Put it to the test

Love tomatoes? Love free stuff? Well, thrifty lycopene-loving reader, you’re in luck: the University of Maine’s Consumer Testing Center needs volunteers older than 18 to try out and rate a selection of tomato varieties based on the qualifications of taste and appearance. Testing sessions are set for 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, and Thursday, May 21-22, in 158 Hitchner Hall on the University of Maine campus in Orono. You’ll fill out a brief questionnaire, and then you’ll eat a whole bunch of tomatoes. In exchange, you’ll get a 120 minute phone card, or a Consumer Testing credit, each of which is worth $1. Credits accrue until you reach $25, at which point they may be redeemed at a number of Orono businesses. For more information, call 581-1733.

From earth to eat

Epicurious (www.epicurious.com), the wildly popular Web site associated with food magazines Gourmet and Bon Appetit, has named Portland’s Cinque Terre restaurant to its list of the top 10 “Farm-to-Table” establishments in the country. Cinque Terre (www.cinqueterremaine.com) and its executive chef and co-owner, Lee Skawinski, are featured in the profile for actively promoting locally grown and raised animals, fruits, herbs and vegetables at the award-winning restaurant. Cinque Terre co-owners Dan Kary and Michelle Mazur-Kary also own Grand View Farm in nearby Greene, which supplies Cinque Terre with 40 percent of its produce and meats.

Tidbits is hungry for news about local food products and events. Send your Tidbits by mail to: Bangor Daily News, attn: Tidbits, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329; by fax to 941-9476; or by e-mail to tidbits@bangordailynews.net.