Mike Roylos and the Buttler

Mike Roylos, owner of the Spartan Grill, was in today’s Press Herald in connection with his invention of the Buttler, a device to collect cigarette butts outside his restaurant in Monument Square.

Roylos’ invention, which he calls the Sidewalk Buttler, is a tubular container, painted to look like a mustachioed butler in a bow tie and bowler hat. It’s capped on both ends, strapped by metal to a utility pole, and has a circular hole where the butler’s mouth would be. Smokers deposit their spent cigarette butts there.

Maine Pie Line

Eater Maine has published an article about Briana Warner and her new business, Maine Pie Line (website, facebook).

Briana Warner has used pie to bring violent youth leaders to the table in Guinea and tested her recipes on ambassadors in Belgium. But after several years of her pies playing a secondary (though complementary) role to her work as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department, Warner is now making pie her primary focus.

Review of Otto

The Golden Dish has published a review of Otto Pizza.

Instead of eating a re-heated slice that’s been sitting on the counter, Otto’s whole pie freshly baked was a treat.  I loved the texture of the crust—very thin, firm, crackly almost.  As for the toppings, the tomato and salami version was the clear winner for both of us whereas the mushroom-bacon seemed muddled.

Schlotterbeck & Foss

The Business section in today’s Press Herald provides a look at Schlotterbeck & Foss.

While Schlotterbeck & Foss sells its own branded sauces, toppings, dressings, marinades and other specialty food products at Whole Foods, the biggest and fastest-growing part of the business is creating “co-branded” products for grocery stores.

That means Schlotterbeck & Foss often doesn’t get the recognition for its creations, which are sold by various retailers under their own brands.

Schlotterbeck & Foss was founded in 1866. It’s 2nd oldest food enterprise in Portland after the Farmers Market (1768).

Also in today’s Business section is an interview with Kathleen Fleury, the new executive editor at Down East. Fleury began her career at DE as the magazine’s food writer.