Lightning knocks out WPXT

Lightning struck the WPXT studio in Westbrook late last night, knocking out transmission equipment and telephone lines, and frying some of the TV station’s computers. The station has managed to continue broadcasting over Time Warner Cable through a fiber optic network, but Direct TV, Dish Network and over-the-air viewers will have to wait until Saturday […]

Tweak vodka to your taste at fundraising ‘Infusathon’

Bartenders from six restaurants will come up with specialty cocktail infusions.

Cookbook Corner: ‘Simply Zov: Rustic Classics with a Mediterranean Twist’

Butter beans with pancetta and leeks. Butternut squash parmesan bread pudding. Spicy pomegranate-glazed chicken wings. Hungry yet? “Simply Zov: Rustic Classics with a Mediterranean Twist” (Zov’s Publishing, $39) by Zov Karamardian is one of those cookbooks you want to rush right home and start using. The recipes are fairly simple, yet still offer intriguing flavors […]

Food & Dining Dispatches, June 8, 2011

BATH Vegetarian cooking classes will be taught on June 14, 21 Learn how to cook plant-based meals during the Heart Healthy Vegetarian Cooking School classes taking place this Tuesday and June 21. Retired surgeon Dr. Gaylen Johnson and his wife, Kitty Johnson, will provide cooking demonstrations, food samples and recipes, along with lifestyle and nutrition […]

Soup to Nuts: Maine chefs’ cookbookdestined to be an instant ‘Classics’

Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier knew they wanted their next cookbook to focus on the Maine traditions they’ve always tried to showcase through the food they serve in their restaurants, particularly MC Perkins Cove in Ogunquit.

But it wasn’t until they decided on a title – “Maine Classics” – that everything began to come together.

“Everything just kind of came from that: Well, what is a Maine classic?” Frasier said. “What defines that? And then everything just fell into place.”

Scraps – Stuff we’ve heard about this ‘n’ that, June 8, 2011

• The White Cap Grille, the restaurant that’s taking over the old Sebago Brewing space at 164 Middle St., will open in mid- to late June, according to owner Michael Mastronardi. The chef will be Tim Eaton. The menu at the restaurant, which is undergoing renovations, will include Bangs Island mussels, New England clam chowder, […]

Cookbook Corner: ‘Eat Like a Man’

If your dad is a foodie, you might want to consider the “Eat Like a Man” (Chronicle Books, $30) cookbook from Esquire for Father’s Day. This testosterone-fueled cookbook has all the recipes you’d expect — braised beef short ribs, creamed spinach (to go with your pepper-crusted strip steaks) and spaghetti carbonara — plus lots of […]

Cookbook Corner: ‘Home Port Cookbook’

The “Home Port Cookbook: Beloved Recipes from Martha’s Vineyard” by Will Holtham (Lyons Press, $19.95) is a collection of mouthwatering seafood recipes from the former owner of the restaurant. Home Port has been a Martha’s Vineyard institution since 1931, playing host to tourists and celebrities alike, from James Cagney to John Belushi. The food runs […]

Food & Dining Dispatches, May 25, 2011

Did you ever want to dish out ‘tough love’ at restaurants? Fancy yourself a “restaurant expert”? A major cable TV network is seeking someone with food safety and restaurant management expertise to visit struggling restaurants “and give them tough love in order to help them improve.” Gordon Ramsay apparently need not apply, since he’s already […]

Hanging up his chef’s hat

It was the culinary student’s first meal service in the public dining room of the Culinary Arts Department at Southern Maine Community College.

Facing a room full of hungry patrons, the student suddenly froze in his tracks.

Then he started to cry.