Mainebiz reports on a joycott—the opposite of a boycott—taking place at the Public Market House next month.
The joycott works by encouraging locals to patronize a single business on a single day, and in return, the business pledges to reinvest a percentage of that day’s profits into environmental upgrades. After approaching several markets, Sullivan says the Public Market pledged the highest amount—51%.
The family, friends and colleagues of Chef Bob Smith have set-up the Chef Bob Smith Fund for Education in Farming and the Culinary Arts to “honor the memory of his skill as a cook, his generosity of spirit, and his contribution to Portland’s food community.”
Organizers have announced that the money will be used to provide grants to individuals who want to further their knowledge of food and farming, and the grants will be “awarded at the discretion of Cultivating Community’s Board of Directors.”
Here are the details on making a donation:
Send a check made out to ‘Cultivating Community’ to the address below, and be sure to indicate “Chef Bob Fund” in the memo line. You can also donate directly via the Cultivating Community website, www.cultivatingcommunity.org, and click “Donate Now”, and write “Chef Bob Fund” in the in honor of section.
For more information, please contact Craig Lapine at 207-761-GROW.
Cultivating Community
P.O. Box 3792
Portland, Maine 04104-3792
The discount pricing of Maine Restaurant Week is still a couple months away but there are some pricing specials out there now for anyone who blew their restaurant budget over the holidays:
What’s missing from the list? Post a comment and share what you know.
Slow Food Portland have announced the First Annual Young Food Writer’s Contest. The competition is open to “any student enrolled in public or private school, or being home schooled, in Cumberland County.”
To enter the competition students need to “write a short essay about food, which can be fiction or non-fiction, and written on the chosen theme.” For 2011 Slow Food has chosen “The Taste of Maine” for the theme. The winners will receive share in the CSA of their choice.
Deadline for entry is February 11, 2011. For all the details on the competition visit the Slow Food Portland website.
According to a report from the Portland Daily Sun, two lettuce bikini-clad PETA supporters were in the Old Port yesterday to promote veganism,
For the noon hour yesterday, the “Lettuce Ladies” — Tracy Patton and Hayden Hamilton, dressed in green bikinis with flaps that resembled pieces of lettuce — handed out vegetarian/vegan starter kits.
The Maine Restaurant Association has named Steve Corry the 2011 Chef of the Year, and the owners of Gritty’s, Ed Stebbins and Rchard Pfeffer, the 2011 Restaurateurs of the Year. The Bennett Family, owners of Oakhurst Dairy, were named Allied Member of the Year.
The awards will be presented at the MRA banquet this March in Portland.
The Portland Daily Sun has report on the liquor license hearing for Rockin’ Ricky’s Tavern that took place earlier this week,
If the ideal of urban commercial districts is diversity, then Portland Street between the Post Office and the Preble Street Resource Center is a work of planning genius. Along with Rockin’ Ricky’s and other bars, you have two of Portland’s culinary landmarks: Bintliff’s American Cafe and The [Back Bay Grill]. There are church-focused service centers, independent businesses and a union hall on the corner.
For additional reporting see the Forecaster.
Today’s Press Herald includes a review of the South Portland branch of DiPietro’s,
For $8.65 — the price of one lunch at many sandwich shops and restaurants — I got a dinner-sized portion of spaghetti and meatballs with grated cheese, plus a loaded ham Italian sandwich.
And both were great.
and an article about food safety issues at Portland Shellfish,
Jeffrey Holden, president and founder of Portland Shellfish, said Wednesday that the 35-year-old company has made sanitation improvements at its crab processing facility on Dartmouth Street in South Portland and its lobster and shrimp facility on Waldron Way in Portland.
This week’s Portland Phoenix includes a commentary on socio-economic class and the grocery cart,
I often like peeking in people’s carts at grocery stores — my maiden voyage into Trader Joe’s a couple months ago was no exception. I found myself thinking that most of the patrons (myself included) had quite a lot of processed food items in their carts. These are people who by and large would never be caught in Wal-Mart buying some off-brand frozen burritos yet in the right and proper setting, buying such things is a sign of how hip you are.
and a selection of 11 eats to try in 2011,
While new restaurants intrigue food critics and patrons alike, it’s the tried-and-true, the places that have established themselves as mainstays in Portland, that shouldn’t be forgotten in all the hype. Here’s a list of places not to be missed this year. It won’t make you thinner, fitter, or wealthier, just a lot more satisfied…
Brian Duff from the Portland Phoenix has put together some recommended business strategies for restaurants in the new year,
Another plan is to take advantage of government stimulus spending while it lasts. Hot Suppa! recently got a Community Development Grant to develop a dinner service that should find its feet in 2011…Other restaurants should pursue this strategy. There are a lot of unemployed college grads around who would probably write a grant application right at your bar for a free drink or two.