Repeal Day Ball Tickets

Tickets are now on sale for the Rum Riots Prohibition Repeal Day Ball taking place this December 6th at the Maine Charitable Mechanics Association ball room.

Cristina Klein from Sonny’s, Patrick McDonald from Central Provisions and Andrew Volk from the Hunt + Alpine Club will be the featured bartenders for the evening.

On December 5, 1933, America’s long story of Prohibition ended. Come celebrate Repeal Day with cocktails, live music and more. Get dressed in your 1930-era finest and dance the night away!

Reviews: The Sinful Kitchen & Bogusha’s

The Bollard has reviews Bogusha’s,

The food was good, hearty fare, and paired well with the porter. The placki ziemniaczane ($7.50) are fried potato pancakes, soft as pillows inside and about as flavorful. A little salt and a dollop of sour cream liven them up. We also had the Polish Platter ($14.50), a sampling of specialties from the Old Country.

and The Sinful Kitchen.

It’s just that kind of thoughtful, personal service that makes this place special. Yes, the prices are a bit on the high side, and there are certainly other places in town where you’ll find food that’s just as good, or even better. But if your diet is restricted for any reason, you’re unlikely to find a better brunch or more accommodating, friendly staff than those awaiting you at The Sinful Kitchen.

Good Food Awards: 8 Maine Finalists

Congratulations to the 8 Maine food producers that have earned a place as Finalists for the 2016 Good Food Award:

The winners in all categories will be announced at the GFA awards ceremony and gala on January 15, 2016 in San Francisco.

Here’s some background on the Good Food Awards program,

The Good Food Awards were created to redefine ‘good food’ as being tasty, authentic and responsible. We aim to set criteria for entry that are realistic and inclusive of food and drink producers who have demonstrated a commitment to be part of building a tasty, authentic and responsible food system, going far above and beyond the status quo for their industry, while not making them so strict that eligible participants are limited to a small handful of products.

Reviews: Tandem Bakery, Street & Co.

The Press Herald has published a lunch reaview of Tandem Bakery,

The turkey is layered in thick slices, and adorned with baby lettuce, spicy greens and jalapeno pickles for a kick…What made this sandwich great was its completeness. Every detail was attended to: The turkey was fresh, the greens crisp and the bread tasty and easy to eat with two hands. And as silly as this might sound, the mayo-mustard spread was divine – just the right amount, in just the right consistency over all the right parts of the bread.

and a bar review of Street & Co.

Street & Co.’s bar and lounge section offers a cozy surrender from its bustling dining room and open kitchen. You’ll likely be elbow-to-elbow with neighbors at the bar as you devour fresh Maine oysters, or you can stretch out in one of the several lounge sections with a cocktail and affordable bites ($4.50-5.50).

Interview with Rivalries’ Lance Meader

The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with Lance Meader, owner of Rivalries.

LO: Why did you decide to open a sports bar?
LM: I come from a sports background and a sports family. My dad’s been a college basketball coach for 40 years, and was a college baseball coach for 20 years. I was an athlete in college and I originally had a business partner who I bought out six or seven years ago — Jeff Libby — who was a former professional hockey player. We grew up together and were both living in Portland at the time … we were in our 20s at the time and going out and there wasn’t really a (sports) place to go. We just thought that no one else is going to do it, we might as well do it.

Under Construction: Fore River Brewing

Fore River Brewing(twitter, facebook, instagram) received license approval from the South Portland city council Monday evening.

Co-owner John LeGassey tells me they have a few last tasks to complete to make the brewery operational and hope to start brewing their first official batch two weeks from now. If all goes according to plan, they will open to the public sometime in December.

Review of Central Provisions

Tiny Urban Kitchen reviewed Central Provisions.

The food is excellent.

I love the fact that the dishes are inspired by ideas from so many different cultures – everything from the Mediterranean eggplant hummus and the French foie gras and bone marrow dishes to the Korean BBQ steak and the togarashi spiced green beans. I especially love it because Chef executes these crazy combinations so well.

Though the lines are crazy long*, it’s totally worth it.

Latte Art Competition

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article on last week’s barista latte art competition.

The designs are ephemeral: Their shape and definition starts to fade after a couple of minutes. But latte art is taken seriously enough that, in 2006, the Specialty Coffee Associations of Europe and America founded the World Latte Art Championship. (Next year, it will be held in Shanghai.) The U.S. Latte Art Championship followed in 2014.

Maine’s Latte Art Throwdown, which assesses only free pours, doesn’t take itself quite so seriously, but it’s still packed with talented local latte artists who are looking to improve their work.

Bard Coffee manager Brittany Feltovic won the final round. The next latte art throwdown will take place at Elements in Biddeford in February.