Crafters invade the Farmers' Market

It's no secret that the Portland Farmers' Market is the best place to find fresh produce in the city, but at this time of year the market is also a great spot to pick up handcrafted items. Here are just a few of the creative folks you'll see alongside the farmers.

Allison Villani is set up in front of the Public Market House. She has a selection of delicate, hand cut cards, along with hand painted and stamped items. She also has a fun selection of tiny hand puppets. She doesn't come every Wednesday, but she will be back on Aug. 12

At the other end of the square, Jared DeSimio of Dappermonkey, has a table set up for the first time. He creates cool courier bags ($60) made from reclaimed materials and also screenprints original images on Ts ($21), long sleeves (426) and hoodies ($42).

Nearby, Kathleen White of The Maine Bath is selling her Ocean Essence pouches. Filled with hand-harvested Maine seaweed, the sachets are meant to be placed in a bath for at-home skin hydration similar to what you'd experience at a spa. These little spas-in-a-bag sell for $11.99.

In the same area, fiber artist Martha Marques is working her antique spinning wheel. Keeping her company is her intern Margaret Gale. Martha owns Threads of Meaning on Mujoy Hill, where she offers studio classes on Mondays from 1-5 pm and Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6-8 pm. Martha comes to most Wednesday markets, unless it's raining.

Another perennial market artist is David A. Marshall, who's also the city councilor for the West End. Dave is so well-known around town that he's often pulled away from his stand to talk politics, which explains why I couldn't find him when I snapped this photo. Another cool thing about Dave is that he doesn't own a car and transports this art display around town by bike.

Finally, I think this T-shirt of a martini-sipping lobster from Ashley Lenartson of Ashley Wear really sums up the quirky spirit of the Wednesday farmers' market. It's the place to be for good food, good art and good times.

New Eco-Elegance shop recycles weddings

April Randolph, a former sea turtle biologist, shows off a silk Vera Wang wedding dress in her brand new Eco-Elegance consignment shop on Market Street in the Old Port. While the store offers a sleek, polished look, this isn't your typical bridal boutique. All the gowns are "pre-loved" (as April calls them), and the goal is to help local brides reduce wedding costs and then recycle wedding items after the big day has passed. As an example, this Vera Wang dress cost $5,000 new and is selling for $2,500 at Eco-Elegance.

A number of the gowns have never been worn. It's not that the weddings didn't happen, but rather reflects the trend of brides buying more than one dress before deciding (often just a day or two before the wedding) which one to wear. The other dresses, with tags still attached, can't be returned to the retailers where they came from, but they can be consigned to Eco-Elegance, where the bride will get 50% of the sales price.

For April, the switch from scientist to shop owner came when she realized she wanted to put her environmental values to use in a way that allowed her to interact more with people. So she swapped biology for ball gowns.

The shop also accepts bridesmaids gowns, mother of the bride dresses and general evening wear.

Oh yes, and there are shoes too. The only new items in the store are the lingerie pieces.

Another really cool feature of the shop is the section selling candles, cake cutters, flower baskets, napkins, centerpieces and other decor items. Many brides put hours and hours of time and significant amounts of cash into creating gorgeous decorations that are only enjoyed for a few fleeting hours. Now brides can recoup some of this time and money, and brides-to-be can get first rate decor for discounted prices.

No appointment is needed to come into the shop and try on dresses. Even though the atmosphere is laid back, the store's design and amenities are just as elegant as the name.

Eco-Elegance is located at 157 Middle St, near the entrance to Videoport & Bull Moose. It is open Wed-Sat 10 am-6 pm and Sun 1-6 pm. FMI call 828-4696.

555 cook revamps Fit to Eat

Roughly three years ago Mike Mastronardi used to manage the sandwich shop and salad bar Fit to Eat. But after a year there he left to further his culinary knowledge, working at two foodie hotspots: The Harraseeket Inn in Freeport and Five Fifty-Five in Portland.

"Five Fifty-Five really taught me how to cook," Mike says of the fine dining restaurant, where he still works Sunday brunch.

Recently he was offered the opportunity to take over the reins at Fit to Eat, and he jumped at it. He re-opened the shop two weeks ago with a pared down menu and scratch made breads.

Everything is made fresh to order, with sandwiches that include the Old Port ($6.99), with roast beef, avocado, romaine, tomato, cheddar and cucumber wasbi mayo, the California ($7.50), with salmon, avocado, carrots, cucumbers, romaine and cucumber wasbi mayo, and the Santa Fe ($6.99), with chicken, romaine, red peppers, banana peppers, salsa and cheddar.

There's one vegetarian sandwich on the menu, the Portobello ($6.75), with arugula, roasted red peppers, cheddar and horseradish mayo, and there's also a daily vegetarian special.

Each day Mike makes the Tuscan and focaccia rolls, plus English muffins.

Here's Mike whipping up one of his signature scrambled egg sandwiches served until 11 am on the English muffins. Choices include bacon ($5), sausage ($5) and veggie ($6).

He's making all the sauces and dressings from scratch and is sourcing his supplies from Native Maine, Micucci Wholesale and the Fresh Approach market in the West End.

"I don't believe in canned or frozen," Mike says. "I hope that's what sets us apart."

He offers one soup a day, and each is cream-based. Today's soup is carrot cardamon ($2.50/$3.50). He's working on a chilled cucumber creme fraiche soup and a tomato bisque will follow.

In the future, he hopes to add bagels, gluten-free bread and possibly pizza (but that's farther down the road).

"I hope people will be able to tell the difference between homemade mayonnaise and dressing and the bottled stuff," he says.

Fit to Eat is located above The Big Easy and next to Sebago at 65 Market St. It is open Mon-Fri from 7 am-5 pm. Once O'Natural's closes up shop, Fit to Eat may add hours on Saturday. To place an order to go, call 761-4441.

Crowds mob Vegetarian Food Fest

Saturday morning was a little dreary, but that didn't stop the crowds from descending on the 5th annual Vegetarian Food Festival. The event was held in the gym and cafeteria of the LEED-certified East End Community School in Portland. Here the cafeteria is filled with folks waiting to score free samples of food donated by national companies, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables and the local veg-friendly restaurant The Pepperclub.

Hidden behind the mob, there was another row of exhibitors, including Jonah Fertig of Local Sprouts Cooperative. He was whipping up a tasty stir fry made with all Maine ingredients, including Maine-made tofu and canola oil.

Next door, the gym was just as packed with attendees and a bunch more exhibitors.

The table with free samples from the super-popular Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro was swamped until they ran out of food just two hours into the event. Since it's next to impossible to get a table at the restaurant, I wasn't surprised to see their food go so quickly.

Silly's, an East End institution, was serving up free samples of their award-winning BBQ tofu. I snapped this photo right after the festival opened at 11 am, which is the only reason these lovely ladies had a chance to smile for the camera.

Blogger, author and macrobiotic cook Meg Wolff had so many people stopping by to chat that I had a tough time just saying hi. You may remember her cooking tips from this story about macrobiotics I wrote for Switch. You can catch her doing a cooking demo on WCSH-6's 207 program next Thursday, July 23.

Being a bit of a bibliophile, I couldn't resist making a few purchases at this table staffed by Rabelais, Portland's all food bookstore. I hear they sold out of a number of books.

I didn't make it to the 13th Cookie table until after 1 pm, and I was too late to sample their vegan baked goods. With the popularity of plant-based diets in the Greater Portland area, I guess it's no surprise that vendors had a tough time keeping up with the demand. I expect the success of this growing event means we'll find even more exhibitors at next year's festival.

Want to see more photos from the event? Check out Cara Slifka's Seen photos here.

Contemporaries heed Call of the Coast

Last night the Portland Museum of Art's young professional membership group, The Contemporaries, hosted its annual summer garden party. As usual, it was a stellar event, featuring excellent art, cool drinks and tasty eats. The party offered members a private opportunity to check out the impressionist & modernist works in the Call of the Coast show, on view in the main gallery. This was followed by a cocktail party in the garden between the McLellan and Clapp houses on Spring Street.

Because there was such a fun group of people at the party, I spent most of my time gabbing and forget to snap many pics. However, if you're Facebook friends with Aucocisco gallery owner Andy Versoza, you can see a whole bunch of really great shots.

The theme of the party was Taste of the Midcoast, and it featured food and drink from the Camden-Rockland area. Among those serving up free drinks were these lovely ladies from Cellardoor Vineyards. The winery is located in Lincolnville with a separate tasting room in Rockport. I really enjoyed their Vino DiVine wine.

For the lobster lovers at the party, the rolls from Boothbay Loster Wharf were a treat. The state's first seafood CSF, Port Clyde Fresh Catch, also was there with info about how to get connected to their sustainably harvested fish and shrimp.

Lorie Dana, who's at the microphone, was one of the co-hosts of the party and thanked everyone for coming. Others sharing the stage with her included (left to right) Chris Robinson, co-chair of The Contemporaries Steering Committee, Hilary Robbins, the other co-chair of the Steering Committee, Sharon Kitchens, who owns SK Public Relations and helped coordinate most of the food and drink, and Maggie Robinson, the party's other fabulous co-host. The crowd was excited to hear that the ranks of this popular membership group have swelled to 230.

The party officially ended at 8 pm, but with perfect weather and excellent company the crowd was slow to leave. But we won't have to wait long to get together again. The next party is July 31 at the June Fitzpatrick Gallery at MECA, where we'll get a preview of paintings by Carl Gordon Cutler & William E. Thon.

Hope you can join us!

Red Italian moon gets ready to rise in Old Port

I'm back from vacation and racing against the deadline for next week's Maine Switch Magazine, but I couldn't pass up the chance to share these snapshots I took during a visit to the soon-to-open Luna Rossa Italian restaurant yesterday afternoon. An exciting and elegant space, it's located in the former home of the Pavilion nightclub at 188 Middle St. The building was constructed after fire leveled much of the city in 1866, and it first served as the headquarters for Canal National Bank. Many of the original features remain.

Initially, the building's owners intended to create a retail mall, of which the restaurant Luna Rossa would be one tenant. However, those plans changed and now the restaurant is the sole business filling the space.

Executive Chef Antonio Bruno, an Italian native, says the plan is to offer seating for a whopping 220+, including a full bar and lounge space. The bar, located on the mezzanine, has Las Vegas-style dueling pianos, which should offer a high-energy Thur-Sat entertainment option.

The restaurant is ready to open, but it's stuck in a holding pattern as they wait for the state's liquor inspector to return from vacation and grant a liquor license. Chef Bruno says there's a possibility they could open next week, but it may not happen until the beginning of August.

In the meantime, the kitchen staff has been hired and the menus are ready to go. The menus include lunch, dinner, dessert, late night and kid's. Eventually Sunday brunch will be added. The bar menu, which includes things such as fried calamari ($10), sliders ($9), bruschetta caprese ($6) and fried ravioli ($9), will be on tap from 10 pm-midnight Thur-Sat.

Many of the items on the lunch and dinner menus are similar to popular dishes Chef Bruno cooked up at restaurants in London, New York and Bermuda. These include shrimp rossa ($12), involtino di pollo ($20), capepesanti all fuoco ($12) and puttanesca classico ($17).

Chef Bruno says the kitchen "will be as flexible as we can," and says with two days advance notice he can accommodate pretty much any special order. Wanting to test him, I asked about gluten-free requests. No problem, he said, and indicated that he can special order gluten-free pasta. Pretty impressive.

The food will be complemented by a wine list dominated by Italian wines, but which will include bottles from around the globe. This original bank vault at the back of the space may one day become a super-secure wine cellar.

I was really surprised to see this room that time forgot, located behind the space where the Pavilion's bar used to be. In the future it may become a special chef's table room.

Luna Rossa is located at 188 Middle St., Portland. Once it opens, reservations can be made by calling 899-1113.

Italian-inspired Corner Room opens

Chef Harding Lee Smith showed off his sleek prosciutto slicer when I stopped by to check out the new Corner Room Kitchen & Bar earlier today. The demonstration was a bit of indulgence since it's full speed ahead in the restaurant today as Chef Smith and his crew get ready to open for the first time at 5 pm tonight.

It's a busy night for restaurant openings in town, with Grace also set to begin serving dinner tonight.

This is Smith's third eatery in Portland and joins his Front Room on Munjoy Hill and his Grill Room just a couple doors down Exchange Street.

Located in the former home of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, the restaurant features a dining room with a warm, cozy feel and great views of the street life on Federal and Exchange streets.

The kitchen staff was hard at work in the open kitchen prepping for tonight's dinner. The menu includes a la carte antipasti choices of meat, seafood, vegetables and cheeses plus a robust selection of salads, pizzas, paninis and pasta. Everything is priced at $15 or under. Look for a list of Italian wines to round out your meal.

This photo doesn't do it justice, but there is a really sweet piece of signage art hanging above the door that depicts spaghetti dangling off a fork. Just looking at it makes me crave pasta.

The Corner Room is located at the corner of Exchange and Federal streets in the heart of the Old Port. It opens tonight at 5 pm. It will be open for dinner through the weekend, including July 4. On Monday it will open for lunch at 11 am and stay open until 10 pm. These will be the normal hours Monday-Saturday, and Sundays it will be open from 4-9 pm. Call 879-4747 for a reservation.

Grace restaurant opens Thursday

After more than a year of work, the much-anticipated Grace restaurant officially opens its doors to the public tomorrow night. It also will be open Friday, then close for the holiday weekend and reopen on Tuesday.

The baby of Anne and Peter Verrill, who own the popular Foreside Tavern in Falmouth, this casual fine dining eatery fills the historic Chestnut Street Church. You can find it on Chestnut Street between City Hall and the Chestnut Street Lofts.

I stopped by today to chat with Anne (right) and general manager Kate Tozier (left). They're standing behind the circular bar that fills the center of the church. Above, the ceiling soars to the rafters and beautiful light from the original stained glass windows bathes the space.

Here's the view from the mezzanine, with the bar below, the open kitchen at the back and a part of the lounge area visible on the left. You can see some more photos and read about the historic renovation in this excellent Press Herald story from Meredith Goad.

The kitchen is headed up by Executive Chef Eric Simeon. His sample menus include offerings such as venison meatballs with red mole sauce and cheesy grits, smoked duck breast with hibiscus-ginger jelly and cracked wheat salad and potato gnocchi with wild mushrooms, pea shoots and parmesan broth. The menus will emphasize small plates and appetizers, but with plenty of entree-sized meals. The goal is to keep prices below $30, with the apps falling in the $8-$12 range.

The restaurant seats roughly 130. Here's the view to the right of the bar with seating on both the main floor and the mezzanine.

And here's the view to the left of the bar. I love how they turned the pulpit into the hostess stand. Similar creative touches can be found throughout the space.

Downstairs, there are two function rooms. The smaller is set up for business meetings and the larger space works for weddings. Events are already being booked into these rooms (the maximum capacity is about 150 people seated without a dance floor for the larger room). You can contact event coordinator Sabin Beckwith should you want to book a function here.

Below the gorgeous stained glass window facing the street, there's a service bar on the mezzanine. There won't be seats here, but it will be a convenient place to mix drinks for diners eating on the second floor. Using Kate's special infused liquors, the bartenders will be mixing up exotic signature cocktails, such as the jalapeno, pineapple and strawberry margarita, which is a favorite at the Foreside Tavern.

Grace is located at 15 Chestnut Street, Portland. It is open Tues-Sat for dinner and serves brunch on Sunday. The bar opens at 4 pm and dinner service begins at 5 pm. The plan is to serve the bar menu and desserts until midnight. Call 828-4422 for reservations.