But not this year.
For the first time ever, Portland plans to host a high end food and wine festival called Harvest on the Harbor. This massive foodie throwdown stretches from Thursday, Oct. 23 through Saturday, Oct. 25 and includes tastings, dinners, classes and demonstrations. And even though the event has yet to cook a single lobster or uncork one bottle of wine, “Coastal Living” has already named it one of the country’s Top 10 Seafood & Wine Festivals.
“You can go to a wine festival anywhere, but what will separate this one is the strong emphasis on locally-grown Maine food,” says Barbara Whitten, who is the president of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland and the lead organizer for Harvest on the Harbor.
With only a limited number of tickets available for the various events, no doubt there will be fierce competition between locals and tourists to snag a spot at the more popular offerings. The events most likely to sell out are the opening and closing acts. The Grand Tasting kicks off the festival on Thursday night at the Ocean Gateway in Portland and features food and wine tastings from dozens of restaurants and wineries. Tickets to this event cost $50 and are limited to the first 400 people.
The other exclusive event is a black tie gala dinner on Saturday night at the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth. Tickets to the six course meal cost $– and only 200 will be sold. The festival also offers up opportunities to see cooking shows filmed, have cookbooks signed and stroll through a culinary marketplace offering everything from cookware to artisanal cheese.
Well-known chefs from Maine and around the nation will be on hand throughout the event to offer up tastes of their signature dishes and demonstrations of their coveted techniques. Look for appearances by Sam Hayward of Fore Street, Jonathan Cartwright of The White Barn Inn, Rob Evans of Hugo’s and Duck Fat, Larry Matthews of Back Bay Grill, Lee Skawinski of Cinque Terre and Vignola and Harding Lee Smith of The Front Room and The Grill Room. These chefs will be joined by the likes of Rebecca Charles of the Pearl Oyster Bar in New York City, David Pasternak of Esca in New York City and James Peterson, a James Beard award winning cookbook author.
Pulling such a huge event together is no small feat, and Whitten and her team have been working on it for more than a year. But the task has been made easier by the fact that Maine has such a thriving local food scene and is already on the map as a top culinary destination.
“It’s a pretty ambitious undertaking,” Whitten admits. “But I’ve been wanting to do this for about five years.” She then adds, “I think it will be a little easier (to pull together) next year.”
— Avery Yale Kamila