Cupping Coffee in Portland

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.

Restaurant Impossible: Uncle Andy’s (Updated)

The Portland Daily Sun, The Forecaster and the Press Herald have published reports on the upcoming visit of Restaurant: Impossible to film a show at Uncle Andy’s.

On June 9, “Restaurant: Impossible” host Robert Irvine and crew will take over the 60-year-old diner from owners Dennis and Tina Fogg for a 36-hour, $10,000 marathon restaurant rescue mission before a grand re-opening June 11.

The breakfast-and-lunch diner staff, menu and aesthetic will get an extreme makeover – as well as some tough love – for an episode to be aired later this year.

From Away on Portland Food Book

From Away has published an article about Kate McCarty’s new book, Portland Food: The Culinary Capital of Maine.

Portland, Maine is fortunate to have so much incredible food, and even more fortunate to have such gifted local writers to document it. Kate McCarty’s new book, “Portland Food: The Culinary Capital of Maine” is the kind of volume you thumb through again and again, admiring its thoughtfulness, research, and the care the author took in crafting it.

Malcolm and Jillian have just completed their own book about Maine food and I am eagerly awaiting my copy from Amazon.

Under Construction: Danforth Inn

New owners of the Danforth plan eventually open a restaurant in the Inn, according to reports from the Press Herald and Bangor Daily News.

“I think the restaurant and how it looks needs a different concept. It will be fine dining like Natalie’s. It will also be relaxed fine dining like Natalie’s,” he said. “But we are looking at different cuisine and concepts and talking to different chefs right now to come up with something Portland would like to have, embrace and would also fit our brand and what our guests are expecting from us.” [PPH]

Sangillo’s, Joe’s, Hyatt Lounge, Lobster Away

In other recent food news:

Food Truck RFP

The City of Portland has put out an RFP for food trucks and carts that want to operate this summer in parks and other public spaces, according the Bangor Daily News and West End News.

The City of Portland has issued a Request for Proposals to seek qualified vendors to provide concession operations through the use of food trucks and push carts at seven locations throughout the city. The food truck locations include: Back Cove Trail, Congress Square Plaza, Deering Oaks Park parking lot, Western Promenade, and Kiwanis Pool parking lot. The push cart locations include: East End Beach, Lincoln Park, Kiwanis Pool parking lot, and Western Promenade.