Category: People

Beard Chef Series: Krista Kern Desjarlais

| Posted in People

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published the fourth and final article in their series with Maine chefs who were 2020 Beard Awards nominees. For this week they’ve interviewed Krista Kern Desjarlais and published her recipe for a shaved brussels sprouts salad. I first ate that salad in 2007 and having tried (and failed) to reverse engineer the recipe especially appreciate this article.

She has been understandably cautious about bringing back her North Yarmouth bakery/café during the ongoing pandemic, waiting until “I’m able to do it absolutely the right way.” For Desjarlais, a finalist this year for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Northeast award, that has meant anticipating the winter with equal parts pragmatism and imagination.

Prior articles in the series have focused on Vien Dobui from Cong Tu Bot, Ben Jackson from the now closed Drifters Wife, and Chad Conley and Greg Mitchell from Palace Diner.

Joe Ricchio Favorites

| Posted in People

Rob Caldwell interviewed Joe Ricchio about some of his favorite food shops.

Since the pandemic began Joe Ricchio has been cooking at home. “Almost constantly,” he says. “Which is nice at certain times. But you definitely miss eating out when you get tired of your own food.”

Dining out has been a big part of his life for years, as you’d expect of a food writer and host of the Food Coma podcast, but Ricchio is also a talented cook, so we listen when he talks about some of his favorite vendors in Maine.

Radici Interview

| Posted in People

WCSH has aired an interview with Randy and Alison Forester, the owners of Radici, about opening their restaurant during the pandemic.

“We would’ve loved to have had that grand opening and we know one day we will; we will have those ribbons outside, but for now it’s been a quiet ‘getting to know our neighborhood’ and making those connections, instead of in-person, mostly through social media,” says Ally.

Interview with Vien Dobui

| Posted in People

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an interview with Vien Dobui, chef and co-owner of Cong Tu Bot. The article includes the recipe for one of the restaurant’s outstanding desserts, the Chè.

Wikipedia tells you that it could be a “sweet beverage, soup, or pudding” and that’s how I’ll usually begin an explanation, but I still find that definition lacking. I’ve yet to explain chè to non-Asians in a way that is satisfying to either party, but I find that gap in translation to be the territory that I’ve always wanted Công Tử Bột to be engaged in.

The article is the first in a series talking with the 5 chefs who were 2020 James Beard Award nominees.

Ameera Bread

| Posted in People

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram reports on the backstory behind the closure of Ameera Bread.

Abdul said Abbas tried to renege on the deal after learning Abdul was transgender and in the process of transitioning from male to female. Abdul obtained a protection from harassment order against Abbas, and their agreement wound up in court.

Court documents, interviews and written statements shed light on an unusual dispute that has divided a family and forced the closure of Ameera Bread, one of the city’s most popular food businesses and a fixture in the Portland area’s diverse community of Middle Eastern immigrants.

The article does say, “The business remains closed, but Abdul said it is being refurbished, and they hope to reopen in November regardless of the legal case.” So Ameera may be returning soon.

Chef Louis Pickens

| Posted in People

The Portland Phoenix has published an article about Louis Pickens, the chef and owner of Black Betty’s Bistro.

In Portland, Pickens cooked in hotel and nursing home kitchens before starting his own company, Black Betty’s Bistro, named after the cast-iron stove his grandmother had back in Texas, where Pickens said generations of his family learned to love food.

After the coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench into his plans to open a storefront in the space next door, he said he’s been grateful that the community has kept him afloat. He’s cooking family-sized meals to go for pickup on Thursdays and Saturdays, and has catered for a school in South Portland.

Tin Pan Bakery & Managing the Front Lines

| Posted in General News, People

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about Tin Pan Bakery owner Elise Richter,

Like many other small, independent business people in this pandemic year, Elise Richer is tired.

She has been forced to rethink many aspects of her homey Tin Pan Bakery in the Nasons Corner neighborhood of Portland, from its packaging and pricing, retail sales and recipes to its menu options and online ordering system.

and an article about managing front of house customer relations during a pandemic.

Four years later, owners and managers across Maine find themselves getting involved in their businesses in a more visible way. They still pitch in behind the scenes, but these days, their skills (and authority) are being marshaled to help waitstaff, bartenders, bussers and hosts (collectively called the “front of house”) navigate the choppy waters of pandemic-era customer service.