Month: April 2023

Peng’s Pizza Pies in Biddeford

| Posted in Under Construction

A new pizzeria called Peng’s Pizza Pies (website, instagram) is under construction in Biddeford. Peng’s will be located at 128 Main Street in the storefront adjacent to Sweetcream Dairy. Primarily a takeout business, Peng’s will also have approximately 18 seats for indoor dining.

Owner Chris Daniels is building out Peng’s around his vision of a neighborhood pizzeria. He’ll be serving crispy thin-crust pies made with naturally leavened dough which stylistically he describes as New York meets New Haven. The daily menu will include six signature pizzas with the occasional special along with salad and a dessert. Peng’s will serve beer and wine license.

Daniels has been a professional baker since 2008—in the Maine he’s worked at Tandem Bakery, making pizza at Belleville and at Rover Bagel in Biddeford. The restaurant is named for Daniels’ father Bill who passed away in 2020 who’s nickname was Peng.

Construction has already begun and Daniels hope to open Peng’s sometime this summer.

To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit our Under Construction List.

Caballeras Opens Friday

| Posted in Openings, Maine

Caballeras (instagram) is scheduled to open Friday. The new bar from Nikaline Iacono is located in Brunswick within her existing business, Vessel & Vine, at 4 Pleasant Street.

The Caballeras menu (see below) is centered on oxidized and aromatized wines. Additionally, bar manager Charley Zimmerman has created an interesting selection of cocktails and there’s also wine by the glass/bottle, non-alcoholic drinks, beer, cider and shot-sized mixed drinks. The food options include snacks (oysters, citrus-marinated olives) and small plates like pork and veal meatballs (shown below), and a celeriac and onion tortilla. When you go consider a glass of the Tresmontaine Rancio Sec, or the Henriques and Henriques Seco Especial.

Indoor and outside seating is available. Caballeras will be open this week Friday and Saturday, 4-10pm. Next week they’ll be open Wednesday and Thursday 4-9 in addition.


T&L: Biddeford

| Posted in General News

Travel & Leisure has published a guide to Biddeford including a survey of the city’s drinks and dining options.

Located roughly 20 minutes south of Portland, Biddeford was once a bustling mill town with a robust textile manufacturing industry. The brick structures of these factory buildings line the historic downtown area and are now home to breweries, bakeries, restaurants, and other food and beverage venues. Recently featured in the Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil and lauded as an up-and-coming culinary destination, the youngest city in Maine is drawing praise from local and national headlines. Here’s how to plan the perfect escape to Biddeford, Maine.

Room for Improvement Opens Thursday

| Posted in Openings

Room for Improvement (instagram) is scheduled to open Thursday. The concept for the bar is to be a modern take on a dive bar that balances being serious about cocktails without taking itself too seriously.

The beverage menu (see below) at Room for Improvement encompasses house takes on traditional cocktails, scorpions bowls, a trio of daiquiris, some “salad bar” savory drinks, mini shot-sized cocktails and a beverage called the Mind Eraser. There’s also a few packaged and draft beers and ciders and 3 “natty wines by the glass.” A small food menu includes red snapper hot dogs, soft pretzels and bags of ruffles potato chips.

Room for Improvement is being launched by Arvid Brown and Nick Coffin. Brown is a well-known Portland bartender who was the founding bar manager at Crispy Gai and before that at Baharat. Coffin is a native of Vermont and has been a partner and manager in bars in Colorado and California prior to moving to Maine.

The 36-seat bar and is located at 41 Wharf Street. It will be open Thursday through Monday, 5 pm to 1 am.


Upcoming Events

| Posted in Events

April 5-23 – Portland Stage is staging a production of the play The Cake.

April 10 – FAME is holding a financial wellness program at Apres for people in the hospitality industry.

April 12 – Evo is serving a 5-course Italian wine dinner.

April 13 – Room for Improvement (instagram) will be opening.

April 16 – Turamali will be serving two seatings of an 8-course Mexican dinner at the Knotted Apron.

April 17 – there will be a meeting of the Portland Restaurant Sustainability Council.

April 18 – Avery Yale Kamila will be giving a talk on the 300 year history of vegetarianism in Maine in Buxton.

April 20 – The April Fun With Ferments meet-up is taking place at Mast Landing.

April 20-22 – chef Johnny Spero from the Michelin-starred Reverie in Washington DC will be serving a 9-course dinner at Hugo’s.

April 21 – The Good Food Awards will take place, there are 12 finalists from Maine in the running this year.

April 21-30 –Maine Seaweed Week is taking place; visit seaweedweek.org for information on related events and participating restaurants.

April 21 – the Thirsty Pig is hosting a Sand Hill Bagel pop-up.

April 22/23 – Magno Terra Cafe (instagram) is holding their grand opening, 8 am – 3 pm. They’re located in the Garmin Build in Yarmouth.

April 24 – Crispy Gai sous chef Amadeus Florendo will be holding a pop-up dinner serving contemporary Filipino cuisine.

April 26 – it’s the first day of the summer Portland Farmers’ Market. The market was founded in 1768. If our math is correct that makes 2023 its 255th year in operation.

April 30 – the Casco Bay chapter of the American Culinary Foundation is holding their annual gala.

May 1 – Scratch Baking is teaching a bagel baking class, and the Garden Bar (instagram) is scheduled to open in Biddeford.

May 12 – The Daily Grind and The Sinful Kitchen/Pig Kahuna are holding a pig roast as a benefit for Brea Lu. The Westbrook cafe recently suffered a fire at the construction site for their new location.

May 17/18 – Percy’s and Disco Jalisco are teaming up to produce a pair of dinner.

May 20 – Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

May 30 – GMRI is leading an Alewife Migration Walk at the Mill Brook Preserve.

June 5 – the James Beard Awards ceremony will take place. Nezinscot Farm will receive an American Classics award and The Quarry in Monson will learn if they have won in the Outstanding Hospitality category.

June 12-18 – Portland Wine Week is taking place with events at restaurants all over the Portland area.

July 23 – Open Farm Day.

August 23 – an Outstanding in the Field dinner is taking place at Dandelion Spring Farm with guest chef Neil Zabriskie from Regards.

September 10 – Maine Cheese Festival.

October 8 – Maine Open Creamery Day.

Bread and Friends Now Open

| Posted in Openings

Bread & Friends (website, instagram) is now open. The bakery and cafe is located at 505 Fore Street in the building formerly occupied by Pizzarino. The entire space has been redesigned by Mey & Co. The side dining room has a large glass wall that looks directly into the bakery and kitchen.

The 24-seat counter service cafe is open Thursday through Monday, 8 am – 2:30 pm. The menu (see below) includes croissants, morning buns, cookies and other treats. There are also plated options for breakfast and lunch like the crispy potato, sunny side egg, chorizo and green chermoula dish shown below.  They serve wine and beer as well as a full coffee program featuring Bolt Coffee and teas from the Rare Tea Company.

Co-owners Maggie and Tanner Rubin and Jessica Rattey and Jeremy Broucek launched their bakery in 2021 initially selling at Farmers’ Markets and wholesaling their breads and baked goods. They moved to Portland from the Bay Area where they worked in bakeries and restaurants including Tartine, State Bird Provisions and The Progress.


Chocolats Passion Expanding

| Posted in Under Construction

Chocolats Passion (website, facebook, instagram) has leased a larger space for their West End chocolate shop. The new Chocolats Passion will be located at 144 State Street in the former Mercy Hospital building. The building is being completely renovated and has three retail spaces on the first floor, 171 apartments in the upper floors and a patio at the corner of Spring and Winter Streets (above).

Owner Catherine Wiersema, lead chocolatier Sarah Levine and their team are looking to have the 1100 sq ft space ready for a late October move. The 2x increase in space for Chocolats Passion will enable them to grow their team and significantly increase production of their excellent award-winning chocolates.

Hours for the shop will likely remain the same, Wednesday through Sunday, 1 – 6 pm. Catherine Wiersema opened Chocolats Passion at 189 Brackett Street in 2018.

To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit our Under Construction List.

Modestman Brewing in SoPo

| Posted in Under Construction

New Hampshire-based brewery Modestman Brewing is opening a Maine location in South Portland. Modestman (instagram) has leased the Fore River Brewing tasting room on Huntress Ave. They’ll be making some renovations and hope to be open in early summer.

Owner Ash Sheehan lives on Peaks and is originally from Wells. He’s excited to open an outpost of his brewery in his home state. Sheehan plans to do some brewing onsite. The tasting room will serve food and, in addition to Modestman beer, will also offer wine and spirits.

To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit our Under Construction List.

Closing Season

| Posted in Closings

We’re always excited to report on new places under development. However at the other end of the small business lifecycle—for a variety of reasons—businesses do eventually close. Here’s news of four spots closing in the greater Portland area:

Bruce’s Burrito’s in Yarmouth has closed and the owners are “searching for the right person” to buy the restaurant and re-open it. For more information read this article in the Press Herald.

The Old Port Pat’s Pizza has announced they’re closing after a final service this Sunday. For more information read this article in the Press Herald.

Louie’s Grill in Yarmouth is closing on April 14th after 10 years in business. The owner is retiring and it sounds like has found a buyer for the restaurant—no details on that just yet. For more information read this article in The Forecaster.

Captain Sam’s has closed their ice cream shop on Commercial Street. The owners are “moving to other businesses.”

The End at 229 Congress Street

| Posted in Under Construction

A new bar called The End (instagram) is under development at 229 Congress Street in the space formerly occupied by Saint Joe’s Restobar.

Johnny Althoff, Andrew Roseman, Celeste Parke, and Benbazi plan to open a friendly neighborhood bar for the Munjoy Hill and Washington Ave communities serving classic cocktails along with canned beer and whiskey. The draft food menu includes snack mix, an open face cheese melt, veggie chili and a rotating cupcake special.

The bar’s name is a nod to being located across the street from the Eastern Cemetery. When it launches—hopefully sometime in May—The End will be open 4 pm to Midnight, Wednesday through Sunday.

To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit our Under Construction List.