Maine is all over food TV tonight.

First, at 9 p.m. on the Travel Channel, catch Matt Sullivan of The Galley, a restaurant and pub in Naples, on “Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America.”

All summer long, Adam Richman has been choosing a region of the country and sampling its top three (according to him) sandwiches. On this episode, he’ll try three New England sandwiches and pick a favorite to move on to the “national championship,” where the 10 regional winners and two “wild cards” will battle it out for the title of Best Sandwich in America.

Tonight Richman will be sampling Sullivan’s zesty lemon lobster roll, which I wrote about back in June.

The Maine sandwich will be competing against a crab-filled grilled cheese from Jumpin’ Jay’s in Portsmouth, N.H. and an oven-roasted turkey hoagie from the Book Trader Cafe on the Yale University campus in New Haven, CT.

Then, at 10 p.m., catch Maine chefs Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier on the third episode of “Top Chef Masters” on Bravo. Last week, Gaier ended up in the bottom three because he undercooked some salmon. (Ruth Reichl called his dish “a little wimpy.” Ouch.) But both chefs survived to battle on, trying to win money for their charities, Equality Maine (Gaier) and Outright Lewiston Auburn (Frasier).

Here’s the recipe for the Barbecued Duck with Sirloin Szechuan Sauce in Lettuce that Frasier made on last week’s show.

Tonight, apparently the chefs will split into teams of three (Gaier and Frasier appear to be on different teams) to prepare a three-course meal on a Japanese teppanyaki table. They’ll be serving VIP guests that include chefs May Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger, Rick Moonen and Jonathan Waxman.

And, in honor of the Olympics I suppose, gold medalist figure skater Brian Boitano will also be at the table.

Should be interesting.

And on the print front....

In case you missed it yesterday, Rob Evans’ duck confit panini at Duckfat was named Maine’s best sandwich by the Food Network magazine.

Maine also got props from  U.S. News & World Report story on “America’s Best Seafood.” Of course, they went with the usual suspects – the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth and the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Jerry Seinfeld would say. But come on, we all know there’s so much more to Maine seafood than the usual crowded summer joints.

Hmm, maybe we should be happy the national press is sending all the tourists to the same places. Leaves the fried clam tacos at Shepherd’s Pie in Rockport and any lobster dish made by Masa Miyake in Portland for the rest of us.

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About the Author

Meredith Goad has harvested oysters on the Chesapeake Bay, eaten reindeer in Finland and sipped hot chai in the Himalayas. She writes the weekly Soup to Nuts column and enjoys a good cocktail.

Meredith can be contacted at 791-6332 or mgoad@pressherald.com
On Twitter: @meredithgoad

Susan Axelrod's food writing career began in the kitchen; she owned a restaurant and catering business before turning to journalism more than a decade ago. To relax, she bakes, gardens and hikes with her husband and their two dogs. A newcomer to Portland, she is an online content producer for the Press Herald.

Susan can be contacted at 791-6310 or saxelrod [at] pressherald.com.
On Twitter: @susansaxelrod

Wendy Almeida and her family have a smattering of livestock and a summer garden. After 10 years of her kids being involved in 4-H, she's finally accepted the term "hobby farm" to describe her family's work at sustainable living. These days her morning starts with milking a goat before heading into the office for her day job as an assistant editor for features.

Wendy can be contacted at wea [at] mainetoday.com or on Twitter @wea1021.

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