Month: January 2021

Vy Banh Mi Food Truck

| Posted in Under Construction

A new food truck called Vy Banh Mi (facebook, instagram) is under development. Owners Minh Nguyen and Vy Phan are originally from Vietnam and moved to Maine 10 years ago. Vy Banh Mi will be a way they can share their passion for food and perhaps be a first step in opening their own restaurant.

Nguyen and Phan plan to have six different types of banh mi on the menu:

    1. The Traditional Banh Mi (pork roll cold cut and pate)
    2. Grilled beef
    3. Grilled chicken
    4. BBQ pork
    5. Meat ball
    6. Tofu

All the sandwiches will be served on a Vietnamese baguette with mayo, fresh cucumber, cilantro, jalapeños, pickled carrot and daikon radish.

Look for Vy Banh Mi to launch sometime in late February or early March, and in the meantime follow them on instagram to stay looped in on the latest news about their food truck.

East Bayside Bam Bam Bakey

| Posted in Under Construction

Bam Bam Bakery (website, facebook, intagram) has leased a 3,000 square foot space in East Bayside where they plan to reopen their gluten-free bakery. The new space space is located at 148 Anderson Street in a building next to Tandem Coffee.

Owner Tina Cromwell closed her Commercial Street retail operation last year and has been offering weekly pre-order baked goods since then. She anticipates opening the new bakery this spring with an expanded menu that will include more savory options. The new Bam Bam will also have an all gluten-free grocery section with some of their favorite items and take home mixes. Once they reopen they’ll also begin shipping their baked goods countrywide via the Goldbelly service.

Bam Bam was featured on an episode of  Good Morning America back in May.

Update: This project is currently on hold.

Small Axe Guest Chef Series

| Posted in Events

Small Axe is launching a guest chef series in February:

  • Josh Sobel from Ramona’s and Small Axe are collaborating on a menu that will be available on February 5 – 6
  • Atsuko Fujimoto from Norimoto Bakery will be working with Small Axe on a menu for February 19 – 20

Briana Holt from Tandem Bakery will be on the calendar in March, and Small Axe is working to schedule more chefs. Stay tuned for more details.

Good Pizza PHL

| Posted in People

Ben Berman, one of the original co-owners of Mainely Burgers, has been written up in the Washington Post for the home-based pizza service he’s running in his neighborhood in Philadelphia.

The pandemic had become more dire by the summer, and he was wondering how he could help people in need and boost the spirits of his neighbors, many of whom were also staying in their apartments.

“I was talking to my girlfriend, and she suggested that pizza was the way to do it,” said Berman, 28. “So I decided to make free cheese pizzas and lower them out my window to anyone who wanted one, with a suggestion that they make a donation to charities that help people who are hungry or homeless.”

“I thought, ‘If I can make people smile by dropping pizzas down to them from my apartment, why not?’ ” he added.

Dining Out During a Pandemic

| Posted in General News

The Portland Phoenix has published an article about dining out, customers attitudes, and the pandemic.

I also began to understand the new layer of frustration our hospitality folks are experiencing. There’s an element of survivors’ guilt in acknowledging they have jobs and others don’t. There’s also the extra work, for less money, involved in opening and closing a dining room with a skeleton crew. Servers are also in fear for their own health and the health of those they love.

Outdoor Dining

| Posted in General News

Maine Public has aired a report on how Maine restaurants are building out enhanced outdoor dining, and engaging in other programs to make it through the Covid winter.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Maine’s hospitality industry harder than any other sector. With cold weather taking its grip on 2021 and the surging virus keeping people at home, job losses are accelerating, particularly in the food-service sector. Still, many of Maine’s chefs and restaurant owners continue to find new ways to stay open through the winter.

Blackstones

| Posted in Profiles

The Portland Phoenix has published an article about Blackstones, a gay bar in Longfellow Square.

The coronavirus pandemic has left many local bar owners without a path forward, and reality set in for Blackstones manager Carl Currie last month.

Currie had just come out of a staff meeting with bar owner Matt Pekins where they decided they would have to ask the community for money to stay afloat until spring.

He said the decision was a difficult one that he and Pekins tried to avoid, and that it made him uncomfortable. But less than two weeks after he created a GoFundMe page asking neighbors to help save Portland’s last gay bar, they had raised enough in pledges to survive the winter.

BelleFlower Brewing Coming to East Bayside

| Posted in Under Construction, Beer

A new brewery called Belleflower Brewing (website, facebook, instagram) has taken over the former Brewery Extrava space in East Bayside. Owners Zach Page, Melissa Page, Nick Bonadies and Katie Bonadies plan on launching later this year producing a line-up of hoppy beers and stouts to start.

As reported by Don Littlefield, Zach Page is the former head brewer at Lone Pine Brewing, and Nick Bonadies is a former VP at Trillium. Prior to joining Lone Pine, Page was the head of brewing operations at Trillium.

They’re currently in the process of going through licensing for Belleflower and will share more details about when they plan to open when they’re able. In the meantime follow them on instagram and keep your eyes on 66 Cove Street to keep apprised of their progress.

Huga

| Posted in Under Construction

A new Portland-based company called Huga (website, facebook, instagram) is developing a battery-powered heated seat cushion. Founders Jocelyn Olsen and Colin Greig started the company to help their “favorite restaurants get through the colder months and keep their patios open.”

The name of the company comes from the Danish word hygge that is a concept that Wikipedia describes as meaning “coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment”.

Some prototypes have been in use at Three of Strong, and I’ve been beta testing the product as well. It has certainly made outdoor dining during cooler winter days more comfortable.

Olsen and Greig are planning to commercially launch the product in late January with a retail price of $124.99. There’s a form on the Huga website to get on their mailing list about the launch.

Sugar High Donuts Launching Wednesday

| Posted in Under Construction

Ryan Carey, owner of Noble Barbecue and Fire & Co, along with Sam McNutt are launching Sugar High Donuts (instagram).

Carey and McNutt have developed four initial flavors: Strawberry Shortcake, Key Lime Pie, Cookies and Cream and Cinnamon Sugar. On Wednesday they’ll be launching the business with Cookies and Cream as their featured flavor of the day. The donuts will be for sale at Noble Barbecue and at Rising Tide. A bag of 10 mini donuts is priced at $8.

Sugar High hopes to wholesale their donuts to local coffee shops, markets and breweries.