Fork Food Lab, some members of the lab and several others have joined forces to hold a bake sale on Saturday to help asylum seekers in Portland.

All of the proceeds of the Raise the Dough bake sale will be used for that cause, organizers say, in the form of a donation to the Portland Community Fund. The sale will run from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Foundation Brewing Co., 1 Industrial Way, in Portland.

Participating bakers as of Tuesday afternoon were Belleville, Bogs Bakery, Cong Tu Bot, Hi Bar Bakery, Joyful Spirit, Little Spruce, Mill Cove Baking Co., Night Moves Bread + Pie, Norimoto, Rover Bagel, Suga Suga, Tandem Coffee and Turtle Rock Farm.

If you’re a baker and would like to help, contact info@millcovebakingco.com.

Cider Bar to open in former CBD building

Portland’s first Basque-inspired cider bar – northwestern Spain is known for its cider houses – is slated to open in late August. Anoche will occupy the former Coffee By Design building at 43 Washington Ave. on Portland’s East End, said proprietor Erika Colby, who currently works at Novare Res in Portland.

In addition to hard cider, which is enjoying a renaissance in Maine and nationally, the bar will serve “tapas-style” snacks, such as salt cod rillette; foie gras terrine with bread, figs and muscatel vinegar reduction; and pimiento del piquillo peppers stuffed with tuna belly. Anoche will bring “Spain’s pintxos-centered menus to our foodie-driven community,” Colby wrote in an email describing her venture. “The word ‘Anoche’ translates to “last night” in Spanish, leaving something of a silent allure to the vibe we’re creating.”

We miss you, Tony Bourdain

On June 25, Chef Ali Waks will offer a love letter in food to the late, lamented celebrity chef and television star Anthony Bourdain.

Waks, who recently started at The Coast Bar and Bistro at 10 Water St. in Brunswick after some three years helming the kitchen at the Brunswick Inn, is cooking a “heartfelt” five-course “To Tony with Love” dinner, a year – give or take a week or two – since he took his own life. The menu includes Mere Point Oysters, roasted marrow bones, and roasted black sea bass, “food I love to cook and I know he’d love to eat,” she wrote in an email announcing the event. 

Waks went on to describe memorable meals she’d eaten as a young woman at Les Halles, the restaurant in New York where Bourdain cooked before he became a writer and star of the TV show “No Reservations.” “He was smart and funny,” Waks emailed, “and did so very much for our industry and for so many others all over the planet.”

The dinner costs $65. To reserve, call 373-1824.

Happy Birthday, CBD! We’ll drink (coffee) to that

Coffee by Design is celebrating 25 years, with a custom doughnut and birthday drink – both available through June and July – and a party on June 30.

The party, dubbed Harvest, is open to the public. At 10 a.m., catch Burundi Drummers, at 10:45, an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony. The day continues with coffee tastings, a coffee blending competition, live music, food trucks and more.

“Harvest is intended as a community celebration, and a thank you to all of our customers, team members both present and past, and our families,” co-owner Mary Allen Lindemann said in a news release. “We named it Harvest, for in working together as a community, we plant the seeds for a beautiful today and tomorrow.”

A portion of sales from the drink – Rebel Blend cold brew concentrate with seltzer, hibiscus tea, honey, hops and citrus – will go to a host of local nonprofits. Ditto for the mocha doughnut, created by Holy Donut. Coffee by Design prides itself on serving sustainably sourced, traceable and quality coffee.

Queer community hub – with food and drink – coming soon 

Candy’s, a coffee shop, bar, library and self-described  “queer community hub,” is scheduled to open at 34 Portland St. in Portland in late summer.

The menu has a healthy slant, with some vegan and vegetarian options. Proposed menu items include mussels, cucumber soup, overnight oats and chickpea fritters.

Proprietors Karlyn Daigle, Milo DeGoosh, Mel McGovern and Roux Sutherland plan to host queer-related events like art shows, business pop-ups, conversations and a podcast.

Here’s how their website, in part, describes Candy’s: “grab a coffee and hang in the queer library in the morning. shoot some pool. teach a workshop. attend a workshop. come to a show. host a show. listen to our podcast. bring the fam, whatever that may mean to you. drink a drink. eat some snacks. talk to pals. be kind to one another.”

Let’s do the poké (no hokey)

Portland has a new food truck, Poke Maine. Find it Tuesdays to Thursdays parked on Spring Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The truck sells lobster rolls and drinks, but its specialty is the Hawaiian Classic bowl, which can be made with salmon, tuna, chicken or tofu.

Five Islands Lobster Co. owner dies

Keith S. Longbottom, co-owner of Five Islands Lobster Co., died June 15 from a brain tumor. He was 48.

The restaurant, which Longbottom and his wife, Gina, bought in 2007, will continue to operate. Five Islands Lobster is much loved, both for the lovely, quintessential Maine cove it overlooks, and for its pristine, straight-from-the boat lobster and other seafood, served grilled and fried. 

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