Phil Rosenthal and crew are in Maine this week filming an episode of his Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil.
Over the next 6 days they are planning on visiting a number of establishments in Portland, Biddeford and the Midcoast. The episode will be part of the 5th season of Somebody Feed Phil. A release date hasn’t been set yet.
The new food trucks keep coming. Here’s some information on three more:
The Clam Bar (instagram) is getting ready to open. The business is located at 199 West Commercial St. They will initially be opening with a food truck kitchen while the brick and mortar restaurant is still under development. September 1st is the target open date.
The Knitting Nook (instagram) in South Portland has expanded on the existing cafe offering with a food truck serving breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays.
A new food truck called Eat It & Beet It (instagram) is under development. Founder Lea Andrukaitis Verrill plans to serve a menu of gourmet beef and vegan/vegetarian burgers which will feature a beet burger she’s developed. Verrill hopes to open in late 2021 or early 2022. Verrill has worked the last few years as a pastry chef at Botto’s Bakery.
A new Maine cooking show called Plate the State (website, facebook, instagram) is currently taping their first set of episodes which are expected to air Sundays on News Center Maine at 11 am starting on October 3rd.
The show is co-hosted by former Union chef Josh Berry and Maggie Knowles who will be “sharing the stories of where our food comes from and how to enjoy it at home”.
The season premiere opens with a fly fishing adventure in Rangeley then how to make a trout dinner over a campfire at Cathedral Pines Campground. Throughout the 11-episode season, viewers will visit The Honey exchange, Slack Tide Sea Salt, The Apple Farm, and Mousam Valley Mushrooms amongst many others.
The New York Times has published an article about scallop aquaculture in Maine.
You certainly couldn’t tell that, just below the waves slapping against the hull, there were hundreds of thousands of sea scallops, swimming, squirting and cavorting in a series of nets, all part of Mr. Brewer’s aquatic farm.
Mr. Brewer and his son, Bob, pulled up a long algae-covered net and scooped scallops into a bucket of seawater, where they zipped around, moving a whole lot faster than you’d think bivalves could. Most would go to Glidden Point Oyster Farms. The rest were about to become lunch.
Belleville (website, instagram) has leased this building at 767 Forest Ave where they plan to build out a production bakery. The new bakery will nearly quadruple the size of their production space. A rotating rack oven and proofing equipment are on order and expected to arrive later this year. Belleville hopes to be back in full swing by the holidays and will keep up their occasional pop-up series in the meantime.
The new bakery will allow them to produce more baked goods more efficiently to meet the ever growing demand for their croissants, pizza and other foods.
The Munjoy Hill location will continue to be the retail shop for Belleville. However sometime in late 2022 or 2023 they may open a second retail location at the bakery on Forest Ave.
A Congolese takeout and delivery service called Taste of 243 (instagram) launched this summer in Westbrook. Owner Daniella Mawika offers up a weekly menu that includes chicken, beef, goat, Thomson fish, peanut butter stew, fufu, yellow rice and kwanga, as well as weekly specials. The 243 in the name of the business is a reference to the international calling code for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A recent graduate from USM with a degree in business and it’s Mawika’s dream to one day own a restaurant, and to make Congolese food to available to diners in Maine and beyond. As a next step Mawika is hoping to expand the catering side of the business.
Taste of 243 is open for business on Saturdays and Sundays. You can call or text in your order at (207) 409-5240 and pay either with cash, Venmo or Cash App.
A collision Saturday night put three catering employees from Lake & Co into the hospital emergency room.
On the way home from working a catering event, Jenn Marrone and two others were struck by a drunk driver going the wrong way on 295. Jenn is in critical condition with a severely injured leg. Two other passengers, who will remain anonymous for the time being, have critical injuries as well.
A Go Fund Me campaign set-up Sunday night has seen an outpouring of support in the first 24 hours it’s been up. 300+ people have donated more than $30k to help with medical bills and other related expenses.
In separate news, Cameron Graf, the sous chef at FLUX Restaurant and Bar in Lisbon Falls, suffered serious burns Saturday night and is in the ICU at Maine Med.
Graf sustained severe burns to his hands, arms, torso and legs in a cooking fire early Saturday afternoon. He was preparing a dish with alcohol when the alcohol splashed onto his uniform, causing it to catch fire, Lisbon Fire Chief Nate LeClair said Saturday.
A Go Fund Me campaign set-up on Sunday for Graf has seen a similar response with more than $27k raised so far with donations from 350+ people.