The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for this year’s JBF awards.
Sadly, none of the 8 semi-finalists from Maine made it through to the final list this year.
Category: General News
Change in Ownership at Hugo’s
According to their liquor license application filed with the city, partners Arlin Smith, Michael Wiley and Andrew Taylor are in the process of buying Hugo’s from the current owners, chef Rob Evans and Nancy Pugh.
Smith, Wiley and Taylor are not new faces at Hugo’s. They’ve served as the general manager, chef-de-cuisine and sous chef at the restaurant for the past 2 years.
A letter filed with their application states,
Today Hugo’s is a restaurant with a firm footing, a national reputation and a loyal following of vacationers and locals alike. With continuity as its primary goal, AMA LLC proudly accepts the responsibility, passed down from Rob and Nancy, to lead Hugo’s into another profitable decade. We are confident that the transition of ownership will be seamless: employees, patrons and our purveyors will continue to enjoy their profitable relationship with Hugo’s.
For additional information, read this article from the Press Herald.
Crowdfunding: Union Bagel & Gelato Fiasco
Owners of Union Bagel Company and Gelato Fiasco were interviewed for a story on MPBN Radio about how Maine businesses are using funding sources like Kickstarter to expand and establish their businesses.
Once you’ve got that, you post a video to the Kickstarter website and a pitch, set a minimum funding goal and a timeframe, then spread the word so that people go to the website to make a donation. Union Bagel met its goal of $7,500 in just 18 days, and donations are still coming in.
Portland Coffee Shops
The Golden Dish has posted a survey of some of Portland’s better known coffee shops.
Blackbird & Two Fat Cats
The Forecaster has published an update on the purchase of Two Fat Cats by Blackbird Baking.
Regular Two Fat Cats customers won’t notice many changes because of the ownership swap. Begin said she has kept all the same employees – 10 bakers total – and will offer the same treats, plus more.
Opinionated Top 100: Miyake & Hugo’s
Miyake (#54) and Hugo’s (#60) are included on the Opinionated About Dining 2012 list of the top 100 restaurants in the United States.
First Meeting of Food Truck Taskforce
The Munjoy Hill News has published a report on the first meeting of Portland’s Food Truck Task Force.
Proximity to restaurants and other businesses in the city was the focus of the discussion . . . Experienced food cart operator Ron Gan tried to assure Dick A. Grotton, President & CEO of Maine Restaurant Association and Steve DiMillo, DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant, that they won’t be overun by food trucks. “There is not enough business for all of them out there. It’s too expensive. I understand the concern of the ‘bricks & mortar’ people, but people prefer them. Don’t get too worried that several food trucks will hurt restaurants,” he cautioned them.
Farm to Table in Nat Geo Traveler
Cinque Terre and Vignola have been featured in a National Geographic Traveler article on farm to table restaurants.
Co-owner and chef Lee Skawinski selects varietals for the farm discovered on trips to Italy, and the kitchen crew helps harvest everything from tomatoes to 3,000 heads of garlic per season. Cinque Terre crafts traditional, multicourse meals inspired by the cuisine of Liguria in northwest Italy. Expect comforting dishes such as zuppa di pesce (fish soup) with potato and fennel, and ravioli with kale and braised lamb. Vignola is its breezy little sister, serving tavern fare: Terrines of Maine rabbit are a specialty. To catch a breeze yourself, take a stroll by the ocean across the street from the restaurants.
2012 Food Issues: Maine & Down East
The annual food issues of Maine and Down East magazines came out this week.
The March issue of Maine magazine includes:
- Joe Ricchio’s take on the state’s 6 best cookies (personally I’d add the sea salt chocolate chip at Aurora Provisions)
- An article on healthy eating
- A profile of forager Evan Strusinski
- A “cross-section of Maine’s most interesting chefs [and] the foods they really care about”
- Interviews with restaurant managers at 555, Francine Bistro and Zapoteca
- An article about Maine Maple Sunday
- A profile of Jarrod Spangler who works as a butcher at Rosemont
- A great cover photo of Steffi and Brian Davin, owners of Schulte & Herr
and in Down East you’ll find:
- An extensive guide to cheap eats across the state
- An article about Maine Maple Sunday with tasting notes from a dozen sugar houses
- An article about Moxie
- An article about the Maine eel fishery
Neither magazine has published their articles online yet (hint hint!) but the magazines should be available at your favorite local bookstore.
Food Truck Call to Action
The Bring Food Trucks to Portland Facebook page is making the case for broadening the membership of the Food Truck Task Force.
This Task Force may be highly problematic; the members are almost all representative of interest groups who gain by maintaining the status quo. Contacting Councilor Ed Suslovic (edsuslovic@portlandmaine.gov) and suggesting other stakeholders (food bloggers, Buy Local, et al) be included would be helpful. Otherwise, the task force is likely to implement only a very limited vision of what food trucks might be in Portland and make it very difficult for a viable food truck operation to survive…