This Week’s Events

Monday — Stephen Lanzalotta is teaching a Piatto per Tutti cooking class.

Wednesday — Black Cherry Provisions and Black Tie Bistro are both teaching cooking classes, Overland Apiary’s beekeeper is teaching a class on Swarm Management.

Thursday — Alain d’Entremont from Scotia Harvest Seafoods will give a lecture titled The Pillars of Ocean Stewardship: A Harvester’s Perspective at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

Friday — the Flavors of Freeport food festival takes place Friday through Sunday.

Saturday — the indoor Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place, and Scarborough Wine Outlet is holding a wine tasting.

Sunday — the next Food Film (Like Water for Chocolate) is taking place, and the 24th Annual Chocolate Lover’s Fling is being held at the Holiday Inn by the Bay.

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.

20/20 Charity Wine

The Portland Phoenix has published an article about the 20/20 Charity Wine event, a collaborative venture run by five Maine wine distributors.

While the charity component is central to this event, organizers also see this as an opportunity to educate Portlanders about wines from different regions of the world. Many of the wine producers emerging from both Portugal and Spain have moved away from mass production and into specialty, high-quality “terroir” wines, from specific regions with distinct characteristics, says Jon Dietz of Belfast-based Easterly Wines. These specialized wines are what Easterly and the other four small wine distributors who participated in this event hope to bring to the attention of Portlanders.

The first 20/20 (taste 20 wines for $20 dollars) was held March 21 at The Salt Exchange. The next 20/20 will be co-hosted by Cinque Terre and Aurora Provisions and is taking place May 16

This Week's Events

Monday Bar Lola, BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe and Cinque Terre are all holding wine dinners tonight and Ri-Ra is hosting a wine event featuring “25 different wineries, taste over 100 different wines” to benefit the Cancer Community Center; Stephen Lanzalotta is teaching a Piatto per Tutti cooking class.
Tuesday — Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh is opening their “unique and explanatory” Seder dinner to the public as part of the National Jewish Outreach Program.
Wednesday — a “bourbon guru” will be at The Salt Exchange for a Jim Beam tasting.
Friday — the West End Deli is holding a wine tasting, also First Friday Art Walk is taking place and the restaurants will be busy so make your reservations soon.
Saturday — the indoor Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place, Leroux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting.
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 Week’s Events

Monday Bar Lola, BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe and Cinque Terre are all holding wine dinners tonight and Ri-Ra is hosting a wine event featuring “25 different wineries, taste over 100 different wines” to benefit the Cancer Community Center; Stephen Lanzalotta is teaching a Piatto per Tutti cooking class.

Tuesday — Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh is opening their “unique and explanatory” Seder dinner to the public as part of the National Jewish Outreach Program.

Wednesday — a “bourbon guru” will be at The Salt Exchange for a Jim Beam tasting.

Friday — the West End Deli is holding a wine tasting, also First Friday Art Walk is taking place and the restaurants will be busy so make your reservations soon.

Saturday — the indoor Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place, Leroux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting.

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.

Rosemont Wine Sale and Tasting Friday

Rosemont Market on Munjoy Hill is running a “buy any six bottles and take 15% off the price” wine sale all day today, and this afternoon they’re having a wine tasting at the store with the folks from SoPo Wines. Included in the tasting is Oyster River Villager from Warren, Maine which Rosemont describes it as “Wild but exceptionally well made white from Germanic varietals”.

Bonjour Fest Report

Josh Christie from Brews & Books has posted a report on Hop Press about last week’s Bonjour Fest at Novare Res.

When I made it up to the bar a couple days into the fest, there were still plenty of beers to choose from – many I’ve never had a chance to try before. Although people tend to thing of the US as the home for big, ballsy extreme beers, the international flair from the likes of Schloss Eggenberg, Mikkeller, Dubuisson and others meant there were some available beers I haven’t had at, say, extreme beer festivals.

Trader Joe Exploreation and Meatless Meetup

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a report from Meredith Goad, a self-confessed Trader Joe’s virgin, on her exploration of the TJ in Cambridge,

The bottom line: I didn’t have a religious conversion, but I do get why people are so in love with Trader Joe’s. And I think it would find a good niche here in Portland without compromising the existence of Whole Foods or any other local stores. The Wild Oats space seems like a perfect spot for Joe to move in.

and a Natural Foodie article penned by Avery Yale Kamila on the Meatout dinner taking place this Saturday at the Pepperclub.

As of Monday, more than 40 people had RSVP’ed for the all-vegan meal, and organizer Sarah Conroy is committed to finding seats for anyone else who’d like to attend. The dinner is part of the Maine Vegan Meetup dinners that Conroy coordinates each month; however, this particular meal is open to folks who aren’t members of the Meetup, as long as they reserve a spot in advance.

Latte Art Competition & Overland Apiaries

Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes a profile of Master Beekkeeper Erin Forbes and her business Overland Apiaries,

Last year, the honey that Erin collected from hives in six towns amounted to 6,000 pounds. That’s three tons. This year the hundred hives she now has under management are likely to yield 10,000 pounds. Before Scott began dabbling in beekeeping, Erin rarely used honey. A junky plastic bear from Hannaford languished in the depths of her kitchen cabinets. Now it’s white sugar that languishes there.

and an article about the TNT monthly latte art competition which is taking place at Bard Coffee this week on Thursday night.

With Bard, [Bob] Garver and co-owner Jeremy Pelkey are trying to change Portland’s perception of their daily dose of joe, and thinks that fostering a strong community of baristas will do much for the scene as a whole. “Many in this industry think coffee is an art form, a culinary experience as opposed to just ‘filling up’,” said Garver.

“I believe people are catching onto that now,” he added.