Category: General News

There’s a feature story about Cold River Vodka on the front page of today’s Maine Sunday Telegram.

When Chris Dowe looks at the three one-ton bags of potatoes in the distillery, he sees vodka in the raw. The characteristics of the potatoes remain key as they are cooked into a soup that is fermented into wine and triple-distilled. Even after the alcohol is mixed with water, Dowe can trace the vodka’s origins back to the potatoes.

Portland in a Snap has a report on the changes underway at Styxx.

One of the most notable changes the new owners have made is the addition of a tapas menu, with pub standards priced at $5 or $7. Happy hour runs from 4-7 pm Monday-Friday and comes with $4 martinis, $3 well drinks and $1 drafts. Those drafts include Allagash White, Sam Adams, Stella, Shipyard Pumpkinhead and Bud Light.

The Munjoy Hill News has published an update on the sale of the Hilltop Coffee Shop.

“There are 3 or 4 local people seriously  interested in buying the property and the business,” said [owner Luke] MacFadyen late this afternoon at the Shop.  Several are in the restaurant business already and several are not,” he added.  But so far no one has made an offer on the property which is listed at $450,00 with Jim Landry.

Allagash Tripel came in second place (out of 58 entries) in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category (#66) at last week’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

PopTech has published the list of speakers for their upcoming conference taking place next month in Camden. There’s a strong food vein running through the program this year with journalist Michael Pollan, urban farmer Will Allen, wine expert Phillipe Newlin, and eating designer Marije Vogelzang all on the schedule.

People who saw Rabelais included in the list of restaurants in the recent New York Times article about Portland have been calling the bookstore for dinner reservations.

One of the unforeseen results of the New York Times piece has been the repeated calls we have been getting for reservations. We are included in the listing of “Where to eat in a city of abundance”, in the context of all those restaurants. So folks eager to eat at some of Portland’s finest have been calling our number to reserve a table. The desperation in some of their voices has led us to believe that our good friends also mentioned in the story have been booked solid.

The Press Herald has followed up with some of those mentioned in this week’s New York Times article on Portland food  to see what the impact of the “second course of food glory” has had on their businesses.

Potocki made three dozen extra bagels Thursday in anticipation of a rush. He still sold out of some items on his menu by 2 p.m., which is unprecedented for him. He said he was seeing a lot of new customers from other suburbs, such as Falmouth and Cumberland.

“It’s been pretty major,” Potocki said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, to tell you the truth.”

The Portland Phoenix has published a brief look back at what changes the past decade has brought to Portland’s restaurant landscape.

Just 10 years ago, when there were a handful of “foodie” enclaves, no one could have imagined the proliferation to come. Sam Hayward and Rob Evans would each take home the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northeast. The Commissary and the Portland Public Market would come and go, but more would come: Vignola, 555, Cinque Terre, Hugo’s, Salt Exchange, Grace, Farmer’s Table, Bar Lola, Caiola’s, Blue Spoon, Local 188, Evangeline, Bresca, Miyake .

Mainebiz has published an article on Ocean Approved Co.’s new lease to farm kelp in Casco Bay.

“Kelp aquaculture is a $7 billion a year industry worldwide,” says Paul Dobbins, president of Ocean Approved. “Twenty-eight countries now cultivate kelp, but it’s not happening here in the United States. That’s too bad because this is an aquaculture product that is beneficial to the environment. There is zero discharge, we don’t feed it any fertilizer, and it’s highly nutritious. We see tremendous opportunity for growing vegetables that don’t require freshwater, fertilizer or any arable land.”