Category: General News

The Portland Phoenix has kicked-off their 2015 Best of Portland readership poll. The Phoenix readership poll is a 2 step process:

• Step 1 which just started, we nominate entries that are an especially strong candidates in any or all of the categories
• Step 2, later this month the Phoenix will publish a ballot summarizing the top nominees from each category for us all to vote on

There are a plethora of food and drink categories (Food Truck, Chef, Brunch Location, New Restaurant, Bakery, etc) to make nominations in there’s even one for Best Food Blog/Column.

Maine Craft Distilling has kicked off a $20,000 Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. They plan to use the funds to “outfit the kitchen and install the plumbing” for the 2nd floor of the building that houses their Freeport tasting room.

The Mallet Building is a 2 story, brick building located in downtown Freeport, Maine. The first floor of the building has already been outfitted as a tasting room but we will be expanding to the second floor to provide more local craft spirits, more local craft beer and also small plates from our small “Pop-Up” kitchen. We envision a full Maine Craft experience with local foods, music and of course….beverage. We plan on creating a kitchen where various Maine culinary establishments can expand and share their passion of food from food truck vendors, taquerias, to area chefs and beyond.  We want to make a place where Maine chefs can come and combine their passion with ours and those of local area brewers (which we will have on tap), local area vintner products and other local craft distillers. 

BDN blogger Zack Barowitz has put together a list of some of his favorite value-prived eats in Portland.

When eating out, value may be considered a combination of price, tastiness, and portion size. In other words, a hearty but somewhat “meh” meal for $5 would rate much higher than a slightly  better, but paltry, “eh” meal for $50. This helps level the bar and allows for comparisons between fine-dining and fast food and everything in between.

The March issue of The Bollard includes a feature article about Bonfire and on the history and changing nature of The Wild End of Wharf Street.

Portland Street breakfast restaurant Bintliff’s American Cafe is changing its  name to Bayside American Cafe. The current owners, Joe and Diane Catoggio, purchased the restaurant from Roger Bintliff in 2003. According to the press release,

The name change will be rolled out in the coming months. While the Catoggios are excited to embrace the cafe’s new identity, the message to their customers is clear: the name is the only thing changing. The menu, style and staff that diners have come to know and love will remain the same.

Today’s Press Herald reports on the negative impact the large number of snow storms are having on Portland restaurants.

Most of all, downtown restaurant owners dread parking bans. The owners are particularly upset that the city declared a 36-hour parking ban last weekend for a storm that dropped 2.3 inches of snow. The ban began at 10 a.m. Saturday – Valentine’s Day – prompting some restaurant managers to ask city officials to keep the tow trucks away until closing time. The city honored the requests.

The city in practice doesn’t begin towing cars downtown until 1 a.m., but many people don’t know that, so business suffers.

Update: The Forecaster and WMTW have also posted reports on the snow’s impact on restaurant sales.

The semifinalist nominees for the 2015 JBF Awards will be announced this Wednesday by the James Beard Foundation.

What Maine chefs and restaurants do you hope will be on the list?

For reference take a look at the semifinals lists from 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

The Press Herald has revisited Uncle Andy’s to learn what lasting impact there has been on the South Portland diner from their appearance last year on the show Restaurant Impossible.

But even though Fogg found plenty to argue with Irvine about, six months later he says that he can’t argue with the results. In the first few months after the Uncle Andy’s episode of “Restaurant Impossible” aired in August, the diner’s business increased roughly four-fold. That initial boost has leveled off, and today Fogg says the family-run place is doing about twice as much business as it did before the show.

The Press Herald reports that the Maine Revenue Service has shut down Don’s Launch in Westbrook.

A sign posted on the door by Maine Revenue Services says the business’ registration certificate “has been revoked for noncompliance” with state sales tax law. The agency would provide no further explanation and a spokesman for the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services said laws protecting personal taxpayer information prevent officials from providing specific details about the situation.

The Press Herald has published an update on the Don’s Lunch closure.

Today’s Press Herald takes a look at the growing population of food writers and expanding coverage of food in Maine and asks if

All the media coverage around food – blogs, new publications, the renewed commitment from established outlets – is it too much for Maine?