Food for Thought weighs in on the challenges organizers face in launching a Winter farmers’ market in Portland.
The market organizers thought Portland was a natural area of growth for a winter market –set to open next week–a larger venue for farmers to pull in much needed income off season that helps to keep their farming efforts viable year-round…What the city of Portland has done is to impose outrageous fees that the farmers can’t afford.
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a selected list of restaurants that will be offering special Valentine’s Day meals, a look at the food related exhibits and programs on tap this months at the Museum of Art and some advice on preparing traditional and vegetarian eats for Super Bowl Sunday.
The organizers of Maine Restaurant Week have published the list of participating restaurants with pricing and contact info to their website. Some of the entries also include details on the MRW menus. The site promises that the rest of the “menus plus other details will be added as quickly as they come in”.
Both Wicked Joe and Coffee by Design are vying to become USM’s new coffee supplier according to an article in the USM Free Press.
A survey this week will give students a chance weigh in on the future of USM’s coffee offerings, as dining services seeks to switch to a local supplier in a push for a ‘greener’ bean.
“We are trying to work within our sustainability goals and make more purchases from local suppliers,” said Mark Allen, director of USM’s dining services.
The 10 eateries looked up most often in January were:
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Today’s Press Herald delves into the ordinance governing farmers’ markets in the city and how that’s impacting the organizers of the new Winter market.
When the group that coordinates the Brunswick Winter Market announced plans to open a similar market in a building on Free Street, its organizers didn’t think they would have to comply with a city ordinance governing the farmers markets in Deering Oaks and Monument Square.
Though the winter market isn’t affiliated with the Portland Farmers Market and won’t operate on city-owned property, Portland officials see it differently.
The Forecaster is proposing an Iron Chef-style cooking competition to combat the Winter doldrums.
Here in Portland, in February, things can get a little slow. Snow has lost a bit of its charm. Darkness lasts a little too long. Winter has set in… I say we celebrate anther one of Portland’s great attractions, its restaurants, with a cooking contest…We need a place to do it, sponsors to fund it, a moderator to keep the action going, and some judges to make the decisions. Each week during the darkest days of winter, a pair of chefs could face off, until we crown a champion.
Sounds good to me. Just one question, who’d be our Alton Brown?
A couple years ago when Jonathan Levitt introduced Boston Globe readers to Bresca (see A Chef’s Vision Becomes a Tiny Treasure of a Restaurant), he explained that “Because Bresca is so small, Kern can pick up a lot of her own groceries. She buys locally, from farmers, fish markets, and supermarkets. This morning her first stop is Hannaford’s.”
And recently when the Maine magazine published an article—also by Levitt—about Rob Evans from Hugo’s, I read that the James Beard Award winner also sources some of his raw ingredients at Hannaford: pommegranates, offal, pumpkin seeds, etc.
It makes me wonder if I were to hang out in the Hannaford produce section one morning would I see a parade of Portland’s culinary notables streaming through. Are these two outliers or would I see Corry, Hayward, Villani, Matthews, Desjarlais, Hernandez, Harmon, and others shopping trips for the night’s menu?
Monday — Baker Stephen Lanzalotta is teaching a Piatto per Tutti cooking class.
Wednesday — Black Tie Bistro is teaching a cooking class.
Friday — the West End Deli is holding a wine tasting.
Saturday — an onion and garlic jelly making workshop is taking place at Wolf Neck Farm, Leroux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting and the Port Clyde Fresh Catch shrimp CSF is doing their biweekly Portland drop-off.
Sunday — Po’Boys and Pickles is holding their Grand Opening, Sweet Marguerites will be at the Toby Rosenberg Gallery for a tasting of their gold dusted dark chocolate hearts, Toni Fiore from Delicious TV will host a showing of the movie Big Night at the Museum of Art.
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.