Photo left to right: Jeff Landry with The Farmer’s Table, Eric Flynn with Harraseeket Inn, Shannon Bard with Zapoteca and Kevin Walsh with Earth at Hidden Pond. Photo Credit: Ted Axelrod.
The Convention + Visitors Bureau, host of Maine’s premier food and wine experience, Harvest on the Harbor, has selected four local chefs to participate in the Top of the Crop: Best Farm to Table Restaurant competition. Eric Flynn, executive chef at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport; Jeff Landry, executive chef and owner of The Farmer’s Table in Portland; Shannon Bard, executive chef and part owner of Zapoteca in Portland, and Kevin Walsh, executive chef at Earth at Hidden Pond, will compete on October 25 during Harvest on the Harbor for the title of Maine’s Best Farm to Table Restaurant.
The four chefs were selected based on their farm to table philosophy, relationship with local farms, and how well their restaurant menus reflect the farm to table movement on a year-round basis.
The Top of the Crop competition places the chefs on the Viking Cooking Demonstration Stage where they will prepare a dish using local, organic, farm-raised, beef, lamb, chicken, pork or venison. The seated audience will start with an appetizer of bread, cheese and olive oil, while watching the chefs demonstrate their cooking techniques. The audience will taste the skillfully prepared dishes in four appetizer-sized portions while a wine educator provides an expertly paired selection to complement the chefs’ creations.
The event concludes with a dessert demonstration and tasting along with locally, handcrafted, micro-roasted coffee. The event takes place on Thursday, October 25, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the Ocean View Room at Ocean Gateway in Portland. Tickets are $75.00 and can be purchased at http://www.HarvestOnTheHarbor.com.
The attire is business casual. Come learn about Maine’s farm-to-table movement, taste the difference organic growing can make and hear some great music throughout the presentation.
The line-up for the 2012 Harvest on the Harbor event also includes:
Grand Tasting on the Harbor
Maine Lobster Chef of the Year
Top of the Crop: Best Farm to Table Restaurant
Cutting Edge: College Culinary Competition
BBQ Brews & Blues
Savory Samplings at the Marketplace
Event Sponsors include Down East Magazine and WHOM 94.9FM.