Category: Events

The staff at the Black Point Inn collaborated with chef Rob Evans and Brian Hill on a 6-course meal that raised $30,000 to fight hunger in Maine.

Black Point Inn staff donated their time to work the event, our food vendors and wine merchants donated all product and 100% of all proceeds  – $30,000 went to the cause. Every dollar raised will connect a child to 10 meals, so with the generosity of the Black Point Inn community, we helped provide 300,00 meals in Maine – 6th in the nation for “severe food insecurity.”

The Captain Fairfield Inn in Kennebunkport is hosting a food event series this winter that will feature a number of people from the Portland food community:

• November – food preservationist and author of The Blueberry Files Kate McCarty will teach a class on pickling and canning
• January – Allagash brewmaster Jason Perkins will be sharing a set of limited edition and special seasonal beers
• March – Erica Archer from Wine Wise will be leading a discussion on pairing wine and seafood
• April – cheese expert Shannon Tallman will share some her favorite cheeses and discuss pairing them with Maine beer, cider, mead and wine

Other events in December, Februarywill focus on cocktails and chocolate.

Tuesday — Bar Lola’s Tuscan wine dinner was so popular that they’re repeating the event this week.

Wednesday — Calabash in South Portland is holding a cigar dinner, there will be a wine tasting at RSVP, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — there will be a cheese and organic wine tasting at the Public Market House, there will be a beer/mead/cider/wine tasting at Bier Cellar, Oxbow Brewing will be featured at the Great Lost Beer’s weekly brewery showcase and Bard Coffee is hosting the TNT Latte Art Barista Competition.

Friday — Tandem Coffee is holding a coffee cupping, there will be a beer tasting at the West End Deli, and it’s the first day of Oktoberfest at Novare Res.

Saturday — Bunker Down Fest is raising funds for the Portland Farmers Market, Rising Tide is holding an open house, it’s the second day of Oktoberfest, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place. If you’re looking for an excuse to get out of town consider the Maine Lakes Brew Fest in Caso Maine.

Sunday — Cloak & Dagger #7 is taking place, it’s slated to be an 8-course vegetarian dinner.

All This Week — the Cumberland County Fair is taking place in Cumberland Maine.

All This Month — DiMillo’s, East Ender, Five Fifty-Five, Grace and Petite Jacqueline are all participating Share Our Strength’s Dine Out for No Kid Hungry program to raise funds to fight hunger. Check this map for the nature of each restaurant’s program.

Freedom Farm Dinner — Local 188 & Sonny’s are holding a dinner at Freedom Farm in Freedom Maine October 20th to benefit the Portland Farmers Market. The evening will consist of a farm tour followed by a 5-course dinner with pairings. Tickets are $70 per person and are available for sale online.

Le Semaine du Gout — Petite Jacqueline is planning a Week of Taste as “a celebration of dinning, agriculture and education”. Each night Monday through Friday during the week of  October 15-19 “will feature a different culinary theme and create a 3-course prix fixe menu”. Call (207) 533-7044 for reservations.

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.

Tuesday — the monthly local foods networking breakfast is taking place at Local Sprouts, Bar Lola is holding a Tuscan wine dinner, and it’s Growler Nite at Bunker Brewing.

Wednesday — Frog & Turtle is celebrating their 5th anniversary with a 5-course wine dinner, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — there will be an Austrian wine tasting at the Bier Cellar., and Devenish Wines will be at Aurora Provisions for an Autumn wine tasting.

Friday — BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe is holding a wine dinner, a new restaurant called Gather is scheduled to have their grand opening, it’s the first day of the Common Ground Fair in Unity and there will be a beer tasting at the West End Deli.

Saturday — Sea Change Cooking is teaching a vegan cooking class see there website for a full list of classes taking place this Fall, chef David Turin will be preparing a 4-course wine dinner in Kingfield to benefit Maine Huts & Trails, Space Gallery is hosting a lunch called From Sandwich to Shirt where the food scraps will be used as part of a fabric dyeing demonstration,  it’s the 2nd day of the Common Ground Fair, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — Vignola/Cinque Terre is holding their 8th Annual Harvest Dinner at the Grand View Farm in Greene.

All This Month — DiMillo’s, East Ender, Five Fifty-Five, Grace and Petite Jacqueline are all participating Share Our Strength’s Dine Out for No Kid Hungry program to raise funds to fight hunger. Check this map for the nature of each restaurant’s program.

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.

Monday — Broadturn Farm is hosting a dinner catered by Aurora Provisions to benefit the Scarborough Land Trust’s Broadturn Fund.

Wednesday — chef Matthew Delisle from L’Espalier will prepare a 7-course dinner at Five Fifty-Five, there will be a cider and cheese tasting at the Public Market House and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Friday — white russians will no doubt be consumed in mass quantities at this year’s Viva Lebowski festival taking place at Bayside Bowl? It’s the first day of Cask Fest at Novare Res.

Saturday — the Cape Elizabeth Kitchen Tour is taking place, there will be a wine tasting at Kitchen & Cork, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place. It’s the last day of Cask Fest at Novare Res.

Sunday — it’s Open Winery Day in Maine, the 13th Annual Trail to Ale is taking place, Dan Agro is leading mushroom walk on the grounds of Evergreen Cemetery, the 5th Annual Eco Appetito is taking place and Kitchen & Cork is hosting a baking contest.

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.

This afternoon Hugo’s is preparing the meal for a sold out 100+ guest dinner at Green Spark Farm in Cape Elizabeth. The meal is part of the Outstanding in the Field program which organizes similar farm to table events all around the country and internationally.

There’s an article in today’s Press Herald announcing Bunker Down Fest, a party/fund-raising effort to keep to the credit/debit/EBT card program at the market up and running.

The gathering at the East Bayside brewery will include the chance to eat well, rub elbows with local farmers and chefs, play games and listen to local music. Farmers are donating fresh vegetables, cheeses, chickens and whole pigs for an omakase-style spread prepared by some of the town’s best culinary talent. The protein on the menu will include smoked and roasted pork, charcuterie and spit-roasted local broilers.

The event is scheduled for September 29, 2-8 pm at Bunker Brewing in East Bayside.

According to MPBN, a new grist mill is holding their grand opening this weekend in Skowhegan. The mill is a part of the infrastructure needed for Maine to develop greater self sufficiency in where its food comes from.

Turning a jail into a grist mill made perfect sense to Lambke, who had been looking for a way to contribute to the community transformation and restore a lost art to central Maine. “New England was once a major producer of grains and we wanted to revive that here in Maine,” she says. “There were bakers that were eager for local grains and farmers willing to grow it.”

For additional information see reports from the Press Herald, WABI and WLBZ.

The Maine Law Review has issued a call for “papers for oral presentation at its Food Law Colloquium“. The colloquium is tentatively scheduled for February or March of 2013. It will deal with issues such as,

local food ordinances and states’ rights movements; the effects of the 2012 Farm Bill on small-scale agriculture; food safety and security; judicial responses to competing interests of seed patent owners and farmers; the challenges of securing financing for farmland conservation; administrative hurdles confronting the seafood industry; cooperatives and securities law; comparative analyses of food law frameworks; and emerging issues in food law.

It sounds like it could be a real interesting event to attend.

Monday — it’s Labor Day, Shipyard is holding a “Summer Ender-Bender” pig roast and party at The Inn on Peaks Island to benefit Maine Coastal Conservation Association.

Wednesday — there will be a launch party for Portland, Maine Chef’s Table at the Portland Art Museum, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — Cultivating Community’s tenth Twilight Dinner of the summer is taking place (tickets available online), and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Baxter Brewing, and Bier Cellar is holding a tastings.

Friday — there will be a bourbon tasting at The Salt Exchange and a wine tasting at the West End Deli. It’s First Friday Art Walk on Friday so it’s best to make your reservations soon in order to get a table.

Saturday — Hugo’s will be participating in a sold out Outstanding in the Field dinner at Green Spark Farm in Cape Elizabeth, Maine Foodie Tours is leading an island dinner cruise, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — the Black Point Inn is holding a dinner to benefit Share Our Strength, the 8th Annual Soil to Supper is being held at Rippling Water Farm, and it’s Maine Apple Sunday.

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.