Category: Openings

MJ’s (website, facebook), the new wine bar in One City Center, plans to open on Wednesday pending final inspections taking place today.

Mark Ohlson, the owner of MJ’s, a Certified Sommelier who has over the years worked a number of Portland restaurants including Perfetto’s, Bull Feeney’s, Walters, Hugo’s, Uffa and Frog and Turtle.

Ohlson plans to serve “30 wines by the glass and half glass from around the world focusing on traditional varieties from prominent regions”. The food menu will consist of a “selection of cheese, nuts, olives and chocolate and appropriate accompaniments”.

Update: MJ’s is on track to open on Wednesday. Mayor Brennan will be on hand for a ribbon cutting at 4pm and the bar will open to the public at 6pm. Take a look at this panoramic photo of the interior.

158 Pickett Street Cafe in South Portland has for many years been a destination for bagels, breakfast and lunch. Starting this Friday they’re adding dinner hours serving a menu of specialty pizza and salads.

To start out the new pizza menu will be available on Friday and Saturday nights; additional days will come online once the fall semester at SMCC (right down the street from 158) is in session.

The Portland & Rochester Public House is now open for business. The new restaurant is located in Bayside at 118 Preble Street in the space formerly occupied by G&R DiMillo’s. The P & R’s facebook page describes the public house as having, “[t]he soul of a Bistro and spirit of a Pub” and promises, “The flavors speak to what is grown, made or caught in the beautiful Northeast.”

Garrett Fitzgerald is the owner of the Portland & Rochester and the name of the chef is Chris Clark. Clark moved here from Boston and Fitzgerald moved to Portland from Bar Harbor where he still runs the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound.

Vena’s Fizz House (facebook, website, twitter) is opening for business today. Vena’s is mixology supply shop that stocks bar tools, glassware, a wide assortment of bitters and syrups, as well as a natural soda bar that serves “natural and organic fruit and herb sodas and slushes”.

Vena’s is located at the corner of Silver and Fore Streets across from Rosie’s in Boothby Square. The shop is the creation of Johanna Corman who together with her husband also runs a general store on Cliff Island.

A new dinner series called Supperpie is being launched next week. It’s the creation of Rocco Salvatore Talarico who was the featured guest chef at the first Pocket Brunch last summer and has played a supporting role at two others.

Supperpie is billed as “meticulously hand-crafted, righteously & unnecessarily gluttonous”. Each of the six dinners in the series will be a 9-course meal. Tickets are $150 per person and are available online at supperpie.com/tickets.

Carman’s Cafe is now open for business. They’re located at 64 Market Street across from Fit to Eat. The store is owned by Darren Thomas and Abigail Johnston and named for Thomas’s grandfather.

Carman’s serves gluten-free baked goods made by Johnston and coffee from Matt’s Wood Roasted Coffee. In addition to be a coffee shop, Carman is also a small bookstore.

According to Maine a la Carte, Compass Rose opened for business last night. The restaurant is located in Boothby Square at 339 Fore Street in the space formerly occupied by Sebastian’s.

The restaurant, owned by chef Tony Kratovil and his wife Rose, will serve a variety of classic steak and seafood dishes. “We will be serving lunch and dinner and probably brunch on Sunday,” Rose Kratovil said. “We’ll do a light fare menu late afternoon, from 2 to 5. We’re serving hand-cut steaks. Everything’s done on premise.”

gBritt PR has sent out a release announcing the launch of Maine Craft Distilling. Maine Craft Distilling’s current product line includes Alchemy Gin
, Ration Rum
, and Black Cap Vodka. As soon as they clear final approval they will also have 50 Stone Whiskey, a blueberry moonshine, QueeQueg Spiced Rum and Chesuncook Botanical Gin.

Their tasting room and production facility is located at 101 Fox Street in East Bayside.

See this PFM news item from December for more info.

Hugo’s has announced that they’re reopening for dinner as of this evening. From the release,

In renovating, our aim was to strip the space down to its roots, exposing the building’s early 19th century original tin ceiling and brick and mortar walls.  We’ve entirely changed the floor plan with an open kitchen, plush booth seating, and a sprawling, wooden bar that offers diners a close up view of the inner workings of the Hugo’s kitchen.

While our kitchen remains committed to the creativity and attention to detail that has garnered Hugo’s it’s national acclaim, we are making some exciting changes: an intensified focus on local meats, seafood and foraged goods, a revamped menu format, single origin coffee’s from local roasters Tandem, and look out for large format shared meal specials.

Bourbon Portland Beer Politics has posted a set of photos taken by Zach Bowen of the newly renovated space.

Update: for details on the new menu and more pictures see this report on Maine a la Carte.