PORTLAND

Rosemont wine tastings visit Spain and Portugal

Wines of Spain and Portugal will be the focus of three upcoming wine tastings at the Rosemont Markets.

Tastings on June 11 and 12 will feature Portugese wines in celebration of Portugese Wine Month. A 4 to 7 p.m. tasting will be held Friday at the Rosemont Market on Munjoy Hill at 88 Congress St. The Saturday tasting will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at the market, 559 Brighton Ave.

On June 25, Rosemont Market owner John Naylor and Yarmouth manager Ian Hayward will share wines from Spain and talk about the trip they took there in May. That tasting will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Brighton Avenue market.

 

French white, ros?ines will star in Bar Lola dinner

Bar Lola, 100 Congress St., will host a five-course wine dinner featuring the whites and ros?of France at

6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The dinner costs $70 per person. For reservations, call (207) 775-5652.

 

Tickets now available for Taste of the Nation

Tickets are now available for one of the hottest culinary benefits in Maine.

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. June 27 at the Leavitt & Parris Pavilion on the grounds of the Ocean Gateway International Marine Terminal, 14 Ocean Gateway Pier, on Portland’s waterfront.

More than 25 restaurants are participating this year, including chefs from Back Bay Grill, Fore Street and Miyake in Portland, Francine Bistro in Camden and Primo in Rockland. In addition to enjoying great food, guests will be able to sample premium wines, beers and spirits, enjoy live entertainment, and participate in a silent auction and raffle.

VIP tickets for the event allow entry at 3 p.m. and cost $250. General admission is $95, and doors open at 4:30.

All proceeds from ticket sales go to programs that fight childhood hunger in Maine.

 

Bayside World Market set for Saturday at high school

Looking for some good international fare? Check out the Bayside World Market and Fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Portland High School, 284 Cumberland Ave.

This year’s international food court will have vendors serving Thai, Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Vietnamese, Afghan and African cuisine. Admission is free, and all food is usually under $10.

 

Wholesome Junk Food creator to lead cooking class

Dr. Laura Trice, author of “The Wholesome Junk Food Cookbook,” will lead a cooking class Monday featuring healthy recipes.

Trice’s talk and cooking class will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Whole Foods Market, 2 Somerset St. The $20 class fee inlcudes a signed copy of her cookbook.

Trice was raised in Maine and is the founder of Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food.

DAMARISCOTTA

Sunday screening, feast an homage to ‘Babette’

If you’re a fan of the food film classic “Babette’s Feast,” you won’t want to miss a showing this Sunday of the film at the Skidompha Library, followed by a re-creation of the meal in the movie at the Damariscotta River Grill.

“Babette’s Feast” won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. The movie’s title character is the former owner of a fine restaurant who fled her native France for a small fishing village in Denmark. Fourteen years after leaving France, she shows her gratitude to the Danish village by creating a magnificent feast for them to enjoy.

The film will be shown at 3 p.m. at the Skidompha Library, 184 Main St. At 5 p.m., chef Rick Hirsch from the Damariscotta River Grill will prepare a five-course meal that mimics the feast in the movie.

Reservations are require for both the film and the dinner. To reserve a spot for the film, call (207) 563-5513. To reserve a spot at the dinner, which costs $60 per person, call (207) 563-2992.

SMALL BITES:

• Mexico City-style corn is back at El Rayo Taqueria, 101 York St., Portland. Wash it down with a Ginger Smack, a lime rickey with a ginger twist.

• Dean’s Sweets, 82 Middle St., Portland, has a new flavor of truffle — lemon apricot chevre. The truffle was inspired by a Christiaen Striep painting that was a part of the Portland Museum of Art’s still-life exhibit that ended Sunday.

• Maria’s Restaurant, 337 Cumberland Ave., Portland, has a new lunch menu that features roasted paninis (sirloin steak and mozzarella $8.95, homemade sausage, roasted peppers and marinara sauce $7.95); stone oven pizza (10-inch $5.95 plus $1 per topping); and a lunch entree selection that includes everything from spaghetti carbonara to baked haddock Milanese. A new antipasto bar includes grilled and marinated vegetables as well as Italian meats and cheeses for $5.50 per person.

• Oyster River Winegrowers in Warren has a new tasting room and farm market that’s open Thursday through Sunday in a little pink building on the corner of Routes 1 and 131 in Thomaston. On Sundays the winemaker hosts wine pairings with his own farm-made goat cheese. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• The Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth has a new summer cocktail menu to cool you down after you warm up on the beach.

The S’moretini contains vodka, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and Baileys Irish Cream, served in a glass rimmed with chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. Others celebrate the Maine blueberry. The Maine Blueberry Mojito contains Barcardi Light rum, fresh blueberry puree, simple syrup, ginger ale and fresh mint.