10/16/2024
A few Reminders:
TOMORROW! Wednesday Oct 16 - 4-9PM
Weiner Wednesday to benefit Portland Housing Authority’s Scholarship and Vacation Lunch Programs
No need to RSVP, just show up!
Thursday Oct 17 - 5:30PM
Wine Class - Veneto
New wave winemakers, rooted in tradition
$45/PP not including tax or gratuity
CALL the Vine to reserve your spot!
Sunday Oct 20 - 11 AM- 1:30PM
Foraging Class with snacks to benefit PHA’s Scholarship and Vacation Lunch Programs
This is the ONLY foraging class I will be teaching this year! Maybe we’ll get back on the wagon in earnest next year, but there is still great plant and fungi material to be found out there, so let’s get outside! We will meet at our foraging location and take a 1.5-2 hr walk through the woods and fields before convening over snacks to answer any other lingering questions you might have. $60/PP not including tax or service charge - $30 goes directly to PHA. Location will be within ½ hr of Brunswick and will be disclosed a few days before the class to ensure that we find good stuff! CALL the Vine to sign up!
Read on for October's fundraising dinner details! (sorry for the lack of brevity, I guess I had some words to get out...)
I decided the other night that I wanted to do a big, boisterous family style dinner a la the movie “Big Night.” I hadn’t watched the movie in a while, so I decided to revisit it to get some inspiration. I can definitively say after watching it, that it is currently my favorite movie. That being said, it was inspiring in a slightly different way than I had expected… You all should watch it if you haven't in the recent past. I gained a whole lot of respect for Stanley Tucci, and Tony Shaloub, Isabella Rosselini and Minnie Driver are all amazing. The food and restaurant scenes are beautiful, and of course the fashion is right up my alley. But, I had apparently forgotten the basic premise of the movie, and that is what really hit me hard this past weekend, but also what really is inspiring this dinner.
We'll circle back to the movie in a bit, but first, have you noticed all the restaurants that have closed/ are closing right now? Here in Brunswick Joshua’s just closed their doors after 30 + years. Down in Portland, Local 188 has just closed after 25 years. Slab and Salvage BBQ are closing, as well as Thistle and Grouse and Coals, The Garrison and Muddy Rudder. And this is all within the past month or so. At the risk of sounding like a salty service industry veteran, (which I guess is really what I am at this point…) it’s becoming increasingly hard to successfully run a food business these days. The model is broken, and the margins just aren't there anymore in the currently accepted restaurant structure, and frankly, customers are unwilling to pay the prices that would be needed to make this model profitable. And really, it’s just not that simple anyways… The cost of living in Maine has far outpaced what our generally accepted “living wage” is, yet I cannot afford to pay my employees a true living wage, especially within the traditional restaurant model - hence why we closed Caballeras. Food costs have almost doubled since pre pandemic times, commercial rents are skyrocketing, and small business owners are losing their steam. Maybe I sound like a broken record, maybe it’s not a new story, but I’m living it, and so are all the restaurant owners who have decided to shutter their doors in the recent past.
And I know it’s not one sided. I can’t afford to eat out right now either. I don’t know what the solution is. But watching Big Night did give me some clarity…
In the movie, two brothers, recent Italian transplants, struggle to keep their restaurant open. They are not busy enough, and the few customers they have don’t seem to understand their angle, their authenticity, and the beauty of their food. Their backs are against the wall, and the stress is tearing them apart when they are presented with an opportunity to bring in some income and gain some publicity for the restaurant. It could be their big break, and they go for it and create the ultimate feast, the ultimate night. And, it doesn’t pan out, it doesn’t save their restaurant. And we don’t even really know what becomes of the restaurant, but it doesn’t really matter. In the end, what it comes down to is that food is love, and if you are one who expresses yourself and your love through feeding others, you really have no choice. And in the end, the brothers still have that. Whenever I have strayed and lost my joy, or lost my way in this business, I always come back to that. I have found countless ways to feed you all, the “model” keeps evolving, but the end goal remains the same. I derive my joy and sense of self worth through feeding others.
This weekend my partner and I took our 4! children out for dinner at a newer restaurant in Camden called Albatross, and it was magical. They all remained engaged and got along and we ordered a bunch of food that tasted of love and intention. It was a genuine experience, and it was perfect in that realness. It helped remind me of what eating out is all about. The best experiences, whether food related or not, are always synergistic - they are more than a sum of the parts. They happen when everything collides the way it should, at the right moment, in the right place… I know every food experience that I create does not achieve this. But, I do know that it is the North Star that I am constantly reorienting towards. And I do know that we all need a little magic and twinkle in our lives right now. We need to get a little messy, and pass bottles of wine around the table, and serve the person next to us, and eat some food that evokes memories of softer moments, and make toasts to the simple things, and laugh at silly jokes. And I need that. I need a reminder of why day in and day out I feel compelled to keep going - so we’re throwing our very own “Big Night.” And I’m not doing it for publicity, or press, or even really for the money. I’m doing it for you all, and me, and everyone else who works here - cause we all need a good laugh, and a sweet, silly night together…
So, on Saturday Oct 26, at 7PM, we’re going to clear open some space INSIDE the store, throw together some tables, and have a night. Food will be served family style, no official courses, just rolling rounds of food coming out of the kitchen. Bottles of white and red will be on the table, and we’ll just eat and drink together. It’s going to be fun. And, I hope to see you.
Here is the menu: all served with Case Sparse red and white wine….
herb and anchovy stuffed hot peppers
Marinated foraged mushrooms
Spuma di mortadella, crostini
Scungilli - conch, celery, lemon, hot pepper
Sauteed peppers and onions, aged provolone
Escarole soup alla nana - pork and veal meatballs, escarole, carrots, orzo, pecorino
Sicilian style braciole - beef, pine nuts, raisins, parsley garlic, rolled and cooked slowly in a simple tomato sauce
Herbed focaccia
Stuffed baked artichokes
Eggplant lasagne
Mini cannoli of various preparations
tiramasu
The nitty gritty:
$90/person includes food and drink, and $20 of that will go to our Oct fundraising partner Portland Housing Authority.
Because of the communal nature of the dinner, we will not be making many dietary accommodations, but you can certainly pick and choose what foods you choose to eat.
CALL the Vine to reserve your spot.
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