Category: General News

The Press Herald has published a report on the the City’s ‘pilot program’ which relocated food trucks on the street this summer.

Cameron Gardner, co-owner of Falafel Mafia, said he’s been disappointed with the pilot. “It hasn’t gone well,” Gardner said. “The only reason I’m here today is because I hadn’t booked any events.”

Gardner said his sales are down 30 percent to 40 percent compared to last year. He said business was slightly better over the summer during the height of the tourism season, but that overall the new location doesn’t have the same visibility and accessibility.

The city has fielded a survey to get the public’s feedback on the relocation of the food trucks this past summer.

The Press Herald has published a list of restaurants open on Monday nights.

To help simplify your search for a Monday meal, we’ve rounded up a few dozen restaurants in and around Portland that stay open. And because the labor shortage has forced many eateries to further reduce their days of operation, we’ve included whether they’re open Tuesday too.

A start-up company called DutchPot is working on a platform “to simplify the process of getting food permits and food licenses” in Maine.

They are gathering input from local food business owners to learn about the “struggles they face with the food permit and licensing process”.

You can help out by answering this short survey.

The Press Herald has published a report on the re-evaluation of the Eastern Prom food truck pilot program. You’ll recall it required food trucks on the road and into a lot halfway down the hill. Food trucks have reported a significant drop in sales at the new location.

Portland will gather feedback on its food truck pilot program on the Eastern Promenade this fall as some food truck operators say it hasn’t been working and they’re looking for changes ahead of next season.

Interim City Manager Danielle West said Monday the city is aiming to launch a survey Oct. 3 to gather feedback from the public. The program, which launched this spring, moved food trucks from the promenade road to a parking lot on Cutter Street to better manage concerns about trash, pedestrian safety and traffic around the trucks.

The Press Herald reports that Allagash Brewing plans to move their tasting room to Scarborough.

Allagash Brewing Co. plans to build a tasting room in Scarborough that will replace the one at its Portland brewery, which it says it’s outgrown.

The brewery’s current tasting area on Industrial Way, which has been outdoor-only since the start of the pandemic, will remain open until the new one is built at The Downs, a mixed-use commercial and residential development on the site of the former Scarborough Downs race track. Allagash announced Thursday that it plans to open the new tasting room, which will have both indoor and outdoor spaces, in 2024.

Tender Table (website, instagram) is compiling a directory of BIPOC-owned (Black, Indigenous, people of color) food businesses in Maine.

Business owners can add their business to the directory by filling in this online form.

For more information on Tender Table, see this recent article in the Maine Sunday Telegram., or visit their website.

An article in Atlas Obscura by Ann Pollard Ranco examines The Indigenous Origins of the Maine Lobster Bake, and

The clam and lobster bakes of New England are inspired by an ancient indigenous custom, one that long tied the Wabanaki people to our land and celebrated coastal living. To better understand the indigenous origins of this living tradition and partake in the ongoing movement to reclaim heritage foodways, I organized a bake with fellow members of the Penobscot Nation on our ancestral land. Before bringing this ancestral custom burning, steaming, and hissing to life, however, we needed to look to its origins.

a recent article in the Bangor Daily News reports on work by the chef at Bissell Brothers is doing to bring Native American dishes to the menu at the brewery’s Milo location.

Robbins, 32, started cooking professionally about 10 years ago, at the now-closed Wrong Turn Pub in Kenduskeag, He later managed a food truck in Bangor, and was a longtime cook at Brewster’s Fine Food and Drink in Brewer. Now he’s developed a menu for Bissell Brothers that combines high-end comfort food with the Native food he loves.

The new cohort of business leaders taking part in the Roux Institute’s 2022 Founder Residency program includes DutchPot  (website, instagram) co-founder Tamika Francis.

DutchPot is described as a digital platform for culinary collaboration that “curate[s] a trusted but dynamic map of collaborative business opportunities. The platform enables culinary creatives to connect, expand their teams, and work together on projects.”

Coffee by Design is now accepting applications for their Rebel Blend Fund which helps support Maine artists and small arts organizations. They are especially interested in “projects which somehow fall below the funding radar screen; projects that we believe are thought-provoking and engage people in the State of Maine in conversation.”

The Rebel Blend Fund is supported through the sale of CBD’s Rebel Blend coffee which is a blend of coffees from Asia, Americas and Africa. Coffee by Design donates $1 from each pound sold or brewed to the fund.

To apply for a Rebel Blend grant send in your application by the August 31st deadline.