Category: General News

According to an article in Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun, the Exchange Street Cafe plans to start serving breakfast.

Manager Cynthia Tubbs-Maier, 56, is a proven fixture on the Portland food scene having started Black Tie Catering in 1987 with then business partner, Chris Webber. Selling her ownership in 1995, and parting amicably. Tubbs-Maier went on to the Whip ‘N Spoon as the General Manager and Directer of the cooking school, a concept just ahead of its time. Moving on to other ventures such as being the general manager of The Portland Club and overseeing things at The Danforth Inn, Tubbs-Maier has brought her skill set to spearhead breakfast at Exchange Street Cafe. Located at 7 Exchange, Tubbs-Maier has also brought along Patrice Keating, her right hand from past ventures.

The Bangor Daily News published the results of a Portland donut tour,

I believe it was the venerable philosopher Homer Simpson who waxed so eloquently on the subject of this week’s Foodie Files: “Mmm. Doughnuts.”

His sentiments are exactly mine, especially when it comes to freshly made doughnuts from a locally-owned bakery. Two weeks ago, I decided to take a doughnut tour of the Portland area, with the help of BDN Portland bureau chief Seth Koenig, and my husband and self-taught doughnut connoisseur Zachary Robbins…

And word spread yesterday that The Holy Donut will be featured on an upcoming edition of the Anderson Cooper Show.

Chef David Levi was mentioned in the 2013 food trends article in the new issue of Food & Wine.

Sea Foraging
In their quest for wild sea ingredients, chefs are sourcing more than just seafood from the ocean—for instance, Portland Maine’s David Levi cooks with sea buckthorn while Joshua Skenes at Saison in San Francisco uses seaweed to bundle fish fillets.

Earlier this year Levi, along with Gather chef Chad Conley, were hosting. Levi’s now seeking a location for a new restaurant he’s calling Vinland.

The city is training a second person to perform restaurant inspections.

City Hall Spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said Michael Russell, who works as the environmental health and safety manager for the city’s Public Health Division, is in the process of being certified as a second health inspector.

According to a report in the Press Herald, Maine’s congressional representatives are asking Five Guys to use Maine potatoes.

Sen. Olympia Snowe and and Maine Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud have written to the owners of Five Guys Burgers and Fries franchises in New England, asking them to use Maine potatoes in their Maine restaurants.

The Bollard has published some “drinking tips for sober people“.

Once the people you’re with are properly oiled, they won’t be as shy about approaching you. Common topics include sports, politics and, most commonly, themselves. Try not to be overwhelmed with details. Focus on the topic at hand and the person’s name (e.g. capitalism, Jim). You can get away with providing very little input if you maintain eye contact and nod your head every few seconds.

Maine Distilleries, creator of Cold River Vodka, has announced plans to donate 8,000 pounds of potatoes to food banks in New England.

According to a report from the Munjoy Hill News, city health inspector Michele Sturgeon is no longer inspecting restaurants for Portland.

D. Michele Sturgeon, CFPM, CPO and Portland’s Health Inspector is no longer inspecting  Portland restaurants.  Instead, State Health Inspectors are doing the work for which Sturgeon was hired last year – she’d been on the job just over a year when the change was made…

Update: Both the Press Herald and the Bangor Daily News are now reporting that Sturgeon is going on medical leave and that the change in responsibilities is temporary.

Portland’s health inspector is going on a medical leave that is unrelated to her high-profile work inspecting and shutting down several city restaurants for code violations.

Rosemont Market was presented the 2012 Best Small Business award from the Portland Development Corporation last night.

[Co-owner John] Naylor said…”It’s really nice. I’m thankful for it. I think it’s really fabulous that the city recognizes us. We’re a small business in a community we really like,” he said. “The whole premise with Rosemont is we try to do as much with local farms as we can, butcher shop, dairy products, cheeses… Our focus is to be a market for local production as much as we can, to create an interaction between where your food is coming from and where your food is going to.”

Bird Dog coffee from Matt’s Wood Roasted/Speckled Ax was included in the December Food & Wine wrap up of “editor-approved gifts represent[ing] the season’s best kitchen provisions, cocktail accessories and style discoveries.”

Those of you with good memories will recall that Food & Wine Executive Editor Dana Cowin paid a visit to Speckled Ax when she was in town back in August.