Maine lobster taco wins the Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off

Chef Isaac P. Aldrich of the Sebasco Harbor Resort in Phippsburg won the Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off Friday with his Maine Lobster Breakfast Taco.

The cook-off marks the traditional launch of Maine Restaurant Week, which runs from March 1-12. This year the event, held at Sea Dog Brewing Co. in South Portland, featured chefs from 11 restaurants joining in a friendly competition to see who can make the best breakfast dish. Ticket holders wandered from station to station, sampling dishes and voting on their favorites.

The winning taco was made with scrambled eggs, housemade chorizo, Small Point Maine lobster, cojita cheese, diced red pepper, hollandaise sauce and cilantro, encased in a warm tortilla. Event organizer Jim Britt, a co-founder of Maine Restaurant Week, said the taco won by a substantial number of votes.

The first runner-up was chef Tim Labonte from Eve’s at the Garden in the Portland Harbor Hotel. Labonte’s entry was “Pigs in a Blanket,” a shredded pork belly blintz with smoked ricotta cheese, maple-pecan sabayon and cocoa cracklings for some crunch.

Chef Dave McGuirk of the Saltwater Grille in South Portland took second runner-up with his Liege waffle topped with Moxie chocolate syrup and maple candied bacon.

The Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off raised $4,000 for Preble Street this year. Preble Street provides services for the homeless and focuses on issues of housing, hunger and poverty.