Category: People

The Bollard has published a feature article on the Mellen Street Market and the Nappi family which has owned the establishment since 1973.

Tony’s younger brother, Joseph Jr. (Joey), soon joined them, “and the three of us worked together for all these years,” Tony said. (Joe Sr. passed away in 2012.) “It worked out great. We never argued, because my dad was always right!” He laughed. “So we didn’t argue with him. … He went into the Marine Corps at 17, so he’d been around the block. Eighth-grade education. He made it — just hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work. Put the hours in.”

Chef Nick Verdisco and key members of his former Bolster Snow team have all been hired by the Falmouth Country Club.

• Sarah Miller, Pastry Chef
• Tyler Dederick, Grill
• Chris Papp, Sauté

Verdisco will be starting his new position as the Executive Chef of FCC as of January 1, 2019.

The speed with which Verdisco found a new position is an indication of his talent and the tightness of the restaurant labor market in general. It makes me wonder if, as Portland is in the midst of Closing Season, we’re likely to see more teams hired as a group.

Bard barista Milo DeGoosh participated over the weekend at the USBC qualifying event in Denver. Milo’s 11th place finish has qualified him to compete in the US Coffee Championships taking place in Kansas City, Missouri later this March.

If Milo is successful in Kansas City he’ll then move on to competed in the World Coffee Championships which is hosted in Boston this year.

Katsuaki Suzuki, owner of Ramen Suzukiya, passed away earlier this month at the age of 67.

After his retirement in 2014, Kei fulfilled one of his dreams by moving to Maine and opening Ramen Suzukiya with his son, Cory. His handcrafted organic noodles were his passion and he loved the opportunity to create a space for customers to enjoy his craft. Kei will be remembered as the kindest man who never hesitated to reach out to those in need. He loved his family and fought a vicious cancer for over a year in order to have more time to spend with them. The world was certainly a better place with him here.

The American Journal reports that Hope Lawler is in the process of buying Casa Novello from owner/co-founder Larry Manoogian.

Manoogian said many of his customers’ favorite Italian dishes will continue to be served.  Lawler said she intends to make some changes, such as bringing in some of her own recipes and opening for lunch Wednesday through Saturday and offering brunch on Sundays during the summer.

The Press Herald Mainers to Be Thankful For article includes profiles of Christian and Christine Hayes, and Jonah Fertig-Burd.

Boston Voyager has published an interview with Sur Lie co-owner Krista Cole.

Krista, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in East Millinocket, Maine and became a nurse twelve years ago. I also met my best friend and business partner, Antonio Alviar, at that time. We were both waiting tables in Bar Harbor… just a couple of college kids.

Chefs Cara Stadler and Ilma Lopez sat down Tuesday night on the stage of One Longfellow for a very interesting MaineVoices interview.

You can watch a full video of the session on the Press Herald website.

Chef Matt Ginn won the latest round of Chopped Challenge Tuesday and now advances to the final round which is set to air November 6th at 9pm on the Food Network.

For additional details see these reports from the Bangor Daily News and Press Herald.

The Restaurant Unstoppable podcast has published a pair of Portland  episodes with:

• Pete Sueltenfuss, owner of Other Side Deli, on “the power of transformative relationships”.
• Arlin Smith, co-owner of Big Tree Hospitality, on “putting your employees first”.