I just stopped by for a glass of wine and a slice at the new bar space at the original Otto Pizza on Congress Street. Diners now have a choice between going in the center door for a quick slice to go, or either bar to the left and right for table service with wine and beer. The new bar area only opened at around 2 hours earlier but was quickly reaching full capacity.
The new bar area is about 50% larger than Enzo but with the same subway tile, vintage wood and exposed brick aesthetic.
Buck’s Naked BBQ is scheduled to open today at their new location on Wharf Street. They’re located in the space formerly occupied by Havana South.
David’s Opus 10, David Turin’s restaurant within a restaurant on monument square, opened for business this evening. The restaurant serves a fixed-price multi-course dinner.
Maine a la Carte has published a sneak peak from Opus 10.
The Salt Cellar is now open for business. The Salt Cellar sells a variety of finishing salts, salt-based cosmetics and other products made of salt. The shop is located on the corner of Middle and Market Streets.
According to a tweet from Meredith Goad, Frosty’s Donuts will open their South Portland location Saturday at 9 am. Frosty’s co-owner, Nels Omdal, was recently interviewed for the business page of the Press Herald about his purchase and expansion of the 47 year-old business.
Q: How did you come to own Frosty’s?
A: I was a regular customer who loved their doughnuts. When I saw the for-sale sign, I met with the Realtor to express interest in buying the business, and Bob [Frost] happened to drop by. I got to have a one-on-one with him for about an hour and we made a connection as we talked about life and doughnuts.
The Portland Daily Sun checked in with Love Cupcake after the food truck’s first day of operation.
A year after building their food trailer, the owners of Love Cupcakes finally opened on Commercial Street in Portland this week. On Thursday, early customer response seemed to vindicate the owners’ efforts to navigate city government and gain permission to operate a mobile food trailer.
“It’s been a mix, a lot of tourists, but a lot of local and business people, too,” said Anna Turcotte on Thursday.
The article also reports that there’s a second food truck in operation on Riverside.
“The only other application we are working on is for Teresa Esposito’s On the Go, on private property at the Home Depot parking lot at 245 Riverside Street,” Gardner said.
Esposito has operated a food truck at the location under a “unique agreement” with the city, with a temporary food service license, Gardner said. Now, she has filed an official food truck application.
City spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said, “The task force developed the policies, we put some rules in place, and now we’re in a wait and see mode to see how it goes.”
Love Cupcakes has rented a space in the parking lot on the corner of Center & Commercial Street and will begin operating their bakery food truck there starting today.
They plan on being there “through the cold winter months” Wednesday – Sunday starting at noon.
According to Avery Yale Kamila, Kamasouptra’s new location at The Maine Mall will be opening on Friday.
Kushiya Benkay is now open for business. The Yakatori grill and sushi bar is located at 653 Congress Street in the former home of Gogi.
Kushiya joins the growing collection of restaurants that have sprung up in Longfellow Square in the past 2 years. As the name might suggest, Kushiya Benkay and Benkay on India Street are sister restaurants.
Roost, a vegan juice and biodynamic wine bar, is opening for business at 11 Free Street this morning at 8 am. Roost’s owners Kathleen Flanagan and Jeanette Richelson partially funded their new venture with a successful fund raising effort on Kickstarter.
For more information on Roost, read the Natural Foodie column in today’s Press Herald.
Kathleen Flanagan and Jeanette Richelson, yoga teachers with experience in the restaurant industry, have been planning this eatery for a year and a half. They worked with a large community of vendors, farmers, business consultants, family members, friends and artists to fine tune the restaurant into a space unique for this foodie town.