The Portland Economic Development Committee is considering closings parts of Cotton, Dana, Exchange, Milk, Middle and Wharf Streets to vehicle traffic to provide restaurants and retail shops more space to conduct business.
See reports from the Portland Phoenix and Press Herald, as well as the committee documents (page 10) for more information.
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram offers some Do’s and Don’t of Takeout and makes some suggestion for (takeout) dinner and a movie.
The Press Herald reports that an organization called the Restaurant Workers of Maine sent a letter to the Governor sharing concerns that “the industry could collapse if restaurants are not allowed to operate at full capacity by July 1”.
The group, which says it has 5,000 members since forming in 2017, wants the state to allow the industry to reopen in mid-May rather than having to go an entire month with curbside pickup only and entering June not knowing what levels of customer capacity will be allowed inside eating establishments. The letter asks the governor to evaluate COVID-19 activity levels every two weeks and to make adjustments accordingly, rather than her phased reopening that goes month by month.
Governor Mills has unveiled her phased approach to re-opening the Maine economy. On point for the food community are stages 2 and 3:
I’m counting down the days—all 33 of them—until I can go to a Portland restaurant for a meal. In the meantime some takeout and a haircut (barbers and salons get the green light in stage 1) will fill the gap.
A growing number of takeout restaurants now sell groceries too. If a restaurmart sounds like a good match for your needs, then check out this list:
Update: The James Beard Foundation and the Bangor Daily News have now written about the trend of restaurants selling groceries.
Family Meal is a new weekly delivery service providing free meals to restaurant and bar staff in Portland who have lost their job due to the pandemic. The program will launch on Sunday, April 26th. Complete this form to sign-up.
Each week Family Meal will deliver “either a homemade lasagna or mac n’ cheese, two drinks (Rising Tide beer or soda) and a baked item.” Food will be provided on a first-come-first-serve basis. If the demand exceeds the supply the organizers will cycle through the list on the second week.
Family Meal is being launched by Those Familiar Spirits and the first week is sponsored by Hardshore Distilling and Rising Tide Brewing. To become a sponsor, or for more information contact brianarocks@gmail.com.
Restaurant critic Andrew Ross has written an article about the sound tracks restaurants use to reinforce the brands of their establishments.
To some, the opening bars of “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens sound like a station identification break from some long-forgotten, Deco-era radio station, the kind of tinkling glockenspiel theme you’d hear played live, every 15 minutes. But to me, that song will always sound like milky coffee and scones.
A fire broke out at Browne Trading Thursday night. The 3-alarm blaze was mostly contained to the retail store but the wholesale facility also sustained some damage, reports the Press Herald.
The flames were centered on the one-story retail store, Gautreau said. Fire heavily damaged the interior of the building and roof. Most of the three-floor production facility sustained smoke and soot damage, but firefighters were able to save about $250,000 worth of caviar that was stored inside, [Portland Fire Chief Keith] Gautreau said.
Yesterday’s Maine Sunday Telegram took a look at how some restaurants across the state are transforming in order shift from dine-in to take-out businesses.
Across the state, the story is largely the same: Restaurants are reinventing themselves at supersonic velocity, switching up their modes and models of operation, and especially, their menus.
Walkers Maine in Cape Neddick suffered a fire on April 1st. Here’s a statement from owners Justin and Danielle Walker,
On April 1, 2020 Walkers Maine suffered from fire damage. The good news is no one was hurt and we have an incredible community resource in the York fire department who responded within minutes during a pandemic. We can’t thank them enough.
Danielle and I are saddened that we won’t be able to cook for you during this tenuous time, but rest assured; we will work quickly to get our restaurant up and running again.
We’ve even begun the process of investigating how to keep our take out business alive while the restaurant undergoes repairs. I’m able to cook with a small kitchen or high end facility and while the fire may interrupt our business; it can’t take away my creativity and ingenuity when it comes to doing what I love.
We can’t tell you how much the outpouring of support during this time has meant to us. Even under our current circumstances, we know with you in our corner we will prevail.
Stay tuned for more updates and stay safe.
Justin & Danielle Walker