This Week’s Events: Sea State 8.0, Wine Dinners & Tastings, Maine Food Law Colloquium, JBF Semifinalists

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — Local Sprouts is hosting the Local Foods Networking Breakfast. All week starting on Tuesday The Honey Exchange is running a bee-themed children’s program.

Wednesday — there will be a wine tasting at Old Port Wine Merchants of Bordeaux from 2009 and 2010.

Thursday — GMRI research scientist Steve Eayrs will be giving a talk at GMRI entitled Tools of the Trade: Nets and Computers, the Old Port Sea Grill and Sea Glass Restaurant are holding wine dinners, there will be a Cooperstown Beer tap takeover, and the Great Lost Bear will be featuring beers from Sierra Nevada.

Friday — the Aphrodisiac’s wine dinner is taking place at Eve’s (rescheduled due to Nemo).

Saturday — the Maine Food Law Colloquium is taking place, Sea Change Cooking is teaching a low sugar cooking class, and the Winter Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Two Fat Cats is teaching a baking class, Wine Wise is leading a wine walk to celebrate their 3rd anniversary, and Petite Jacqueline is screening Micmacs.

James Beard Foundation Awards — while the list of nominees doesn’t surface until March 18, the James Beard Foundation typically releases the full list of restaurants under consideration in the week after Valentine’s Day. PFM will post a list of all the Maine restaurants on the list.

Feed the Arts @ El Rayo — every Sunday El Rayo is running a program to support local arts organizations. 10% of proceeds are donated to each week’s featured arts non-profit.

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.

Eventide & Five Fifty-Five

| Posted in Reviews

Vrai-lean-uh has written up her recent visit to Eventide,

Eventide is a medium-fancy oyster bar from the owners of Hugo’s. I say medium-fancy because even though the atmosphere is casual, it’s also kind of slick and hip inside, and the food about five notches up from the oyster-bar-on-the-waterfront type deal…

and The Golden Dish has posted tasting notes from his Valentine’s Day dinner at Five Fifty-Five.

 

Interview with Layne Witherell

| Posted in People

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published an interview with wine professional and Portland resident Layne Witherell.

Q: I thought one of the best paragraphs in your book was the last one, where you hand out advice to people who want to learn about wine. Can you share a few of those suggestions?

A: Just write down everything that you taste or take a picture of that label, so that way you have a memory of what you had. I ran a store for years and years, and (customers) walk in and go, “This was the best wine I ever had.”

Maine Restaurant Week Tour

| Posted in Events

Portland magazine has published a culinary tour of some of the restaurants participating in Maine Restaurant Week with details from restaurant staff on what they have in store for diners this March.

The first thing to know about the fifth annual Maine Restaurant Week is that it isn’t actually a week. It’s a 10-day opportunity to sample irresistible multi-course menus dreamed up by clever chefs who are just as sick of winter as you are. At very attractive prices. At restaurants all over the state. From March 1 through 10, most participating restaurants offer 3-course dinners, your choice of appetizer, main course, and dessert–for $22 or $32. This sort of value can make you believe in spring again.

The magazine also includes an article on the changing face of children’s menus.

For a full list of MRW participating restaurants see the Maine Restaurant Week website.

Under Construction: Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar?

| Posted in Under Construction

Maine a la Carte reports that baseball broadcaster Jerry Remy (aka “RemDawg”) is considering opening a Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill in Portland.

“We have looked into the Portland area,” he told the radio hosts. “It seems like a natural with the minor league ball club here. We’ll see if we can get some kind of a deal worked out.”

Cajun Cookin’ Challenge Results

| Posted in Events

Tuesday’s Cajun Cookin’ Challenge resulted in a tie for first place between The Great Lost Bear for their Filé Gumbo and Congress Bar & Grill that cooked up a Maine Shrimp Etouffeé. Second place went to Local Sprouts for their Chicken Shrimp & Sausage Creole-style Gumbo.

More than 600 people attended WMPG’s 18th Annual Cajun Cookin’ Challenge and it was their votes that determined the winners.

Reviews of Whip’s and the Armory Lounge

| Posted in Reviews

The Press Herald has published a review of Whip’s Right Time Cafe,

The sandwich had sauteed onions and peppers, cheese and very tender steak. I like steak and cheese, but am usually prepared for it to be a little chewy in spots. This one was not — the beef was positively melt-in-your-mouth tender.

and The Golden Dish has published a review of the Armory Lounge.

What surprised me most about my recent dinner at the Armory Lounge, located off the lower lobby of the Portland Regency Hotel, is that the food is far better than the usual pub grub.