Former Portland bartended Trevin Hutchins graces the cover of the new edition of Imbibe magazine. He’s profiled in their annual Imbibe 75 features which highlights the “people and places shaping the way we drink”.
Hutchins is now the bar manager at Aphotic in San Francisco. which has its own distillation license which enables Hutchins and his team to develop custom spirits, liquors and distillates for the drinks on the Aphotic menu.
Edible Maine has published an interview with Joe Robbins who is the chef at Bissell Brothers in Milo.
Chef Joe Robbins’ mission is proving that cultural preservation is not locked in the past by bringing contemporary indigenous cuisine to the front and center of Maine’s food scene – one plate at a time.
Punch has published an article about Papi beverage director LyAnna Sanabria’s recipe for the classic Puerto Rican drink Coquito.
While coquito is often shorthanded as Puerto Rico’s answer to eggnog, the comparison is not quite right, Sanabria notes. While the two drinks share some characteristics—boozy, creamy, spiced—coquito tends to be lighter-bodied than eggnog, meant for sipping in warmer weather. It also has a complicated heritage entwined with the island’s colonial past.
Joseph Robbins, the chef at Bissell Brothers Three Rivers in Milo, has been invited to cook at the White House Tribal Nations Summit taking place on December 6th and 7th.
Robbins is one of a small team of Indigenous American chefs participating in the event. His draft menu includes a turkey roulade made with squash and cranberries served over a wild rice and apple salad with a pumpkin pipian sauce. In addition to representing Indigenous American cuisine Robbins shared he also appreciates the opportunity to showcase produce and meats from Maine farms.
Robbins is Penobscot and has been one of a growing cadre of chefs raising the visibility of Indigenous American cooking traditions. A visitor to Bissell Brothers in Milo will find a menu grounded in local foods and featuring some dishes that make use of indigenous ingredients and food traditions.
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a feature article about Marilou Ranta who is the chef and owner of The Quarry in Monson. The Restaurant won the James Beard award for Outstanding Hospitality in 2023.
In the dining room, there are unforced smiles all around. Regulars get big bear hugs. Newcomers get hugs, too. “She’s a great hugger,” said Martha Lerman, a hug recipient who was dining at The Quarry for her first time on a Thursday evening in mid-September. Ranta was especially delighted to meet a Filipino couple who had driven from Massachusetts to check out The Quarry. Word about the 5-year-old restaurant “in the boonies,” as Ranta puts it, is getting around.
The Sunday Telegram also includes a 3½ star review of Maine Street Bistro in Brunswick,
Lean into Maine Street Bistro’s French menu and you’ll be rewarded. Co-owners and co-chefs John Holm and Brandon Franklin built their impressive skillsets of classic French techniques separately, but together in Brunswick, they’ve come up with a largely traditional menu that holds promise.
and an article about the rapid expansion of Brickyard Hollow Brewing which has added five locations in the last 12 months.
As Moll and his partner were first launching Brickyard Hollow in 2018, they realized the significance of the winter carnival photo. “We were trying to create a craft brewery that was a gathering place for this little community, and that picture really helped present that,” Moll said.
The Maine Sunday Telegram includes a feature article about the culture of mutual assistance within Portland food and dining industry.
In a tough, fast-paced business where something often, seemingly inevitably, goes wrong, Maine restaurateurs, bakers and brewers in Portland and beyond have countless tales of coming to each other’s aid, or being the recipient of help. In the month leading up to Thanksgiving, we asked them to share with us instances of giving and getting.
The paper also includes a review of Mainely Noods.
After nearly four years in business, Portland’s Mainely Noods is beginning to show signs of burnout. Its effervescent visual design aesthetic remains firmly in place, but fading photos and untidy workspaces lend the restaurant a neglected vibe. The menu isn’t much of an improvement.
Papi beverage director LyAnna Sanabria is featured in a Wine Enthusiast article entitled 8 Hispanic Drinks Pros Making an Impact on the Spirits and Cocktail Scenes.
Looking back at her own journey toward defining a sense of identity after settling in Maine, “I realized that I had always been hosting Puerto Ricans, people of color and the queer community through flavor and hospitality. I was the representation I was looking for and I could represent through the menu, flavors and the bar space as a whole.”
Ramona’s has announced that Chad Conley has sold his stake in the company to his co-founder Josh Sobel. Both Sobel and Conley have shared that it’s a friendly and mutually beneficial change for them both. Conley is looking forward to spending more time with his family.
No major changes are anticipated to the menu or overall program at Ramona’s.
Ramona’s initially opened as a takeout service in April 2020 and began seating customers indoors in March 2022.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a feature article about Joshua Miranda who leads The Miranda Group that operates Blyth & Burrows, Via Vecchia, Papi and Henry’s Public House.
The 51-year-old Munjoy Hill native developed his acumen as a restaurateur over decades of experience in the industry, starting when he was just 8 years old, working as a busboy at a restaurant in Raymond where his dad cooked. He recalled going behind the bar as often as 10 times a shift to make himself virgin tequila sunrises, fascinated by the stacked effect of the liquids.
“It felt comfortable, natural,” Miranda said. “I loved layering the grenadine over the orange juice and learning how much ice was the right amount. I really paid attention to it.”
StarChefs has released their list of Rising Stars in the Costal New England region.
In New England, cold, snowed-in nights turn into long, sunny beach days. In our over 100 editorial visits across Rhode Island, Maine, and the Massachusetts Islands, we found a group of industry professionals defying the odds of seasonality, embracing the unique challenges of an economy that burns hotter than the summer sun, and understanding how to keep themselves and their teams stimulated and engaged in the winter months. There is a serious focus on agriculture, aquaculture, as well as innovations in showcasing what is fished and farmed locally. From the Narragansett to the Casco, StarChefs is proud to welcome in our newest class of Rising Stars.
A number of Portland area chefs, restaurateurs and bartenders are on the list. Congratulations to all the honorees:
Read more about the Rising Star Awards Program on the starchefs.com website.