Maine Food for Thought has published their recent panel discussion on Maine food history.
On the panel were Steve Bromage, Don Lindgren, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Sandy Oliver and Darren Ranco.
Pandemic Outlook for Restaurants
The Forecaster has a report on the pandemic’s impact on restaurants in South Portland and more broadly in Maine.
“It’s been devastating.” That’s how Craig Dilger, owner of Foulmouthed Brewing in South Portland, described the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on local restaurants. This week, Gov. Janet Mills issued new orders allowing restaurants in Cumberland, York and Sagadahoc counties to once again offer indoor dine-in seating, but since local restaurants haven’t been allowed to do so since March, the damage may already be done.
Silly’s Returning
Silly’s will be returning to Washington Ave in the space that was the home to Simply Vegan by Silly’s, 68 Washington Ave.
The Silly’s facebook page features a picture of a mixer making cake batter with the caption “Coming Soon!” Needless to say, the response from Silly’s fans has been enthusiastic.
Silly’s went out of business last year. Their former building is currently under construction and will be the new location of Terlingua.
The Cider House Closing
Owner Michael Vassallo has decided to close his West End business, The Cider House, permanently.
The Cider House is closing for good. We were poised to have a really strong summer to tide us over the winter months, but that’s not in the cards now and we can’t see a viable path forward.
You can see a list of the food businesses and events that have permanently closed on our Pandemic Casualty List.
Briana Warner, Food Hero
Eat Well magazine has recently hailed Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner as one of their 2020 Food Heroes.
This year, the company expects its 24 farmers to harvest 550,000 pounds of kelp, up from 220,000 last year and just 30,000 in 2018. And in this case, bigger is better: the more kelp Warner sells, the more the ocean (and air) benefits and the more successful Maine lobstermen are. But Atlantic Sea Farms’ big coming-out party happened this past spring, when national salad chain Sweetgreen hired James Beard award-winning chef David Chang to create a sweet potato and kelp bowl for its menu.
If Warner’s name sounds familiar but you just can’t place it, it might be because she ran a bakery, Maine Pie Line, when she first moved to Maine.
Indoor Dining Allowed Starting Wednesday
Update: A combined outdoor/indoor dining list has been published. This page is no longer being kept up to date.
The Governor’s office has announced that restaurants can resume indoor dining in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties as of Wednesday.
The Mills Administration announced today that indoor dining in Androscoggin, Cumberland, and York counties can voluntarily resume on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 with added health and safety protocols outlined in the COVID-19 Prevention Checklist. The decision to allow inside dining in these three counties follows a plateauing of new cases in recent weeks, based on the 14-day moving average, as well as the stabilization of hospital rates in the same counties. Previously, only outside dining, takeaway, and delivery services were permitted at restaurants in these three counties. With this change, restaurants statewide will now be open to both inside and outside dining with added health and safety precautions.
Restaurants have started announcing plans to restart indoor dining:
- Blue Spoon – June 19th
- CBG – June 18th
- Evo Kitchen + Bar – June 24th
- Fore Street – June 24th
- Hot Suppa – June 19th
- Knitting Nook – June 18th
- Nura – June 19th
- Old Port Sea Grill – June 18th
- Petite Jacqueline – June 20th
- Rosie’s – June 17th
- Scales – June 17th
- Street & Co – June 22nd
- The Roma Cafe – June 17th
- Three Dollar Deweys – June 17th
- Union – June 19th
More Participate in Bakers Against Racism
In addition to the (now sold out) multi-baker cookie box Bakers Against Racism initiative, several other Portland area bakers have announced their own Bakers Against Racism efforts:
- Norimoto Bakery will be preparing a package of baked goods which be on sale at Burundi Star Coffee (Fri – Sun) and Sun Oriental Market (Fri – Sat) with proceeds being donated to The Bail Project.
- Two Fat Cats is taking pre-orders for their Maine wild blueberry pies for pick-up on June 20th with proceeds being donated to the Maine People’s Alliance.
- Belleville is taking pre-orders for pick-up on June 19th and 21st with a portion of the week’s proceeds being donated to Provost Farms and Angie and June Provost.
- Magdalena Bresson is taking orders for chocolate chip cookies, lemon meringue pie and fruit tarts for delivery on June 20th to raise money for the National Bailout Fund.
- Scratch Baking is taking pre-orders for pick-up on Thursday and will donating “100% of big cookie sales this week” to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Bakers Against Racism is taking place in Mid-June in cities all around the world with thousands of bakers from hundreds of cities taking part.
Zao Ze Now Open
Chef Cara Stadler and her business partner/mother Cecile Stadler opened Zao Ze Cafe and Market (instgram) yesterdsy in Brunswick.
Zao Ze serves “Asian street foods, with a focus on breakfast and lunch”. You can see the menu and order online. It has an open air seating area in the Tao Yuan parking lot.
Shown here is the Drunken Lamb Rou Jia Mo sandwich made with Shaoxing and Baiju braised lamb and kimchi on a sesame bun.
Navis Cafe at WEX
Navis Cafe (website, facebook, instagram) is under construction in the first floor of the WEX building on Thames Street. Navis will be adjacent to Helm which is also under construction in the same building. Navis will be sell provisions and food to go and be an “all-day cafe”.
Melissa Kelly to Testify to Congress
Melissa Kelly, chef/owner of Primo in Rockland, will be testifying before the US Congress about PPP program on Wednesday. She has posted some questions about PPP on instagram to get input from her fellow chefs and restaurateurs.