Bubbe & Bestemor

| Posted in Profiles

The Forecaster has published an article about Bubbe & Bestemor, a new bakery founded by Audrey Farber that weaves together Jewish and Nordic baking traditions.

An Ashkenazic Jew is one whose ancestors came from eastern Europe. Farber is also of Nordic descent and said mixing the two baking traditions seemed to make perfect sense.

“As I began to work on recipes and researching the baking and culinary traditions of both communities, a lot of similarities started to unfold,” she said, including the “ubiquity of rye, rolled and filled sweet breads for holidays and special occasions, heavy use of almonds and lots of other things.”

Visit bubbeandbestemor.com for more information about the bakery.

This Week’s Events: Maycrest Dinner, Craft Beer Summit, Gasharoo, Chocolate Lover’s Flings, USBG Conference

| Posted in Events

Monday – it’s the last day to vote in the Portland Phoenix readership poll. There are dozens of food and drink categories, and Portland Food Map is a finalist in the Best Blog category.

Tuesday – Victor Abascal, co-owner of Vines on the Maycrest in Paso Robles, will be at Lolita for a 4-course wine dinner, and the Maine Restaurant Association is holding their annual awards banquet.

Wednesday – Grace is holding dinner inspired by the idea of Lincoln’s inaugural dinner, tickets go on sale for the Flanagan’s Table Full Plate Full Potential fundraiser with Rob Evans, Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti, the Portland House of Music is hosting the Beer Bracket Championship Happy Hour, and the Restaurant and Lodging Expo is being held at the Cross Insurance Arena.

Thursday – The Great Lost Bear will be featuring beer from Norway Brewing.

Friday – the New England Craft Beer Summit is taking place, Slab is hosting a Stoneface Brewing tap takeover, there will be a wine tasting at the east end Rosemont, and Black Tie is holding a Winter Graze Dinner in Yarmouth.

Saturday – Novare Res will have 32+ Allagash beers on tap for their annual Gasharoo event, and the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday –the 31st Annual Chocolate Lover’s Fling is taking place, and it’s the first day of the US Bartenders Guild Northeast Regional Conference.

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.

Brew Bus Acquires Maine Beer Tours

| Posted in General News

The Maine Brew Bus has announced their acquisition of  Maine Beer Tours.

According to the press release,

The purchase will allow The Maine Brew Bus increased passenger capacity and expansion of tour concepts, as well as provide new itineraries for the millions of people that visit Southern Maine. Adding a bus to the existing fleet will also allow The Maine Brew Bus to have new transportation options for their thirsty guests.

It also explains that “The Maine Brew Bus will add at least five new employees as a result of the acquisition.”

Reviews: Baharat, Izakaya Minato, Escobar

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has posted the first review of Baharat,

A great addition to Portland dining, this take on Middle Eastern street food is already a hit with the city’s dining cognoscenti in the up and coming East Bayside neighborhood with all of its breweries, coffee houses, farmer’s market and industrial holdovers.

Portland Magazine has reviewed Izakaya Minato, and

Starting Off, we choose the Kinoko Salad ($8). Tender sautéed mushrooms and roasted vegetables rest on a bed of spinach, artfully drizzled with a creamy ponzu dressing. Next up is Okonomiyaki ($10), a cabbage pancake that comes with either mushroom or bacon, depending on your conscience. Filling and rich, this is exotic comfort food. Equally irresistible is the Sakana Misoyaki ($7), broiled seasonal fish marinated in miso.

Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Taco Escobarr.

It took some time, but I finished the burrito and settled my tab which came to somewhere around $25 bucks prior to tip. Taco Escobarr is a fun place to go. While their happy hour specials aren’t anything to write home about, it’s the drinks and the atmosphere that make it a worth while place to stay for a spell. And though I had a slight issue with the temperature of my food, it was really solid otherwise.

Edible Maine Launches This Summer

| Posted in General News

Chris Ellis and Dylan Jacobs, residents of Boston and Greenwood Maine, have licensed the Maine region from the Edible organization that links a network of more than 90 regional food magazines in the US and Canada. Ellis and Jacobs have hired Michael Sanders to serve as the magazine’s editor.

The magazine’s mission statement provides a  sense of the range of topics they plan to address:

There is a movement that has been gaining ground all across the land, a movement of people who desire a connection with their food once again. Here at Edible Maine, we intend to nurture that connection very deeply and fully, in the hopes of cultivating a healthy and well-informed public, a diverse and safe environment and a thriving local economy.

The first issue of Edible Maine is due out in Summer and will be a quarterly publication of about 50 pages.

Follow Edible Maine on facebook, twitter and instagram to keep updated as they work on launching their first issue of the magazine.

Pizza by Fire, BP’s Shuck Shack

| Posted in Under Construction

There’s news from two mobile food  vendors:

BP’s Shuck Shack
BP’s Shuck Shack, which has operated a food cart for the past two years in Portland, has leased a gas station in Newcastle where they’re launching a distribution center and retail shop, and where, reading between the lines, they’ll be opening an oyster bar. BP’s will be the 10th mobile food vendor operating in Portland converting to or adding a brick and mortar capacity.

Pizza by Fire
Pizza by Fire has launched a new food truck.

2017 Business Leaders of the Year

| Posted in People

Congratulations to Bob and Carmen Garver, owners of Bard Coffee and Wicked Joe, on being named 2017 Business Leaders of the Year by Mainebiz.

The Garvers have come a long way since starting in a cramped space in Brunswick. Not only does Wicked Joe have a loyal following in Maine, it is also now distributed in 48 states, and expects to be in 50 states by the end of 2017. Distributors include Hannaford Brothers Co. and Shaw’s Supermarkets, as well as two of the largest natural and organic food distributors in the country, KeHE Distributors LLC of Naperville, Ill., and United Natural Foods Inc., which is based in Providence, R.I.

Bowling for a Cause

| Posted in Events

Full Plate Full Potential is collaborating with local restaurants on Bowling for a Cause to raise money to fight child hunger in Maine. You can make a donation online to help your favorite restaurant from the list below reach their fundraising goal.

To make a donation visit fullplates.org/events/bowl, select a restaurant from the list and complete the donation form.

Participating restaurants: Aurora Provisions, Bao Bao, Bayside Bowl, Big J’s Chicken Shack, Duckfat, Eventide, Evo, Honey Paw, Hugo’s, Nosh, Piccolo, Rhum, Shipyard, Slab, Sur Lie, Tao Yuan, Tandem Coffee

The 2nd Annual Restaurant Charity Bowling Tournament is scheduled to take place April 9th at Bayside Bowl. Tickets are on sale at fullplates.org/events/bowl. The tournament will pair up restaurant staff with professional bowlers.