The Blueberry Files has posted a survey of the newer restaurants on Washington Ave.
Category: General News
Don’s Lunch Moving
The American Journal reports that Westbrook-based food truck, Don’s Lunch, is in search of a new location.
The van, which doesn’t roll out at the end of each day, has been stationed in various Westbrook locations over the years, including Cavallaro’s Auto Repair, Bernie’s Auto and Friendly Gas. Bernier said he’s looking for a new location on a main road with good visibility.
Maine Food Sovreignty Law
The Press Herald has published an article about The new and revised food sovereignty law,
“People can have an idea and try it out in their home kitchen or on their farm,” said Heather Retberg at Quill’s End Farm in Penobscot, a Maine food advocate. “I have apples on my trees; I am now able to can and sell applesauce. Or my neighbor’s been coming here for years and saying, ‘Oh, I really love that goat cheese you make; can you sell it to me?’ and people have had to say no, and now they can say yes.”
Beard Leadership Award for Pingree
Rep. Chellie Pingree has received a leadership award from the James Beard Foundation,
Ungaro cited the fact that Pingree owns her own farm (on North Haven island) and has supported legislation that promotes healthy food, the organic food industry, and local and regional food systems. Pingree, she said, “really stands out as a politician who is bringing her own personal passion in terms of helping our agriculture systems be more organic and fresher, and to make the soil stand out as just as important as oil.”
Maine Gleaning Network
The Press Herald has published an article about the Maine Gleaning Network and the work they’re doing to fight hunger in the state.
Gleaning is the act of collecting excess fresh foods from gardens, farms and markets to provide it to people in need. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 100 billion pounds of food is thrown away each year.
How Chefs Develop Menus/Recipes and the Last Apple
Today’s Press Herald includes a feature article on how chefs develop recipes and menus,
Recipe development and testing goes on all the time in restaurant kitchens, but is especially intense in the weeks before opening a new place. It gives chefs the opportunity to make tweaks in dishes that can transform them from just OK into real crowd pleasers. It gives the kitchen staff time to become familiar with ingredients and techniques. And it can help chefs balance their overall menu.
and the final installment of the apple series by Sean Turley.
Russets and other late-season apples, by contrast, are typically crisp and crunchy. They contain high levels of acidity and sugar that play off each other in fascinating ways. The flavors run the gamut: from well balanced or cleanly sweet to floral, astringent or punchy tart, complicated flavors that no early season apple can replicate. Some people liken the taste of russets to pears. It’s the extra tree time to ripen that makes the difference.
$1M for Maine Food Businessses
The Press Herald reports that Maine will be receiving more than $1M in federal funding to “address a lack of food processing infrastructure and an inefficient distribution network”.
Maine businesses and food projects will receive over $1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including $500,000 designated for food processing and distribution in the Greater Portland area, according to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree.
The biggest single grant is to the Greater Portland Council of Governments, which will receive $500,000 for its project “Scaling for Growth in the Portland Foodshed.”
Apple Foraging
The Press Herald has published the penultimate article in their apple series.
“You don’t even have to go to a rural part of Maine to find wild apples,” said Abbey Verrier, co-founder of Rocky Ground Cider in Newburgh and an avid wild apple forager. “Just start on your road and go check out the trees because there are a ton of interesting varieties that are free for the picking.”
Shared Spaces
An article in today’s Press Herald reports on restaurants that sublease access to their space to second business during off hours.
The idea of restaurants sharing their kitchens has been coming to life all over the country in the past three to five years, and the trend has recently reached Maine. Portlanders may immediately think of the former Good Egg Cafe and Pepperclub, restaurants that were housed in the same Old Port space. But today’s arrangements are different. The Good Egg and Pepperclub were owned by one person, while these new arrangements are marriages of two or more businesses and take shape in myriad ways.
Fall Issue of Edible Maine
The latest issue of Edible Maine has hit newsstands. It includes:
- Advice from chefs on throw holiday parties
- An article by John Myers on bourbon and rye cocktails
- An interview with Michael Landgarten, owner of Bob’s and Lil’s in Kittery
- A profile of David Buchanan, ciderman and orchardist