Today’s Press Herald reports on Maine island dining including the Chebeague Island Inn and Diamond’s Edge here in Casco Bay.
Category: Profiles
Beginnings and Growth of Otto Pizza
The Bangor Daily News has published an article about Otto Pizza.
“We started very barebones with all used equipment,” said Keon, who leased a 300-square foot space at the corner of Congress and Forest streets for their first slice shop. “It was very minimal.”
Four years later OTTO Pizza has 215 employees working in five thriving shops in Portland and Boston. Two more stores will open by summer’s end in South Portland and Lynnfield, Mass., and in the next few weeks OTTO will hire 50 more people.
Vena’s Fizz House
The Forecaster has published an article about Vena’s Fizz House.
Vena’s, which opened July 10 at 345 Fore St., serves more than 35 varieties of all-natural, freshly made soda concoctions. They include pina colada, pomegranate limeade and even “Dim and Stormy,” which uses ginger beer and spiced tonic water to create a non-alcoholic version of a Dark and Stormy cocktail.
“This is a modern version of the old-fashioned soda parlor,” said Johanna Corman, who founded Vena’s with husband Steve and manages its operations. “We think we’ve found a niche.”
La Presse Visit to Portland
Allagash, Novare Res, Eventide, Tandem Coffee, Small Axe, UFF, Bunker Brewing, Rising Tide, Duckfat, In’finiti, Two Fat Cats and Bar Lola were all mentioned in an article about Portland that appeared in the Montreal’s French language publication La Presse.
PM: Supply-side Gastronomics
Portland Magazine featured Coffee by Design, Harbor Fish, Pat’s, Micucci’s, Rosemont, K. Horton’s and Browne Trading in an article about Portland’s “Exotic wholesalers with a genius for retail chart the middle ground”.
Vena’s Fizz House
Thursday’s Portland Daily Sun includes an article on the back story behind Vena’s Fizz House.
Pondering the name, a family member suggested [owner Johanna Corman] name it Vena’s Fizz House. Vena was Johanna’s great-grandmother, who turns out to have been very active in the late 1920s and early ’30s with the Maine Woman’s Christian Temperance Union here in Portland.
Food Trucks: Love Cupcakes
The Forecaster has published an interview with Anna Turcotte about Love Cupcakes and the challenges of running a food truck in Portland.
The newly remodeled truck has the same color scheme of the little trailer and will be located in a parking lot at Fore and Center streets. They plan to be open dessert hours, 7-10 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays and most Saturdays, if they don’t have an event to cater.
Turcotte said the new truck will give her more freedom and mobility to cater events like weddings and bridal showers, which have been much more successful, but previously required her to have more help.
J’s Oyster Bar
Maine magazine has posted an article about J’s Oyster Bar that appeared in the July issue.
On the stool to my right sits a slight man in a baseball cap with a gray mustache who tells me, “I was here on opening night back in 1977!” The man is Frank Kimball. He is 75 years old, grew up on Peaks Island, and is a former Navy sailor, postman, drag racer, and husband. He doesn’t eat oysters, but he loves the scallop casserole. “You got to get it,” he says. “The atmosphere is 90 percent of the reason I come here. The rest is the scallop casserole.”
Imbibe: Maine Mead Works
An article on American mead appears the latest issue of Imbibe magazine. Maine Mead Works is one of the meaderies featured in the article.
The HoneyMaker meads from Portland’s Maine Mead Works also taste markedly different. They drink dry, crisp and delightfully delicate, making them more in line with well-crafted white wines. “We want to show that mead is light, food-friendly and can be a part of everyday life,” says owner Ben Alexander, whose initial ignorance of mead led to an infatuation.
Maine Made Gin
The Press Herald has published an article on Maine’s locally produced gins.
With the launch of its Alchemy gin on July 3, Maine Craft Distilling in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood became the fourth distillery to produce “American-style gin” in the state. Alchemy joins Back River gin from Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery, Maine Distilleries’ Cold River label and New England Distilleries’ Ingenium, each of which has a signature flavor profile.
Today’s paper also includes a report about a white fly infestation that is forcing Backyard Farms to hit the reset button on their hydroponic tomato farm.
Backyard Farms, which produces more than 27 million pounds of tomatoes a year, says an infestation of whiteflies in its greenhouses will force the company to destroy its entire crop of half-a-million plants and start over.