Category: Openings

The highly anticipated cocktail bar and restaurant The Danforth (website, facebook, instagram) will be opening this Friday at 4 pm. It’s located at the corner of Danforth and Clark Streets in the West End.

The space has been completely redesigned:

Upon entering the space, guests will encounter a 12-seat bar, the vivid focal point of the room with cascading liquor steps, surrounded by deep-hued banquettes, tables, and nooks. By day, the space provides big, generous windows that allow Golden Hour to soak into every corner. At night, the shades are drawn tighter, and a layered design reveals itself – with soft, inviting furnishings and lived-in décor. The designers, AAmp Studio, seamlessly integrate rich colors, textures, and eased millwork throughout the space, resulting in a classic yet playful ambience that evokes a sense of discovery. For guests looking to dine al fresco, an intimate outdoor patio behind the 75-seat restaurant lounge will offer full service, as well, beginning in August.

The Danforth is the Portland outpost of Gin & Luck the parent company of Death & Co. which operates craft cocktail bars in New York, Los Angeles and Denver. Their most recent book Death & Co Welcome Home: A Cocktail Recipe Book was a 2022 Beard Award nominee.

In addition to the specialty cocktails (menu below) that Gin & Luck establishments are known for, the beverage program also includes draft/bottled cider and beer, and a mix of more traditional and contemporary wines by the glass and bottle. The head bartender is Carlo Caroscio. with the beer and wine selection put together by general manager Lucy Comaskey. Shown upper left is the Golden Slumbers cocktail which is prepared with apple and pear brandies, blanc vermouth, appertivo bianco and verjus.

The kitchen is led by Michael Boomhower who has put together a menu (see below) that “celebrates honest, nourishing food with a focus on regional product”. When you visit The Danforth do not miss out on the roasted chicken which is served with smoked butter pan sauce, corn, shishito peppers and chilis. Boomhower hales from Vermont. In Portland he has most recently worked at Central Provisions and Union.

The Danforth will be open 7 days a week, 4 pm – 1 am. They will begin taking reservations on Wednesday July 27th—until then all seats are available on a walk-in basis.

 

The highly anticipated restaurant Twelve (website, Instagram) launched this past Thursday. Twelve is located at 115 Thames Street in the Portland Foreside development along the Eastern Promenade walking trail.

Here’s a look at a few of the dishes from their 4-course tasting menu shown here are the monkfish with trout roe in whey broth (upper left), the Tomato Tonato appetizer (center right) topped with confit egg yolk, and the farro sabayon appetizer (bottom left) served with English peas.

The kitchen at Twelve is headlined by Colin Wyatt (formerly with Eleven Madison Park) along with pastry chef Georgia Macon, chef de cuisine Hannah Ryder, and sous chefs John Alden Glover and Cameron Gokey. The general manager is Daniel Gorlas (formerly with Per Se) and the bar program is managed by Portland native Sylvi Roy. You can find bios on many of the key staff on the Twelve instagram account.

While reservations at Twelve are nearly all booked up for the next month or so, walk-in space is available at the bar and outdoor seating area. Twelve is currently open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 pm to 10 pm.

A new Filipino market opened on Saturday in South Portland. Buena Vista (facebook) is located at 528 Main St next to Deb’s Sandwich Shop. According to their facebook page,

Hi-Fidelity Beer (website, facebook, instagram) is launching their East Bayside brewery and tasting room this Friday. They’ll be opening at noon and are located in Unit 6 of the Urban Farm Fermentory building at 200 Anderson Street.

Owners PD Wappler and Dante Maderal are focusing on low ABV  beers. Their opening day line-up will include:

• Just Sound – a British ordinary bitter, 3.3% ABV
• Terribly Misleading – an American IPA, 4.7%
• Gunpowder Eyes – a smokey porter, 5.2%

Moving forward Hi-Fidelity will be open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 1 am, and Mondays 2 pm to midnight.

Yordprom Coffee (instagram) owner Tom Yordprom has launched a new takeout restaurant in the West End called Tobi. Shown here is the Pad Pik Pao prepared with stir fried rice noodles, peppers, onions, tomatoes, chicken, and chili soy paste, eggs, and basil and a side of the crispy chive cakes.

Tobi is located on Walker Street in the former takeout kitchen that was home to Figgy’s. They’ll be open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 – 8 pm to start.

Here’s a look at the full opening night menu:

Prior to launching Yordprom Coffee in 2010, Tom Yordprom operated Siam Grille on Fore Street in Boothby Square.

Fish & Whistle (website, instagram) is slated to open this Saturday and Sunday. F&W is being launched by Kate Hamm and husband Jason Eckerson at 299 Maine Street in Biddeford. The restaurant is named for a song by John Prine.

Fish and Whistle is opening this weekend with a reduced menu (see below) but will eventually serve fish and chips as well as fish and chicken sandwiches, a calamari burger made with Maine squid, smoked tempeh sandwich, salad, chowder, hand cut fries, seasonal vegetable slaw and a chip butty sandwich. Additionally, the dessert menu will includes soft serve ice cream as well as Hamm’s deserts.

Hamm is the former pastry chef at Leeward and founder of Sweet Woodruff Provisions. Eckerson has worked for Big Tree Hospitality where he’s been the sous chef at Eventide and seafood buyer.

A new (or at least new to Portland) food truck called All Grill (instagram) is at Crescent Beach in Cape Elizabeth today. All Grill hails from Tampa, Florida and serves a menu of “[g]rilled food with a Venezuelan touch”.

Staff at Scratch Baking Company (instagram) are busy putting the finishing touches on their newly renovated bakery. They are scheduled to reopen their landmark Willard Square location Thursday May 26th. Going forward their new hours will be Wednesday through Sunday, 7 am – 2 pm.

The new space features a roundtangle shaped space with a center island. Customers will enter through the left set of doors. First up on the trip around the bakery will be breads and bagels, followed by pastries along the long back counter, and then refrigerated and packaged goods on the final side. Coffee will be available—drip and espresso drinks—from the central island.

The long awaited reopening of Tandem’s Anderson Street location is taking place Tuesday May 24th. Little Tandem will be open Tuesday through Saturday 8 am – 1 pm to start.

The newly renovated space features additional counter and table seating including a spot that the architect has labeled “Kathleen’s Cozy Corner”. As you can see from the photo, the coffee bar has moved from the left side of the building to the section of the building where the original roastery was located.

The Little Tandem building in East Bayside is where Kathleen and Will Pratt first opened their coffee roastery and coffee bar back in 2012. Tandem’s Congress Street coffee shop and bakery opened in 2014.