This Week’s Events: Food Day, Latte Art, UFF Workshops, Gothic Halloween Dinner, Farms & Fables

Monday — it’s the 2011 Food Day. As one of the many events taking place nation-wide Congresswoman Chellie Pingree will be at Jordan’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth at noon to “announce the introduction of The Local Farm, Food, and Jobs Act, a bill that prioritizes local and regional food systems in the 2012 Farm Bill.”

Tuesday — the Urban Farm Fermentory is holding a kombucha workshop.

WednesdayWine Wise is teaching a class on the top white grape varietals, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — Bard Coffee is hosting the monthly Latte Art Throwdown, Bibo’s is holding  a beer and wine dinner, there will be a wine tasting at Browne Trading, Urban Farm Fermentory is offering a hard cider workshop, there will be a preview performance of Farms & Fables, and  the South Portland Farmers Market is taking place.

Friday — it’s the first of two nights that Hugo’s will be serving a 6-course Gothic Halloween Dinner, and there will be a performance of the play Farms & Fables.

SaturdayNovare Res is celebrating Harvest Fest with a special line-up of ciders, meads and Fall beers, there will be two performances of Farms & Fables, a Tutti a Tavola cooking class will be held at Cinque Terre and a mead workshop at the Urban Farm Fermentory, it’s the last night of the Gothic Halloween dinner at Hugo’s, the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

SundayDobra Tea is teaching an Intro to Tea class and the last performance of Farms & Fables is taking place.

 

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.

And Another Review of Emilitsa

Eat Here. Go There. has published a review of Emilitsa.

We both decided Greek Comfort food was the way to go. I can never turn down lamb in any form and I had never, ever, had lamb’s neck before so ordering the Lemo Arnou was a no brainer for me. This dish was an all-natural grass-fed lamb neck, slow braised in a mastic yogurt honey sauce and then served with olive oil pomme puree and fire roasted florina peppers. It was perfectly fresh and definitely heavy. I loved the subtle gaminess of the lamb paired with the light sauce and pomme puree. I would go back a hundred more times to eat that dish again. Perfection.

Review of Emilitsa

Down East has published a review of Emilitsa.

In a city of great restaurants, yet one more might have trouble standing out. And that may be the case with Emilitsa, which flies a bit under the radar despite its stellar cuisine and top-notch service. Just a few doors down from Five Fifty-five, in a slim storefront on Congress Street in Portland, brothers John and Demos Regas serve refined Greek fare that will erase the memory of the last mystery-meat gyro you grabbed at a street fair — and add one more name to the ever-growing list of must-visit Portland restaurants.

Review of Fez

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Fez.

Throw aside most expectations of fine dining to enjoy Fez, a hole-in-the-wall neighborhood establishment where the food is mostly good, and the owners, who also serve and cook, welcome you like an old friend. Dishes in hues of brown and yellow bear robust flavors of north Africa. Zaalouk, an eggplant appetizer, is a must-order. The falafel is tasty, too. You’d be hard-pressed to get such hearty and inexpensive portions of halal meat anywhere else in Maine. Still, three months after opening, the establishment shows disorganization. The happiest customers will be those who come with a flexible attitude.

Maine Farmland Trust

Zester Daily has published an article explaining the important work being done by the Maine Farmland Trust to protect farmland for the future.

Into the breach came John Piotti, executive director of the Maine Farmland Trust. Founded in 1999, MFT is a nonprofit whose mission is to retain Maine’s vulnerable agricultural land base and keep Maine’s prime farmland from disappearing into “a vast tract of ranch homes.”

MFT is working to support and secure the transfer of farming from one generation to the next. Through a variety of easements that guarantee the land in perpetuity for farming use, and a series of creative and flexible cooperative ventures with counties, the state, the federal government and private benefactors, MFT is able to purchase land from families like the Jordan family at close to market price and sell, lease, or lease with a buy-back provision, to a next generation of family farmers.

SoPo Farmers Market Location Issues

The Forecaster reports on the South Portland Farmers Market and interest in moving it to a more visible and high traffic location.

Vendors say that business at the market at Thomas Knight Park, which opened for the first time on July 14, limped along after a relatively successful first month.

Rainy weather on many Thursdays hasn’t helped, they said. But according to Caitlin Jordan, business manager of Alewive’s Brook Farm in Cape Elizabeth and head of the South Portland Farmers Market Association, the less-than-stellar turnout has one root cause.

“Like any business,” she said, “it’s location, location, location.”

Bourdain Commentary

Chubby Werewolf has posted a detailed and critical commentary on Anthony Bourdain and the No Reservations episode filmed in Maine.

…What I do have a problem with is people who say shitty things about others under the veil of criticism and then can’t even be bothered to qualify their remarks. Take, for instance, the monkfish dish that Mr. Bourdain “didn’t love so much.” What did he dislike about it? Was it not fresh? Was it the taste of one of the components? Was it the pairing of the leeks and red pepper with the monkfish liver? A little bit of information would go a long way here. Ditto on the comment about Mr. Street’s “watery-looking sauce.” Did you taste it, Anthony? Or did you just decide that because you saw something that looked “watery” that it was bad?

Greek Wine Dinner

Joe Ricchio has posted a report on the Maine magazine blog about  the Greek wine dinner he helped organize at Bresca last month.

The second course, a wonderful combination of fresh Peekytoe crab with roasted grapes, crushed almonds, and verjus sorbet, finds a life partner in the Domain Spiropoulos Mantinia. Similar to the Ode Panos in that it is made from moschofilero, but different in that it is not sparkling, it has crisp, briny notes that play up the sweet grapes and almonds nicely, in addition to a delicate floral nature that jives with the sorbet.