Beard Leadership Award for Pingree

Rep. Chellie Pingree has received a leadership award from the James Beard Foundation,

Ungaro cited the fact that Pingree owns her own farm (on North Haven island) and has supported legislation that promotes healthy food, the organic food industry, and local and regional food systems. Pingree, she said, “really stands out as a politician who is bringing her own personal passion in terms of helping our agriculture systems be more organic and fresher, and to make the soil stand out as just as important as oil.”

This Week’s Events: Bring Back Breakfast, Austin St Beer Dinner, Parlor Ice Creamatorium, Rhone Dinner

Wednesday – Mast Landing is releasing their collaboration with Battery Steele called Bring Back Breakfast, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

ThursdayLocal 188 is serving a 5-course Austin Street beer dinner., The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Gritty’s, and Petite Jacqueline is holding a 3-course Rhone wine dinner.

Friday – Fork Food Lab is hosting the Parlor Ice Creamatorium, a Halloween event with “spooky scoops, booozy shakes + other frightful delights”, and Aurora Provisions is holding a Halloween party and ribbon cutting to mark the change in ownership that took place this summer. The Halloween Party starts at 3:30 pm and the ribbon cutting takes place at 4:45.

Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, please provide details as a comment to this post.

Reviews: Yobo, Island Creek, Mi Sen, Boone’s

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Yobo,

Using traditional ingredients as well as fresh and foraged produce from his mother’s property in New Hampshire, Chung has created a menu focused largely on classic Korean techniques. Standouts include his rich, sticky galbi (beef short ribs) and exceedingly good banchan (side dishes) that take advantage of local vegetables like garden-grown perilla and wild fern bracken, while still hewing close to traditional recipes.

The Golden Dish has reviewed Island Creek Oyster, and

My lunch included a few oysters (Mookie Blues, Damariscotta; Puffers, Wellfleet, MA and Eider Cove from New Meadow’s River). The full can of sardines with the accoutrements is a pretty full meal for lunch, and I was eminently satisfied. If you like sardines, which I do, these are a fine example. Other choices include mussels, octopus and squid.

the Portland Press Herald has reviewed Boone’s and Mi Sen.

Maybe it was an off night, but Boone’s was a surprising disappointment with a happy hour that left me less happy and more frustrated. The drinks were fine, the oysters were carelessly shucked, and the nacho portion was measly. That being said, what shines here is the space. It is a beautiful dining area, a lovely open-air bar and the perfect date night ambiance. And what I had of the food was quite tasty, leaving me curious what the rest of the menu is like. If you go, I suggest skipping the food on the happy hour menu and ordering the full portions.

Veebie

The Spoon has published an article about Veebie.

Veebie rolled out (pardon the pun) it’s first kiosk in downtown Portland earlier this week. The bright orange containers on wheels have 48 numbered cubbies. Order your food through Veebie on your phone and pick it up from your assigned cubby between 11:30 and 1:30. The menu features items from a different restaurant every day, so today (Thursday), for example, the items available are from B.Good.

Mac Luv Delivery Service

Mac Luv (instagram, facebook) is the name of a food delivery service under development that plans to focus solely on the production and delivery of mac ‘n’ cheese.

Owner Kristen Ouellette plans to deliver “warm, gooey, homemade mac and cheese” to Gorham, Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook. The draft menu includes both regular and vegan options with bacon, green onions, buffalo sauce and BBQ sauce as choices for toppings.

Under Construction: Lone Pine Expands (Updated)

News broke Monday that Lone Pine Brewing will be taking over the Sebago Brewing facility when Sebago moves to a new 31,000 sq ft space next year.

Lone Pine has purchased Sebago Brewing Co.’s facility in Gorham, the companies announced Monday. The move represents an aggressive expansion for Lone Pine, which has existed for only 16 months. It brewed 11,844 gallons of beer in 2016, according to data provided by the state; Sebago brewed 327,408 gallons – fifth-most in the state – at the Gorham brewery in 2016.

Update: The BDN has also posted an article about Lone Pine’s expansion plans.

Veebie has Launched

A new food service has launched in the Old Port. Veebie (website, facebook, instagram) partners with local restaurants to handle online ordering and distribution of a set menu each day. Think of it like a modern day automat.

To use the service, customers order and pay for their meal on veebie.me (menus go live at 9am) and then pick up one of the premade dishes out of the “cubbies” assigned to them at the time of purchase. The kiosk is located in front of the Nickelodeon Theater.

The current version of Veebie is a prototype without locking compartments so an attendant is in place to help out. Future versions of Veebie will have digitally controlled locks and the option for both hot and cold meals.

The current list of restaurants working with Veebie are: Daily Greens, Union Kitchen, Sisters Gourmet Deli, B Good, and Foodworks.