WGME and the Press Herald have pushed reports on yesterday’s fire at Fore Street.
Standard Baking is expected to open as usual today. Fore Street is not planning to reopen until Saturday.
Category: General News
Liquor License for Rising Tide
The Press Herald has published a report on the City Council’s approval of a new liquor license for Rising Tide.
Portland city councilors have rushed through a liquor license for a local brewery despite a warning from the city attorney that doing so would violate the city’s zoning rules and code of ordinances, and go against precedent it set in dealing with a competing brewery.
2019 Beard Award Nominee
The list of nominees for the 2019 James Beard Foundation awards were released today.
There is one nominee from Maine this year. Rob Tod from Allagash Brewing Co. is a nominee in the Outstanding Wine Beer or Spirits Professional category.
This year’s semifinalists were announced in February. The 2019 award winners will be announced on May 6th at the Awards Gala in Chicago.
Related information:
- Award and Nomination Process – learn more about the award nominations process.
- James Beard in Portland – James Beard taught several days of cooking classes in Portland in 1964.
The Down East Food Issue
The new issue of Down East is out and it’s all about Maine Food. The articles include:
- A discussion of some of the leading female chefs of Maine
- A list of the 35 “Maine-iest” Foods
- An article by Guest Editor Sam Sifton
- A look at the diverse cuisines being served on Forest Ave
- An article about American Unagi
- A profile of a 97-year old lobsterman
- and a lot more
Most of the articles are not yet available online.
Coffee Roasters
The number of local coffee roasters has significantly expanded over the past decade and many run cafes where you can try their coffee such as Arabica, Bard, Coffee by Design, Speckled Ax, Tandem in Portland, and Elements and Time & Tide in Biddeford.
But there are also a growing number of roasters you can try by visiting coffee shops and restaurants that don’t roast their own and have opted to bring in beans from elsewhere in the state or the country. Here are the ones I know of:
- Acadia Coffee – Scratch Toast Bar
- Astro Coffee – More & Co
- Bucklyn Coffee – Lolita or Forage
- Carrabassett Coffee – Crooked Mile Cafe
- Crossroads Coffee Beans – Terlingua
- Flight Coffee Co. – Proper Cup
- George Howell Coffee – HiFi Donuts
- Parlor Coffee – Cong Tu Bot or Rose Foods
- Seacoast Coffee – Central Provisions, Omi’s Coffee Shop or Good News
- Speedwell Coffee Roasters – The Purple House
- Stumptown – Giant
- Swift River Coffee Roaster – Mainely Wraps
- Vivid Coffee Roasters – Little Woodfords
Strata & Vegan Cakes
The Food & Dining section in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes articles on the Strata cutlery shop on Washington Ave,
Strata, which opened Feb. 1, is located in one of the shipping containers that entrepreneurs are renting for retail space on Portland’s East End, a busy neighborhood of restaurants and bars. Knife shopping there is an education and an experience unlike anything you’ll get at Williams-Sonoma or other big stores that sell knives by the block. Atwell trades in artisanal Japanese and French knives, but also knives crafted here in Maine – beautiful handmade pieces that look as if they belong in a museum. “I try to stay away from machine-built stuff as much as possible,” he said.
and one on the availability of vegan cakes in Maine.
But vegan cakes aren’t just a Portland thing. They are coming out of the oven at bakeries across the state. It’s a trend fueled by two factors: more people eating vegan, and more people avoiding dairy products and eggs due to allergies and intolerances. This availability of vegan cakes is a marked change from even a few years ago.
TLK Reservations
The Lost Kitchen has released details of their 2019 reservation process. It follows the same pattern as last year, so dust off your stack of 3×5 cards, find an envelope and a stamp and get your letter ready to mail on April 1st.
Source Awards
The Press Herald is seeking nominees for this year’s Source Sustainability Awards. Past year’s winners have included butchers, grocers, aqua-cultivators. If you know of a person or organization (or are one yourself) that are “contributing to the state’s environmental well-being” then take a moment to nominate them for consideration.
Hyperlocal & Cocktail Burgers
A pair of Portland restaurants have gotten some national press:
- Neil Ross from Little Giant was one of the featured chefs for an article in Esquire about using cocktails as inspiration for specialty burgers.
- Chef/owner David Levi was featured in a Marketwatch article about “hyperlocal” restaurants.
Yankee: Boston vs Portland
Yankee magazine has published an article comparing the Portland and Boston food scenes, and declaring a winner.
Clearly, it’s time to sweep away some assumptions and compare Boston and Portland side by side, category by category, setting aside the buzz and that Vacationland glow. What is really the best food town in New England? And what does that title even mean?