The Munjoy Hill News has posted article about the new Katie Made.
“This place is everything that the old place was not and never could be,” said Katie Capron co-owner of Katie Made Bakery of her new location at 181 Congress Street on Saturday morning. Katie and her sister and business partner Jennifer were holding an open house for the neighborhood to get a look at the sisters’ new Bakery.
The Portland Phoenix has published a profile of Chris McClay and her business the Modern Vegan Cooking School.
McClay, 38, is the proprietor of Portland’s new Modern Vegan Cooking School and the Maine representative for the Wellness Forum, a national for-profit dietary-education organization. She’s been eating a plant-based diet since 1992, when a college course piqued her interest in vegetarianism and then full-on veganism. She hasn’t eaten any animal-derived products since then — really. No meat, no cheese, no dairy products. And, perhaps most remarkably, no cravings.
Friday’s Portland Daily Sun included a report on the Culinary Immersion Feast series that taking place on Thursdays at the Museum of African Culture,
If you’re hungry to learn about Haitian culture, and don’t mind feasting on a meal while delving into a Haitian-themed art exhibit, the Museum of African Culture may offer the perfect pairing. The museum is serving culinary immersion feasts, where the meal is an extension of the art on exhibition.
a profile of Others! in Monument Square,
At Others! a great deal of intent is evident in all aspects of the operation. The effect on the environment is a prime consideration, to be sure. The coffee stirrers, believe it or not, are strands of uncooked organic spaghetti. Bio-degradable coffee stirrers. And the to-go coffee cups and lids are state-of-the art bio-degradable as well. You wouldn’t believe the research Brad did to come up with them.
and perspectives from former restaurant workers on their old careers in the hospitality industry.
Nancy Farrell-Baker, Portland, 29. “I’d still be waiting tables if I hadn’t just had a second child. Even though my husband works days and my job was mostly nights, it was too stressful. He sells cars and does pretty well, but I still made more money and loved the people I worked with. Yeah, that’s the hardest part, not being around such great people.”
The Phantom Gourmet has broadcast a piece on The Holy Donut.
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald has an article about Royal Rose cocktail syrups.
The result was Royal Rose (royalrosesyrups.com), a company that handcrafts simple syrups in small batches, about 30 gallons at a time, using filtered water and 100 percent organic and fair-trade sugar. There are no artificial colors or preservatives, and Butler and Butters grind and toast all the spices used in the syrups themselves.
What sets the couple’s syrups apart, in addition to the quality of the ingredients, are the unusual flavors. In addition to a simple rose syrup, they also make cardamom-clove, lavender-lemon, three chilies, strawberry-fennel and tamarind.
For more information visit the Royal Rose website.
The latest issue of Maine magazine includes an article about Fore Street.
At the end of the day, what makes Fore Street so different from its counterparts is an unyielding pride that employees take in their work. It’s not an environment for those who prefer to cut corners, or those who are simply order-takers in search of a paycheck. There is an expectation that everyone will always pull his or her own weight, and this provides the continual challenge that makes the job worth doing.
The Portland Daily Sun has published a profile of Steve and Renee’s Diner.
Renee was having trouble getting into the interview because she saw that my breakfast was getting cold. We had to take a break so I could finish eating, then things were fine. She cared. Just couldn’t get away from it.
Therein lies the tale. At Steve & Renee’s Diner it’s all about people. Has been for the twenty-nine years they’ve been in business. “Just don’t call us a restaurant,” she said, “there’s restaurants all over the place. We’re a diner, like the ones that used to exist in Portland. When people come in here they’re family.”
The Munjoy Hill News has published a report on the Three Buoys Seafood Shanty and Grille which opened earlier this week on Cumberland Ave.
The two business partners behind 3 Buoys are former Legal Seafood officials. Bill Park, chef/owner, directed the test kitchen for it. “I got tired of being a number,” Park said recently. Legal Seafood has 30 restaurants between Boston and Florida. Although they do have growth in mind, the first and highly successful 3 Buoys in York will always be the flagship restaurant for Park. Currently, he’s looking for the right chef to step into his shoes here so Park can return to the larger York restaurant. The other business partner is Bill Holler, formerly vp of purchasing at Legal Seafood, Boston, with his wife Nikole. She’s former employee in the seafood business and is the operations manager at 3 Buoys. Nikole is looking for a few good servers, to fill out the staff. Currently Katie Haggerty is doing that job.
Dispatch has published an interview with one of my favorite Portland bartenders, Jeremy Sossei at Boda,
Because you were a novice until three years ago, did you find yourself researching drinking history like a mad man?
Oh God, yeah. Absolutely. I still am. I also went around to different bars and tried to watch and see how people made things. I was never much of a cocktail drinker before this job and honestly I don’t drink a lot of cocktails still right now. This job has kind of spoiled me in that I just developed a taste for hard liquor and it’s hard to go back once you get used to it.
and a profile of Dean’s Sweets.
As [owner Dean] Bingham humbly began recounting his journey in chocolate-making, his wife chimed in. “You were making some chocolate truffles and your friends all said ‘You should sell these!’”
“And I tell people that I foolishly believed them!” Bingham playfully countered.
Eatocracy has published an article about The Holy Donut.
“I’m trying to convince myself it’s not a sin to eat donuts,” says regular Nathan Hagelin as he takes the first bite of the shop’s seasonal apple cider flavor.
“Everybody wants it. They think they can’t have it, but we tell them they can,” says owner Leigh Kellis. Traditionally the poster child of unhealthy treats, donuts here are made with all natural colors and flavors, local Maine ingredients and no preservatives.