Category: Openings

Apéro (website, instagram) opened for business on Friday night. The Biddeford cocktail bar has been launched by sisters Sophia Normantas and Marie Grasser. Grasser is also the owner of Charcutemarie (instagram).

The ~30-seat establishment serves a menu (see below) of cocktails, mocktails, wine, beer, charcuterie boards and other light bites. Shown above is the For Figs Sake (lemon infused Bimini gin, fig reduction, thyme simple syrup, regatta ginger beer) and the La Petit charcuterie board.

Apero is located at 20 Alfred Street and is open Wednesday/Thursday 4 – 9:30 pm, Friday/Saturday 4 – 11 pm, and Sundays 1 – 7 pm.

Waxwing Bakery (website, facebook, instagram) is opening for business this Friday. The ~16 seat counter service bakery/cafe will initially be open Thursday through Sunday, 7 am – 1 pm.

It’s being launched by baker Hannah Buoye and chef Billy Hager. Buoye is the former kitchen manager at Tandem Coffee and Hager had been the executive chef at Helm.

The opening menu will include breads, croissants, chocolate cream pie, savory items like sausage rolls and quiche, muffins, cookies, slices of lemon poppyseed olive oil cake, pear and blueberry buckle, apple oat crumble scones and slices of a caramel mocha cake. Waxwing is serving Tandem Coffee with a full range of espresso-based drinks as well as China Jade and English Breakfast from Mem Tea.

Hager and Bouye plan to add a lunch menu early next year that will offer salads and sandwiches.

Waxwing is located at 868 Roosevelt Trail in Windham, it’s just straight shot out on Route 302/Forest Ave from Portland.

Courtney Berkholtz has launched a new distribution company called Free Spirited (instagram). Berkholtz is specializing in non-alcoholic beverages and spirits.

Free Spirited distributes products from St. Agrestis, FruitBelt, RSRV Collective, Figlia, Spritzi, and Woodnose, and she is developing new relationships with other NA producers as well. Berkholtz hopes her company can increase the access to NA products and support the development of mocktail options at restaurants and bars in Maine.

You can find some of these products on the menus and retail shelves at Free Spirited’s customers: Another Round, Botanically Curious, Sissle & Daughters, Browne Trading, the Portland Zoo, Bissell Brothers, Terra Cotta, Bar Publica, Barber Brothers, Wilson County, Onggi, and Smalls.

The eagerly anticipated Noble Pizzeria & Barbecue (website, instagram) will officially open on Friday at 11 am. It’s located at 476 Stevens Ave in Deering Center. Owner Ryan Carey purchased the building this past spring. With renovations complete and delayed kitchen equipment installed, Carey and his staff are ready to welcome their neighbors and the public.

The menu (see below) includes apps (dry rubbed wings shown above), pizza, salads, and sandwiches featuring Noble’s barbecue. A selection of six house pizzas are on the menu but there’s also a build-your-own option. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are available as is a children’s menu. The beverage list includes draft beer and cocktails.

The dining room and bar seat 88 and there will be outdoor seating for an additional 30 people during warmer months. The overall layout of the restaurant remains the same. Murals by Maine artist Ryan Adams bring a bright and cheerful aspect to the interior. Carey worked with local design agency Toderico Collective on the overall rebranding and graphic design of the building. Starting Friday, Noble will be open 11 am – 9 pm, Tuesday through Sunday.

Roasty’s (website, instagram) opened for business today. The counter service sandwich shop showcase a variety of regional roast beef sandwich styles like Chicago’s Italian Beef sandwich, the French Dip which originates from Los Angeles, and the Three-Way from Boston. See below for the full menu. Sandwiches are available in a 5 ounce “Standard” size or scaled up to 8 ounces of roast beef. Shoestring fries are available plain or in five other variations including Beast Style topped with shaved beef, melted cheese and garlic sauce.

Roasty’s is located in the Arts District at 642 Congress Street. Starting off they’ll be open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am – midnight. There are three 2-top tables as well as some counter seating. The entire menu is available for takeout and can be ordered online.

Roasty’s is being launched by Jen Rockwell the owner of Ada’s Kitchen in Rockland. Rockwell had launched a Portland outpost of her Rockland-based restaurant Ada’s Kitchen at 642 Congress Street in early 2020 which closed in late 2021.

Two Fat Cats (website, facebook, instagram) is opening their new West End cafe today. It’s located at 175 Spring Street/144 State Street in the former Mercy Hospital building. Today they’ll be open 7:30 am – 4 pm and this Sunday they’ll be open 9 am – 2 pm.

The 2,477 sq ft space includes table seating (see above) as well as a lounge area and an outdoor area shared with their neighbors Chocolats Passion and MaineFlavor ice cream.

The cafe serves breakfast sandwiches, yogurt and granola, overnight oats, quiche and their house baked goods for breakfast. Soups, salads and sandwiches like the Cape Cod Chicken Salad and tomato soup (see above) are on the lunch menu.

After this initial weekend the regular hours for the West End Two Fat Cats will be Tuesday through Saturday, 7:30 – 4:00pm and Sundays 9 am – 2 pm.

The new Sissle and Daughters (website, facebook, instagram) all-day cafe is set to open this week. It’s located at 634 Forest Ave, and starting Friday, November 1st, Sissle & Daughter will be open daily 8 am – 8 pm.

The new Woodfords Corner business is a coffee shop by day, a wine bar in the afternoons and evening, and a food retail and grocery shop that stocks wine, pantry goods, prepared food, take-and-heat meals and their wonderful sandwiches all day long.

In the morning Sissle and Daughters serves brewed and espresso-based coffee drinks made with whole or oat milk as well as tea, iced tea and chai. Daytime snacks include a frittata, blueberry coffee cake, and other baked goods. They source the coffee for the cafe from Precipice Coffee in Ellsworth.

During the afternoon and evening the menu features house-made pates and rillettes prepared by chef Joe Gaudet along with cheeses and charcuterie, olives, and other wine bar fare. The menu is complemented by a selection of 14 by-the-glass pours along with draft and packaged beer, non-alcoholic beverages and a few wines by the bottle.

The furniture and bar for ~20-seat cafe were designed and built by Studio 89 and design elements including the two portraits were selected with help by Jenny Bravo from Viand Mercantile.

Owners Mary Chapman and Will Sissle opened their first business The Cheese Shop of Portland on September 28, 2018 and moved it into larger digs in 2019. They recently renamed the Washington Ave store Sissle & Daughters Cheesemongers and Grocers. At the new Forest Ave location the Chapman-Sissles run the business with the help of Adelia Scheck who leads the front of office staff and chef Gaudet who manages the kitchen.

Next Tea (instagram) has opened their Arts District tea shop. It is located at 543 Congress Street near Another Round and Regards. The space has a variety of table seating options and a children’s play area stocked with toys.

A wide assortment of hot and iced tea-based drinks (menu below) are available to enjoy including fruit teas like their Hong Kong Lemon Tea and an assortment of milk teas. Six different options for toppings are on the menu including brown sugar and crystal boba. They also have a selection of baked goods like egg tarts and tiramasu.

Next Tea is open weekdays 11 am – 7:30 pm and until 8 pm on the weekends.

A new West End ice cream shop will open for business today. Maine Flavor (website, instagram) will be launching their new scoop shop and retail store on Spring Street at 3 pm. They’re located at 175 Spring Street/144 State Street.

They’ll be serving eight ice cream flavors on opening day: Lemon Shortbread, Maine Wild Blueberry Crisp, Maine Butternut Chai, Milk Chocolate and Vanilla Bean (all dairy-based, organic and gluten-free) as well as three vegan and gluten-free options Coffee Crunch, Cranberry Chocolate Chunk and Maine Strawberry (shown above).  The Maine Flavor kitchen is a certifiable gluten-free facility and their house-made dark chocolate and ginger bread ice cream bowls are vegan in addition to being gluten-free. Pints of their ice cream to take home and ice cream sandwiches and cookies will also be available.

Owners Susan Purcell and Andrew Applegate leased the space next to Chocolats Passion in the former Mercy Hospital building back in July and where they have built out a new ice cream production facility in addition to the retail shop.

Maine Flavor has been in business since 2016. Their ice cream is available at a number of Portland area retail locations like Montes, the Portland Co-op, Union Wharf Market, Lighthouse Bikes and Barber Brothers market in South Portland, and Lois’s in Scarborough in addition to being for sale at their new shop.

Maine Flavor will initially be open Friday through Sunday, 3 – 6 pm.

Also under construction the former Mercy Hospital building is a new Two Fat Cats bakery/cafe.

Winona’s (instagram) has opened for business. The ~20-seat restaurant is located at 31 Elm Street in Camden in the space formerly occupied by Goods. It’s being launched by Hannah Adams and chef Devin Dearden.

They’re serving a menu of six dishes (see menu below) along with beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Shown above are the Egg Custard which is plated with shaved cabbage and topped with a sunflower chili crisp(top left), Sumac Cured Salmon with carrots and seasoned yogurt (mid left), and a Cod en Papillotte prepared with mushrooms and tomato butter and plated with shaved and whole radishes.

Prior to Winona’s Dearden had been the chef at The Alna Store since the acclaimed restaurant launched in late 2022. He’s previously worked in Cambridge, New York, and in Portland where he was on the staff at Scales and Evo. Adams had also been on staff at The Alna Store and previously worked front of house in Portland at Little Giant, The Honey Paw, and Evo.

Winona’s will be open Thursday through Saturday, 4 – 8 pm. Reservations can be made online.