Cheryl Lewis Joins C Salt

Chef Cheryl Lewis has joined the team at C Salt where she’ll be taking the lead as the General Manager of the Cape Elizabeth market.

Lewis has spent the last several years working as executive chef at El Rayo. She was also the original owner of Aurora Provisions and tells me she’s looking forward to once again working at a retail store.

This Week’s Events: Beard Awards Gala, Star Wars Dinner, Vinland Pop-up, Pocket Flanagan

2015-02-11_21-36-56Monday — the James Beard Awards Gala is taking place in Chicago. I’m onsite for the event and will report on how our four Maine nominees fare as the winners are announced. Piccolo is holding a Star Wars themed dinner for May the Fourth.

TuesdayFrank Giglio of Three Lily Farm in Whitefield is the guest chef for a pop-up dinner at Vinland., and Oxbow is releasing Saison Dell’Aragosta brewed with Maine lobsters in collaboration with Del Ducato.

Wednesday — Black Tie is teaching a cooking class and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday — there will be a beer and cheese tasting at the Public Market House and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Smuttynose.

FridayChef Sam Hayward will be speaking at the TEDxPiscataqua event in Portsmouth.

SaturdayLeRoux is holding a wine tasting,  and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday — the Pocket Brunch crew are the featured chefs at a Flanagan’s Table event, Vignola/Cinque Terre is hosting an Alto Adige wine dinner.

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.

Phoenix Best of Portland Awards

phoenix2015The Portland Phoenix released the results this week from their 2015 readership awards poll. The Phoenix received over 20,000 votes for 650 nominees in 133 categories.

The 2015 competition for Best of Portland was fiercely competitive. We know Portlanders are passionate about  their city; 650 nominees duked it out to win their share of more than 20,000 local votes. The average number of votes was 200 to 500 per category, so we can safely say that all the nominees are local favorites with hundreds of fans and that the winners are truly loved by Portlanders.

You can see the full list of results online. There are categories 30+ food categories from Best Food Truck(El Corazon) to Best New Restaurant(Central Provisions).

2015bestofportlandPortland Food Map won both the Best Blog and Best Food Blog categories. Many thanks to all of you who voted for the site!

Press Hotel and Chefs Part Ways

The Press Herald reports that chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier are no longer involved in the project to launch M.C. Union, the new restaurant in The Press Hotel which is opening later this month.

For months, The Press Hotel and two of Maine’s best-known chefs have been trumpeting their partnership in a new venture – M.C. Union, the restaurant in the boutique hotel on Congress Street in Portland that’s expected to open in May.

Suddenly, in what a spokeswoman said was a mutual decision between the chefs and the hotel, that union is dissolving.

James Beard award-winning chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier have taken their initials off the restaurant and will not be involved in running it…