Crowds, art & good eats fill CeleSoiree

Whenever I get a chance to attend an event at the ancient Portland Company complex, I'm always excited to see how this funky space will be transformed. During this past Friday's CeleSoiree, I wasn't disappointed. This annual fundraiser for the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project did an amazing job turning an old warehouse into a stylish party venue.

When we arrived about an hour and half after the party started, the place was absolutely packed. ILAP is still compiling its numbers, but it was clear there were many more people than at last year's event.

It was easy to see why. The crowds were entertained with African drumming from Jordan Benissan and Celtic music from Boghat.

And who wouldn't want to come to an event with heaps and heaps of delicious food from a long list of local restaurants and caterers? These included Local Sprouts Cooperative, Bonobo, Food Factory Miyake, Green Elephant Bistro, Big Sky Bread Company, Aurora Provisions, Asmara, Standard Baking Company, Silly's, La Bodega Latina, Haggarty's and Rosemont Market.

Another big attraction came in the form of the 180 pieces of art in the silent auction. I was particularly thrilled to see the abstract botanical print at the far right of this display. It's a limited edition print from Field Gallery artists Friederike Hamann and Colin Sullivan-Stevens called "Green Tangle," and I happen to have one hanging in my bedroom. I hope whoever went home with that piece enjoys it as much as we have.

Since I spent most of my time at the gathering gabbing away with fun people, such as Michael and Melissa Bourque, Bree LaCasse, Chris Moore, Ina Demers and Collette Bouchard, I didn't get any great shots of the food or the music. Thankfully photographer Sam Cousins has more photos you can check out on his Flickr site.

Artist builds house inside PMA for Biennial

Right now the Portland Museum of Art is filled with the sound of pounding nails. The uncharacteristic noise is coming from the construction of of Ethan Hayes-Chute's spectacular piece called "Hermitage," which is part of the soon-to-open 2009 Biennial. An actual two-story building, he and his friends are building it right in the center of the Great Hall.

Here's Ethan, who grew up in Freeport and now lives in Berlin, peering out of one of the unfinished windows. His aim is to re-create a backwoods camp or a seaside shack. The type of structure a hermit would call home.

In the 2007 Biennial, four of his small acrylic paintings were selected for inclusion and all depicted small cabins.

"I'm often trying to create feelings of isolation and solitude with my paintings," he told me, later adding "this is based on numerous other cabins I've seen in movies or real life."

When it's complete, the hut will be open for museum visitors to enter and explore. This photo (snapped from the show's catalog proof) gives a glimpse of what the inside of the cabin will look like. Ethan plans to fill it with found and salvaged objects to give it a real lived-in feel.

"I'm a total pack rat, so I've been collecting stuff since I could drive," Ethan said, and added that he plans to clean out all the stuff he's stored in his parents' basement over the years. (I can just hear them breathing a sigh of relief.)

All the wood being used in the project was salvaged from local recycling centers or donated by friends and family. This past winter, Ethan created a similar piece for the Berlin gallery Program.

"I'm trying to make it as authentic as a real house would be," Ethan said.

He expects to finish construction this week and then work on outfitting the interior next week.

This year's much anticipated Biennial will feature a number of unusual art installations, including a piece by Sam van Aken that will reportedly play music and roll around. The show opens to the public April 8, but anyone can stop by this week or next to see Ethan at work.

Portland's Mayor does the Electric Slide

It's not every day that you walk through Lobsterman's Park and see the city's mayor leading a group of women in the Electric Slide. You especially don't expect to see such fancy footwork when it's absolutely freezing outside. But this is exactly what was going on at noon today.

Mayor Duson, who's wearing the brown shirt, and a crew of volunteers braved the weather (and the possibility of public humiliation) in order to help the Community Television Network (channels 2 & 4) raise money. The video of today's event, along with videos of the rest of the council members doing their own dance moves (no word yet on where or when these routines will go down), will be aired April 2 on CTN at 7 pm.

I wasn't the only one there with a camera. Suzi Piker posted a video on the Portland Press Herald site, Press Herald photographer John Ewing will likely have images in tomorrow's paper and Channel 8 should have video for this evening's newscast.

This all goes to show that you never know what you'll come across when you head out onto the streets of Portland.

Winter Farmers' Market ends, summer market starts early

This past Wednesday marked the last official day of Portland's Winter Farmers' Market in Monument Square. Once again traffic was steady as Portlanders lined up to buy local eats. The winter market is only in its second year, and this season Daniel Price of Freedom Farm and Simon Frost of Thirty Acre Farm were joined by Daniel Perron from Sumner Valley Farm.

With the winter market over, both Thirty Acre Farm and Freedom Farm plan to take the month of April to work on their farms. Daniel from Freedom Farm says he likely won't return to Monument Square until mid-May, but he told me Thirty Acre Farm will start showing up at the beginning of May.

But no need to despair about going a month without your local food fix, because Daniel from Sumner Valley Farm plans to show up in Monument Square every Wednesday starting April 1, even though the summer market doesn't officially kick off until May. Yesterday I spoke with Larry Burns of Hanson Field Flower Farm, who coordinates vendors at the Portland Farmers' Market. He told me that Sumner Valley Farm will be joined in April by a couple other farmers who plan to offer hothouse veggies.

With the winter market a success and this early start to the summer market, Portland can finally claim a year round farmers' market. And that's the kind of happy news I'm thrilled to share with you on the first day of spring!

Buy Local members mix it up at Andy's Old Port Pub

Last night the Allagash was flowing during the Portland Buy Local mixer at Andy's Old Port Pub. This association of business owners and residents promotes the idea of keeping our purchasing power in the community and holds these networking parties every couple of months. It's not tough to get members out when local brewing superstar Allagash donates the drinks.

Another big attraction was the fresh pizza that Andy's kitchen kept bringing out for the crowd.

Joe Walsh, of Green Clean Maine, spoke to the crowd about Portland Buy Local and thanked Andy's for hosting such a fun gathering, which took place in a private room behind the main bar. After the Allagash ran out, members could order from the regular bar and Andy's donated $1 from each drink to Portland Buy Local.

A little later, Stacey Mitchell, a board member and author of "Big Box Swindle," thanked Joe for all the great work he's done this past year in organizing these mixers. She also urged everyone to join the New England-wide effort called 10% Shift. The campaign asks people to sign a pledge and commit to shifting 10% of purchases from out-of-state businesses to locally-owned businesses.

According to the number crunchers behind this effort, if five million households in New England make this shift, the money spent at local businesses (a greater portion of which stays in the local economy as compared to purchases made at out-of-state chains), would result in the creation of 48,000 new jobs and the generation of more than $5 billion in new economic activity.

Portland Buy Local is always hosting cool events, and the next one to look forward to is the Indie Biz Awards taking place May 13. Be sure to mark your calendar. If you want to see some photos from last year's awards ceremony, check out this post on my Commune Tested, City Approved blog.

Sunflower rises over Bayside

Art is everywhere in Portland, even on the outside of private homes. Photographer Jay York, who specializes in shooting the work of other local artists, recently installed this massive sunflower sculpture on his house/studio, a converted church on Wilmont Street in Bayside. You can see it from the Whole Foods Market parking lot, and you may be able to catch a glimpse of it as you're zipping past on I-295.

The striking sculpture, which I photographed from Oxford Street, is the work of prolific artist Patrick Plourde of New Gloucester. He's known for using salvaged wood, metal and other objects and transforming them into sleek, organic and sometimes whimsical forms. Pat's furniture can be found in private homes and at restaurants around town, including Street & Co., Standard Baking Company and Whole Foods. Those who collect his work include Ralph Lauren and Robert De Niro.

The sculpture is crafted from a number of salvaged objects. The center is made from an old, overturned steel kettle which has been studded with antique nails. The petals are made from white cedar salvaged from old pickle barrels and covered in a yellow milk wash.

When I asked Jay how he got the sculpture onto the side of his house, he said: "It took three of us, a come-along and a 30-foot ladder."

I'm glad Jay and his crew made the effort, because each time I see this radiant sculpture it makes me smile and reminds me of why I love Portland.

Spring blooms in Post Office Park

March can be a rough month filled with thoughts of summer dashed by three feet of snow. For anyone who's thinking that spring will never come, I offer you these snapshots of the forsythia witch hazel that bloomed this weekend in Post Office Park. It gives me hope that warmer weather is just around the corner. In fact, the season officially changes this Friday. Should you want to celebrate in true Mainer style, then make a plan to head out of the city this weekend when Maple Syrup Sunday comes to a sugar shack near you.

UPDATE: Turns out my plant ID skills need some fine-tuning. This lovely yellow bedecked plant is not forsythia, as I previously reported, but witch hazel. Thank you to all the sharp-eyed horticulturists out there!

Mahamud family opens Barava on Congress

For the current edition of Switch, I wrote about all the new bars, restaurants and clubs that have opened on Congress Street in the last few years. Now there's another one to add to the list. Just this week, Barava opened in the spot that used to house (most recently) Grandes Burritos/Granny's Burritos/Uncle Billy's (and a whole host of restaurants before that).

The restaurant is the work of the Mahamud family of Portland. Originally from Somalia, the family left when conflict broke out, initially moving to Zanzibar, Tanzania before coming to America more than 10 years ago. Barava is the name of the Somali city they hail from.

I met a number of the family members yesterday afternoon when I stopped by to check out the menu and scope out the scene. They include (from left to right) Amal, Abdulkdir and Osman Mahamud.

And here's Ahmed Mahamud, who hooked me up with a delicious cup of traditional Somali tea flavored with cardamom and cinnamon. It's served sweetened or unsweetened, depending on your preference. The restaurant also serves Middle Eastern style coffee, spiced with ginger, and a bunch of fresh squeezed juices, including mango, guava and avocado. Alcoholic beverages are not on the menu.

Along with the tea, Ahmed gave me a primer on Somali cuisine, which calls on a wide-range of influences. These include food traditions from India, other African nations and other Middle Eastern countries, which reflect Somalia's long history as a trading hub. Somali cuisine also contains elements of Italian cooking, picked up during the years of Italian colonization.

Here's an appetizer sampler basket, including sambussa, kachori and nafaquo, which are all bite-sized eats made from various combinations of potatoes, spices and other ingredients. Apps are priced between $.99 and $1.50. Other offerings include goat soup ($2.99), chicken soup ($2.99), falafel sandwiches ($6.99), vegetable biryani ($9.99), chicken pasta ($9.99), beef kabaab ($9.99) and chicken masala ($9.99).

Ahmed says the dish called sport ($15.99) is a popular Somali meal. This large platter feeds two to three people and includes rice, lettuce, pasta, vegetables, chicken and goat. Traditionally this meal is eaten with your hands instead of utensils.

Even though I stopped by before 3 pm (typically an off hour for dining), a steady stream of patrons continued to come through the door. This seems like a good indicator that this family-focused restaurant has a bright future.

Barava is located at 653 Congress St. The restaurant is open Sun.-Thur. noon-10 pm and Fri.-Sat. noon-11 pm. FMI and reservations call 899-0599.

Artsy Greendrinks fills MECA

Marking its one year anniversary, Portland Greendrinks pulled off another rocking party last night at the Maine College of Art. There were so many people jamming the hallways, I can't tell you for sure how many showed up, but it clearly numbered in the hundreds. The awesome art school in downtown Portland offered up tours of its former department store building and T-shirts for screenprinting.

One of the really cool things about the party was the chance to check out the excellent student art that literally covers every available wall. Another cool thing about MECA is that its extensive art library on the second floor is open to the public.

As part of Greendrinks ongoing effort to get attendees to bring reusable drinking vessels that can be filled with the amber deliciousness from Peak Organic and Sebago Brewing, the Dobbyn Foundation sold mugs handcrafted by MECA students for the very affordable price of $5. All the money raised from the sales will be used to pay for school tuition for students in Uganda.

Aside from the mugs, my pick for the most original cup goes to Eli Cayer (of Maine Mead Works fame) and his chalice. Of course, I also need to give a shout out to the photogenic Geoffrey Starrett and his impeccable taste, as demonstrated by the Switch/MaineToday.com pint glass he was sipping from. Too bad my photography skills were no match for his good looks.

Eco Appetito raises $4,000 for ecology school

Yesterday's Eco Appetito tasting event packed the house at Cinque Terre in the Old Port. Roughly 100 people turned out for this benefit event for the Ferry Beach Ecology School and its innovative Food for Thought program. The school raised $4,000 from the party.

The school's director Drew Dumsch talked briefly about the school and the work it does around food. Providing residential science programs to kids across the state, the school puts a big emphasis on the role food plays in the health of our bodies and our environment. While at the school, students learn to compost food waste, explore the on-site organic garden and eat a variety of locally-grown foods.

Sampling locally-grown food and drink also was the theme of Eco Appetito. Here Leslie Oster of Aurora Provisions pours a glass of Allagash Grand Cru.

Eats included these white bean soup shots

And these Winter Point oysters on the half shell.

As part of the school's Food for Thought program, staff members put together dinnertime skits that communicate environmental messages with humor. The talented eco-thespians shared one of their performances: The Wizard of Ag. Here's Dorothy, two worms and the sun heading to see the Wizard of Ag, who they hope will solve the soil infertility problems in Kansas and rid the world of the genetic engineering scourge. Unfortunately, the Wicked Witch has other plans.

But after some singing and skipping, Dorothy and her group of eco-activists manage to defeat the Wicked Witch and her industrial food ways. How'd they do it? With compost, of course.

Farmer's Table opens for dinner

Tonight is opening night for The Farmer's Table restaurant, located in the old Mim's spot on Commercial Street. When I stopped by this morning, food was being delivered, lights were being hung and chef/owner Jeff Landry was still smiling. Landry, who is the former executive chef of Eve's at the Garden and has worked at Cinque Terre and the Harraseeket Inn, is partnering with his wife, Suzie Altemus-Landry, on this venture. He also told me that the two of them are looking into possibly purchasing the Old World Gourmet in Freeport, which would allow them to offer catering since there's no room for it at this spot.

The interior looks really great, with muted tones, white linens and an open kitchen. There are seats for 40 downstairs, 16 upstairs and, come summer, another 45 outside. I could hear the relief in Landry's voice when he told me the city approved his liquor license just this morning.

Here's tonight's menu, which will change daily. It emphasizes locally-grown, raised and caught food. The restaurant's not taking reservations this weekend, instead seating will be on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 5 pm and the restaurant is located at 205 Commercial St.

Fading graffiti of history

When the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989, portions of it were distributed to locales around the world to serve as memorials to the Cold War and symbols of democracy's triumph over totalitarianism. Portland was one of the cities that received a portion of the wall and you can find it on Long Wharf, just behind the Gorham Savings Bank and in front of DiMillo's.

Germany's notoriously graffiti covered wall was erected in 1961 and during the following 28 years became the site of numerous killings, as residents of Communist East Berlin attempted to jump the wall and flee into West Berlin. Bullets quickly put an end to their escape.

Today, the writing on Portland's portion of the wall is faded and worn. But it still serves as a reminder of the folly of building walls rather than bridges and offers hope that peace and freedom can prevail in a world full of fear.