6-course Valentines tasting menu on Saturday February 13th.
  • Chaval – 4-course dinner for takeout and also taking reservations for outdoor dining on their heated patio and in minigrenhouses.
  • Craft Curbside – has a set of Valentine’s Day meal kits.
  • Dean’s Sweets – has a set of Valentine’s Day options.
  • Empanada Club – is offering a traditional Argentinian holiday dulce de leche chocolate-covered cookie.
  • Evo – 5-course takeout dinner ($90/person), or a 7-course dinner at Evo ($130/person).
  • Fore Street – a takeout menu during Valentine’s Day weekend.
  • Gros Confection Bar – Triple Chocolate Entremet & Confections for two.
  • Helm – a 3-course prix fixe menu with optional caviar and oysters additions.
  • Izakaya Minato – a special Valentine’s Day menu.
  • Knotted Apron – 4-course dinner with wine pairings for $75 per person.
  • La Belle Patisserie – chocolates and macarons.
  • Lake & Co. – will have a dinner of Coquilles St.-Jacques plus sides and desserts. They’ll also be selling Valentine cookie decorating kits.
  • Luke’s Lobster – a takeout seafood tower for two with 2 splits of Prosecco, and a box of chocolates from Bixby & Co, $130.
  • Mainely Macarons – “Valentine’s boxes include 6 Chocolate and 6 Vanilla Bean with a strawberry jam center.”
  • Mr. Tuna – a Valentine’s Day party box.
  • North 43 Bistro – 3-course dinner.
  • Novare Res – in collaboration with Dean’s Sweets Novare has a set of beer and chocolate pairing which are also available for home delivery via CarHop.
  • Portland Beer Hub – a Valentine’s Day special beer bundle of a mixed 4-pack and two whoopie pies
  • Portland Cake Co. – 7″ red velvet and chocolate cakes, $25 each.
  • Prairie Baking – cakes and confection boxes.
  • Ragged Coast Chocolates – has a collection of Valentine’s Day offerings.
  • Ribollita – has a Valentine’s Day special of “Scallops w/Moscato Cream w/Fresh Fettuccine & Ricotta Ravioli Bolognese” and their regular menu is also available. They’re open Thursday through Saturday for takeout.
  • Sopo Seafood – has Valentin’s Day gift boxes.
  • Standard Baking Co. – has hazelnut, sugar and Linzer heart-shaped cookies, opera torte, and French macarons.
  • Sugar Giant – has a Valentine’s Day box with optional champagne and print add-ons.
  • Tao Yuan – 9-course chef’s tasting menu, $58 per person.
  • Top of the East – 3-course takeout dinner for 2, $85.
  • Union – 4-course takeout dinner for 2, $120.
  • Union Kitchen – has a special Valentine’s Day menu.
  • Vena’s Fizz House – a “Valentine’s Day beverage kit that includes ingredients & recipes for both cocktails and mocktails”.
  • Wine Wise – Périgord black truffle virtual wine dinner for 2 with Chaval, $250.
  • Yardie Ting – a stuffed salmon dinner for two with sides, dessert and two bottles of Ting for $90.

Interview with Bluet Winery

| Posted in Profiles, Wine

American Fizz has published an interview with Coco O’Neil and Ed Lutgens from Bluet Winery. Bluet is a Maine business that makes wine from wild Maine blueberries.

The Bluet winery is in a warehouse in Scarborough just out of town, and immediately gives you the sense that something interesting is happening here. Originally located in an 1820s barn in Jefferson, Maine, Bluet needed a bit more of a temperature-friendly location for their fermentations—too cold in those old Maine wooden barns. I was welcomed by Coco O’Neill, the sales lead for Bluet, and Ed Lutjens, assistant winemaker and sometimes-cooper for the winery. We talked about the inherent nature of blueberries, supporting the local Maine agriculture community, and the joys and hardships of making fruit wine.

Bread and Friends Bakery and Market

| Posted in Under Construction

A new bakery and market called Bread and Friends (website, instagram) is under development in Portland. Bread and Friends is the creation of two couples: Maggie and Tanner Rubin and Jessica Rattey and Jeremy Broucek, who all recently moved to Portland from the California where they worked in the bakeries and restaurants of the Bay Area including Tartine, State Bird Provisions and The Progress (more details below).

Bread and Friends will be an artisan bakery and specialty market that will serve a menu of breads, pastries, sandwiches, house-made products (spreads, jams, etc), prepared foods, and wine and beer.

The team plan to launch this spring initially selling through subscriptions, wholesale and at some local farmers’ markets. They are looking for a space to open a brick and mortar establishment by the end of 2021. The team shared with us that they “love how food can tell a story, and want to be a space where Portland can find approachable products that have integrity of ingredients and process, and where they can learn about the people behind their food.”

Tanner Rubin will be the head baker for Bread and Friends. He has spent a number of years in the Bay Area baking for Josey Baker Bread, Midwife and the Baker, and Tartine, and prior to moving West got his start at Publican Quality Bread in Chicago. Rattey, Broucek, and Maggie Rubin met when all three worked at the Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions and at its sister restaurant The Progress. Rubin was part of the admin and operations staff, Rattey worked front of house, and Broucek was the chef de cuisine at The Progress.

All four have worked together before on small projects and pop-ups and have wanted to expand on that experience on a larger scale. The impact of the pandemic on the restaurant industry accelerated the process of honing a vision for Bread and Friends and turning it into a reality. Broucek and Rattey are from New England and were drawn to Portland for the outstanding food scene and quality of life.

Tally’s Cafe on Stevens Ave

| Posted in Under Construction

Julie Taliento Walsh, owner of Tally’s Kitchen (instagram) on Marginal Way, will be opening Tally’s Cafe at the Steven’s Square Community Center. The 950 square foot space (kitchen, bakery, retail counter) is adjacent to the SSCC atrium with seating for 50 people.

Walsh expects to being serving a similar menu to what she offers at Tally’s Kitchen with the addition of some new options like smoothies, dinners to go, and specialty coffee drinks. She hopes to be open in time for early summer.

This Week’s Events

| Posted in Events

Wednesday – This week’s guest chef collaboration at Radici is with chef Cara Stadler from Bao Bao.

Thursday – Tandem is re-opening their West End coffee shop and bakery for takeout, and Mami, George’s North Shore and Highroller are collaborating on 2-night pop-up.

Friday – it’s the first of a 2-day guest chef collaboration at the Small Axe Pop-up/East Eender with chef Josh Sobel from Ramona’s.

2021 Flavors of Freeport

| Posted in Events

Flavors of Freeport, the annual celebration of food and drink in Freeport, Maine, is taking place February 1 – 28. This year the Visit Freeport (website, facebook, instagram) organization has created two ways to explore the restaurants and other businesses in town.

Restaurants, coffee shops and other food businesses will be offering Freeport On The Menu specials during February. Take a look at the Visit Freeport website and/or check in with your favorite Freeport businesses on instagram for details on what they have to offer.

Also during February take part in Freeport Foodie Lotto with the chance to win a $1,000 prize or gift cards from local businesses. Download a copy of the game card and earn Flavors of Freeport stamps by spending $10 or more at one of the participating businesses. You can get stamps for the Stay in Freeport squares by making making a hotel reservation, and earn a stamp for the center square by making a donation of $10 to the Freeport Community Services Food Pantry. Full details and rules are included on the game card, along with details on all the participating businesses.

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Source Awards

| Posted in Events

Nominations are now open for the 6th Annual Press Herald Source Awards. The awards recognize “Mainers’ most promising, innovative and successful efforts – large and small – to combat climate change, and to otherwise protect, sustain and conserve our beautiful state, its resources and waters”. Numerous food and agricultural businesses have been recognized in past years.

You can nominate a sustainable initiative you admire online now through March 1st.

Kids Are Cooking

| Posted in People

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article on how kids are doing more home cooking during the pandemic.

Kids and teens have taken advantage of pandemic downtime to turn up the heat on their passions for cooking, say parents, as well as local and national cooking instructors. Some have used time at home to expand their interest in baking, grilling or cooking in general, while others are learning their way around the kitchen for the first time. The process for kids can be educational, and more parents these days are looking for constructive things for children to do at home, since most only physically go to school a couple days a week. Learning to cook can be a form of entertainment – something to do besides video games or watching TV – and take a bit of pressure off parents who during the pandemic have had to make three meals a day for the whole family.