A new business called Lokahi Foods (instagram) is under development. Lokahi will be a takeout business selling vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free desserts with flavors that will include: triple berry, strawberry chocolate, raspberry lemon, and chocolate hazelnut.
Owner Jelena Cesljarac plans to launch Lokahi in April. In the meantime follow Lokahi on instagram to stay in the loop on their development and get a look at their desserts.
Ramona’s and A&C Grocery on Washington Ave are teaming up for a one day pop-up on March 13th.
The menu will include:
Joey Ramona’s will be taking place at A&C Grocery. A portion of the sales will benefit the Maine Music Alliance.
Online ordering for S+P (website, instagram) is now live. The new plant-based foods takeout business operating out of the Fork Food Lab by co-owners Shelby Faux and Payson Cunningham.
Their first pick-up day is March 5th and the menu includes pantry staples, desserts, weekly specials and frozen dishes.
Faux and Cunningham moved to Portland from the Midcoast where they ran a pop-up event series serving multi-course vegan dinners. In addition to vegan takeout meals they hope to continue creating pop-up events here in the Portland area.
Binga’s Stadium (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) has leased 949 Forest Ave and will be converting the former Maelily & Ryleigh’s into an off-peninsula outpost of their location on Free Street, and will be closing their location on Free Street.
The furniture, equipment and fixtures at the Free Street location are for sale for $85,000 and the 17,000 sq ft space is for lease at $4/sq ft (NNN).
According to a report in the Press Herald, “The new Portland location of the Binga’s Wingas restaurant chain, which specializes in wings, will be more like its other neighborhood locations in Yarmouth, Windham and Old Orchard Beach, a press release said.”
Ordering is now live for the Beautiful Swimmer (instagram) pop-up takeout dinner by chef Ben Jackson.
Visit beautifulswimmer.com to place your order.
The menu for the 3-course takeout dinner for two will feature:
Pick-up for the dinner will be on March 5th with time slots available from 5 – 7:30 pm. Tandem Coffee is lending out Little Tandem in East Bayside (122 Anderson Street) for Beautiful Swimmer to use as pick-up location for the night.
Beautiful Swimmer is being launched by Ben and Alexis Jackson. Ben is a Beard-award nominated chef. In Brooklyn he worked at Marlow and Sons and Diner before becoming the executive sous chef for Reynard at the Wythe Hotel. He moved to Maine in 2016 to become the chef de cuisine at the now closed Drifters Wife. He received a James Beard award Best Chef nomination in 2020 for his work at Drifters.
Beautiful Swimmer is a new and evolving concept. Follow Beautiful Swimmer on instagram to stay in the loop on future events and milestones in its development.
Earlier this week when Cheevitdee announced they would be permanently closing their Old Port restaurant the message ended on a hopeful note with, “The spirit of Cheevitdee lives on. Details in the near future.”
That “near future” has arrived and it’s a pleasure to share the news that some of the same team involved in Cheevitdee and its sister restaurant Mi Sen are launching a new Portland restaurant named Mitr (facebook, instagram).
When it opens later this year Mitr will serve a menu of Ping Yang style Thai food. According to Mitr, “Ping Yang style typically means grilled or charbroiled. In Thailand, these techniques are very popular for street food and you can find them just about any corner of the street of every part of Thailand. Sometimes on skewers, sometime it’s a grill meat as a whole. Marinaded and grilled to perfection presenting you with rich aromas. Oftentimes, the meals will be enjoy with various sauces you can choose.”
Follow Mitr on instagram to learn about the restaurant’s future location and on an upcoming pop-up.
The Press Herald has publisihed a report on Arcadia’s move to Congress Street.
Pinball machines and classic arcade games, like Skee Ball and Centipede, are being transported from Arcadia National Bar’s current location on Preble Street in Portland to the former home of Port City Music Hall on Congress Street – a move that Arcadia co-owner David Aceto said he felt he had to make to save the business.
Bravo Maine, the cooking education company located in the former Aurora Provisions space in the West End, has launched a crowd funding campaign on Go Fund Me. Owner Justine Corbi is hoping to raise $6,000 which “will be used for repair bills, a new fridge, and save money for future needs or in case of a new shutdown”.
For more information or to contribute visit the Bravo Maine page on GoFundMe.com.
Several changes to the Portland food scene were announced today:
The Holy Donut has announced their return to the Old Port this summer when they open their new location at 177 Commercial Street in the longtime location of Bill’s Pizza. As we reported earlier today, Bill’s is closing their Portland location February 28th.
Crispy Gai, the Thai fried chicken takeout business launched last November by Jordan Rubin and Cyle Reynolds, has announced they’ve leased the former Eaux space at 90 Exchange Street. Expect a slightly expanded menu and a cocktail line-up by bartender Arvid Brown.
Sadly, Cheevitdee has announced that they will be permanently closing their business at the end of February. Cheevitdee fans should take note that the instagram post does hint that “The spirit of Cheevitdee lives on. Details in the near future.”
Bill’s Pizza, a longtime fixture in Portland, has announced they will be closing their Old Port location on February 28th.
Bill’s pizza is closing on commercial st. Come down and get your last pizza from Portland. Make sure you come say bye to Jess as she is not going to be going to Old Orchard with us. She is however looking for a new position if you have one to offer! Just about everything is up for sale if you are looking for restaurant equipment. We will miss all of you and hope to see all our regular faces before February 28th.
The Bill’s Pizza in Old Orchard Beach will remain in business.