Category: Events

Mother’s Day is this Sunday and a number of Portland venues are offering special menus for what is one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants. Here are the ones I’ve heard about so far:

• DiMillo’s – call 772-2216 for more information
• Eastland Park Hotel – menu and pricing
• Eve’s at the Garden – menu and pricing
• Evangeline – call 791-2800 for more information
• Five Fifty-Five – hours
• Nakornping Thai – call 253-5311 for more information
• The Inn on Peaks Island – hours and pricing
• Twenty Milk Street – menu
• Verrillo’s – call 775-6536 for more information
• Vignola – menu and pricing
• Zackery’s – info

and there’s always the regular Sunday Brunch List to choose from as well.

The James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony is being held in New York tonight; Fore Street (Outstanding Restaurant) and chef Rob Evans of Hugo’s (Best Chef Northeast) are finalist this year. The weekly Food and Drink Trivia Contest is taking place tonight at Bull Feeney’s. On Tuesday, Five Fifty-Five is teaming up with Allagash Brewing to serve up a 6-course beer dinner. Black Tie Bistro is teaching a cooking class on Wednesday night. On Thursday there will be a wine dinner at David’s featuring wines from South Africa. The 2009 Food+Farm is taking place this week: lobsterman and researcher Ted Ames is speaking on Thursday, a pre-release screening of Food, Inc. is on Friday, eco-chef Bryant Terry is speaking on Saturday, and their are activities and class on gardening and farming throughout the weekend. On Saturday, the co-owners of Coffee by Design are giving a talk on the sourcing and blending of their coffees at PeRx-U-Up Cafe. Farmers’ Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday.  For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

Bar Lola is holding a wine dinner Tuesday evening contrasting wines of the same varietal from the Old World and the New. The Slow Food Book Group is meeting Wednesday, they’ll be discussing Down and Out in Paris by George Orwell. There are four classes scheduled this week: cooking clases at Piatto per Tutti on Monday and Black Tie Bistro on Wednesday; as well as Maine Ambassadors of Food and Drink classes on Tuesday and Thursday. There are two wine tasting: at the West End Grocery on Friday and Leroux Kitchen on Saturday. Sunday evening the next movie in the Food Film Series, Tampopo, will be screened at One Longfellow Square with dinner sourced from Miyake. Farmers’ Markets are being held in Monument Square on Wednesday and at Deering Oaks Park on Saturday. If you’re up for a road trip, Ruth Reichl, the Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine, will be speaking in Portsmouth on Friday night. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

There are a few late additions to this weekend’s calendar worth drawing attention to. This morning Cultivating Community is holding their 8th Annual Potato Planting and Farm Clean Up Day out at Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth. Go for the pancake breakfast and stay for the potato planting. This afternoon Rosemont Market is holding a tasting of some excellent wines from Burgundy. Tomorrow there will be a group of Belgian brewers and associated professionals at Novare Res where they will be “pouring hard to find draughts and rare bottles.” For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

More information has made it online about Sunday’s Deathmatch. Zack Bowen has published 300+ photos of the event, the Rabelais Books blog reports that the “marathon of mastication was a good one”, and Accidental Vegetables has a brief report but promises that she’ll have “a full report in Deathmatch Last Meal” soon. JohnnyD has continued to add to his thread about the event on the eGullet forum.

The Deathmatch crew reunited this weekend for another gastro-celebration. This time around they were tasked with answering what food, drink, company, music and setting they’d want for their last meal. See JohnnyD’s post on the eGullet forums for photos, menus and more.

Test you Portland culinary knowledge at Monday’s Food and Drink Trivia Night being held at Bull Feeney’s. According to The Maine Switch, the farmers’ market in Monument Square has started up ahead of schedule this year and will be open on Wednesday morning. This Wednesday afternoon there’s an open house at Portland’s community supported kitchen Local Sprouts. On Thursday, the Community Television Network will host a panel discusion on Maine Food Systems. Also on Thursday, The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beers from D.L. Geary Brewing. There are three classes scheduled this week: at Piatto per Tutti on Monday; as well as Maine Ambassadors of Food and Drink classes on Tuesday and Thursday. There are two wine tasting:  at Browne Trading on Thursday and Kitchen and Cork on Saturday. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

The second night of a two-part Maine Food & Drink Ambassador’s class on beer, wine, mead and spirits is taking place on Tuesday night at the Bar of Chocolate Cafe; and the first night of the Ambassador’s course on cheese is taking place at Horton’s on Thursday. On Tuesday, ‘Gasharoo, an all-Allagash event is on tap at Novare Res. On Thursday The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beers from Long Trail Brewing. The 10th Annual Best Of Portland readership poll results will be announced on Wednesday at a party to be held at the Port City Music Hall. There are two cooking classes scheduled this week: at Piatto per Tutti on Monday and Black Tie Bistro on Wednesday. There are three wine tasting:  at Old Port Wine Merchants on Wednesday, Leavitt and Sons on Thursday and Scarborough Wine Outlet on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the 5th Annual International Food Festival is taking place at SMCC. For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

This year’s Food+Farm is taking place May 8-10. It looks like a really good program.

• Ted Ames, lobsterman and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient who has gathered “oral histories from Maine fishermen to research the collapse of fish stocks”
• Bryant Terry, “eco chef, food justice activist”, and author of Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine and Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen
  
• An advance screening of “Food, Inc.“, a documentary about the industrial food industry by director Robert Kenner.
• A Cultivating Community Urban Garden Fair
• The Food+Farm University, organized  by MOFGA

Tickets for the Ted Ames, Bryant Terry and Food Inc. are on now sale.