Culture

One-time Portland chef returns to the kitchen

| from “The Wrap” – Meredith Goad, Press Herald | Erik Desjarlais, former chef/owner of Portland restaurants Bandol, Ladle, and Evangeline, left restaurant work a few years ago to start […]

| from “The Wrap” – Meredith Goad, Press Herald |

Erik Desjarlais, former chef/owner of Portland restaurants Bandol, Ladle, and Evangeline, left restaurant work a few years ago to start making knife rolls and aprons for chefs. His business, Weft and Warp in Freeport, did well, but he eventually sold the store, and later his knife roll business, too. He still makes the occasional apron, under the business name Fitswell, but only by request, and when he has the time. “I don’t want to let it go completely because I know people still rely on it,” he said. But running his own business “got to be a little overwhelming, honestly. It’s the ownership part I got tired of.”

Then Desjarlais got a job offer he couldn’t refuse. A business he loves, and that is within walking distance of his home – the New Gloucester Village Store at 405 Intervale Road – offered him a full-time position as baker. “It’s always been my favorite place,” he said. “It’s wonderful. And they were hiring a baker, so I said, ‘why not?’” Keep reading in the Press Herald