Category: Events

Maine Summer Food Festivals

| Posted in General News, Events

Today’s Press Herald has assembled a round-up of summer Maine food festivals,

Mainers love good food, and in the summer they love to celebrate it.

Lobster, blueberries, potatoes, even that love-it-or-hate-it soda known as Moxie – Maine has long shared its affection for such bounty through summer food festivals. This year, three new festivals will be joining the mix, all in southern Maine.

and includes an article about omnivores who order vegan and vegetarian dishes when eating out.

For years, chefs and restaurant owners across Maine have told me how their vegan dishes are being snapped up by meat-eating customers. So I decided to investigate further. What I discovered is a sizable group of people who eat meat at home but order vegan meals when they dine out.

This Week’s Events: Lobster Conf, Night Kitchen, Austrian Wine, Montenidoli, Blyth & Burrows, Bier Cellar

| Posted in Events

Monday – the first day of the 5-day 11th International Conference & Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management taking place at the Holiday Inn by the Bay.

Tuesday – Opening night of the Night Kitchen Musical at Portland Stage, and TempoArt is holding a benefit at Bunker Brewing.

Wednesday – Winemakers and owners of 8 Austrian wineries will be at The Well for a grand tasting event of 50 Austrian wines, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – Winemaker Elisabetta Fagiuoli from Montenidoli will be at Maine & Loire for a tasting, and a Year of the Rooster dinner is taking place at Zen Chinese Bistro.

Friday – it’s the official opening day of Blyth and Burrows (facebook), a new cocktail bar on Exchange Street. The 2017 Allagash Victoria Ale release is taking place at the Victoria Mansion, and the Munjoy Hill Rosemont is holding a wine tasting.

Saturday – the Bier Cellar is holding a party to celebrate their 5th Anniversary with tastings by 10 brewers and importers, LeRoux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – the 44th Annual Old Port Festival is taking place.

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.

The Night Kitchen

| Posted in Events

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about The Night Kitchen, a musical being produced at Portland Stage to raise funds for Preble Street.

Charmingly cheesy jokes are interspersed with more serious moments where the audience gets to see – and hear – the rhythm of a restaurant kitchen, its pleasures and its very real stresses, too. (Hear it, in syncopated songs like this: “Cut thin – mince, dice/Pound well – add spice/ Just so – precise/Chop once – chop twice/Strike match – stir rice/Chill well – on ice/Oh yeah – that’s nice.”)

This Week’s Events: Memorial Day, Yobo Opening, Cocktail Conference, Beer Camp, Portersfield Cider Tour, Night Kitchen Musical

| Posted in Events

Monday – it’s Memorial Day.

Tuesday – Paciarino is kicking their monthly wine club.

Wednesday – the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – Portland’s new Korean restaurant, Yobo, is scheduled to open, and The Great Lost Bear is featuring some beers to provide a sneak peak of Beer Camp.

Friday – it’s the first day of the New England Cocktail Conference.

Saturday – the Portland edition of the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Tour is taking place on Thompson’s Point, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – Portersfield Cider is giving an orchard and cider making tour at their facility in Pownal. The orchard includes includes “over 250 rare apple and pear varieties”…participants will “learn about the history and ongoing revival of cidermaking in Maine [and participate in a] tasting of [Portersfield] hard ciders.”

Night Kitchen – June 6 through 17 the Night Kitchen Musical is being staged at Portland Stage.

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.

Staff Training, David Levi, VegFest

| Posted in Events, People

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an article on how restaurants train their staff to be ready for the summer season,

The summer tourist season is looming, and Maine restaurants are gearing up. That means hiring extra wait staff and training them to deal with all kinds of situations, before their businesses get insanely crowded. It’s a common rite of spring, for both destination restaurants with national reputations and more casual spots that cater to the shorts-and-T-shirts crowd.

the first article in a three part series written by David Levi about his restaurant Vinland,

“Restriction” is a word I sometimes hear when people first hear about our concept at Vinland, where every ingredient in every dish is local. I counter with two words: “form” and “mission.” To be clear, Vinland is a restaurant, not a concept. At the most basic and real level, it is a place to eat, drink, enjoy company, relax, be delighted and have fun. Like any restaurant. So what makes this restaurant unique? Actually, a fair number of things, but they all boil down to form and mission.

and an overview of the upcoming vegan food festival, VegFest.

This Week’s Events: Forgotten Farms, Latte Art Competition, Moroccan BBQ Pop-up

| Posted in Events

Monday – Space Gallery will be screening the movie Forgotten Farms.

Tuesday – the Cooperative Extension will be holding a class on buying local meats.

Wednesday – Hugo’s is holding a chef’s dinner featuring food and wine from Spain, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – there will be a Latte Art Competition at Tandem, a Burgundy wine dinner at Petite Jacqueline,  and a beer tasting at the Public Market House, and the Great Lost Bear will be featuring beer from Peak Organic.

Friday – there will be a wine tasting at the Rosemont Market on Congress Street.

Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – Falafel Underground will be serving a pop-up Moroccan BBQ dinner at Oxbow.

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.

Lobster Roll Competition Semi-Finalists

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Down East has released the list semi-finalists that will compete on July 8th in the World’s Best Lobster Roll event on Thompson’s Point:

  • The Lobster Lady — Phoenix, Arizona
  • The Clam Shack — Kennebunk, Maine
  • Bob’s Clam Hut — Kittery, Maine
  • Cousins Maine Lobster — Los Angeles, California and various locations
  • C-Ray Lobster — Bar Harbor, Maine
  • Bite Into Maine — Cape Elizabeth, Maine
  • The Highroller Lobster Co. — Portland, Maine
  • Northern Maine Community College — Presque Isle, Maine
  • Eventide Oyster Co. — Portland, Maine
  • Luke’s Lobster — New York, New York and various locations
  • Freshies Lobster Co. — Park City, Utah
  • Stonington Ice Cream Company — Stonington, Maine

This Week’s Events: Portland Foodscapes, Noble BBQ Pop-up, Street Eats, Kosher BBQ

| Posted in Events

Monday – there will be a meeting of Portland Foodscape Allies at Local Sprouts.

Wednesday – the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – there will be a Collective Arts Brewing tasting at the Bier Cellar.

Friday – Noble Barbecue will be providing a  preview of the menu of their upcoming Riverton restaurant during a pop-up at Oxbow, and there will be a wine tasting at the Rosemont Market on Brighton Ave.

Saturday –  the annual Street Eats and Beats food truck festival is taking place, Immigrant Kitchens is teaching a Dominican cooking class, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – Novare Res is celebrating their 9th Anniversary, and the 4th Annual Holy Smokes! Kosher Barbecue is taking place.

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.

Cousins Maine Lobster

| Posted in Events

Cousins Maine Lobster is holding an event on the Maine Wharf on Thursday May 11th 4-6pm to launch their new Maine-based food truck. Cousins was founded in Los Angeles by cousins Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis, originally from Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth, and now operate “26 trucks and 1 brick-and-mortar in 11 markets” with plans to expand to Taiwan.