The Bangor Daily News has reported on an uptick in coffee prices at some Maine shops.
The cause is threefold: A coffee leaf fungus called roya is killing crops in Central America, on top of a lengthy drought in Brazil. In addition, increasing transportation costs are making delivery of green coffee beans more costly.
The Press Herald reports on issues arising from the expansion of outdoor seating at the city’s restaurants.
For Bud Buzzell, a 72-year-old sight-impaired resident, the familiar sidewalks near his Congress Square home are increasingly a frustrating and dangerous maze caused by restaurants he contends are not providing the required 4 feet of pedestrian space.
“One is more or less copying the other and I’m very upset about it,” Buzzell said of the restaurants expanding into the sidewalks of his neighborhood. “And I know a lot of blind or visually impaired or disabled people who are very upset.”
South Portland has begun working on an ordinance that would allow food trucks in the city. You can see the factors under consideration on the South Portland website.
Sentry has also posted an article about the prospect of food trucks in South Portland.
The Bangor Daily News looks at the impact Small Axe is having on Congress Square Park.
“There are not a lot of places in the city to get outside and have lunch,” said Deuben, a chef who’s worked for Masa Miyake and at Hugo’s. “This gives people the opportunity to see what the park can be with a little effort. Just as we put a lot of thought and effort into our food.”
Urban Eye has a report on the new Vinland backdoor ice cream service which is slated to start next week.
To coax the timid to his locavore lair, Levi is using the back door in his kitchen (accessible from Congress Square Park) to hawk cones and homemade popsicles in flavors like cranberry and blueberry yogurt all summer long.
Maine a la Carte has information on how to be part of the Restaurant Impossible remake of Uncle Andy’s.
“Restaurant Impossible” airs on Wednesday nights and the episode featuring Uncle Andy’s will air sometime this summer. We can’t report on the transformation because that would spoil the TV surprise, but YOU can participate.
There are two ways to be involved: As a member of the volunteer crew or as a customer for the grand re-opening on Wednesday, June 11 at 7 p.m.
Stop by your local newsstand and pick-up a copy of Down East to read the Portland summer dining guide I authored June issue. The article maps out 6-day schedule that will take you to 35+ restaurants, bars, bakeries, markets and coffee shops across the city.
The article should be making its way online in the next week or so.
Chefs at Vinland and Hugo’s/Eventide are featured in this Wall Street Journal article about the New England local food movement,
Griddled until golden but still tender at the center, it arrived nestled up against crescents of delicata squash, in a pool of sage-scented melted goat cheese that evoked the world’s most rarified Welsh rarebit. A tousle of tiny arugula stems and sunshiny tatsoi blossoms topped it all off. The dish was simultaneously surprising and comforting. It tasted of place and possibility. And like everything else on the menu at Vinland, chef David Levi’s fledgling experiment in Down East cuisine, not one morsel of it had started life more than a few dozen miles from my mouth.
The Gorham Grind is in the last day of a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to launch their coffee food truck, Anywhere Coffee Bar (twitter). There goal is to raise $9,000 and they’re currently just shy of $6,000.
Update: The campaign reached it’s goal yesterday raising a total of $9,130.
Follow along with Portland Phoenix food columnist Kate McCarty on her visits to four local shops to learn more about coffee processing and coffee tasting.
While sipping the four samples, my thoughts went like this: “Hmm, tastes like coffee… also tastes like coffee… yup, coffee again… Woah!” The fourth coffee tasted radically different due to the processing method. The Ethiopian coffee from Slate was naturally processed, meaning the fruits of the coffee plant, called “cherries” (inside of which you’ll find the “bean” or seed), are dried in the sun rather than mechanically pulped and then dried. The resulting coffee frequently is full of berry flavors; this one tasted like someone had infused it with blueberry syrup.