The longtime Dogfish Cafe space at the corner of Congress and Saint John Streets is now under development as a new restaurant called 953 Congress Street.
Dogfish Cafe had been sold to a couple of employees sometime in 2014 and in early 2015 they renamed the restaurant “Union Station Publyk House”. It’s not clear whether this is a new venture entirely or just a redesign and rebranding.
Today’s Press Herald has a report on plans for a five-story building planned for the corner of High and York Streets—the current location of El Rayo.
The one-level structure that currently houses El Rayo, a traditional Mexican cantina, and the adjacent building that once housed the El Rayo Cantina will be torn down to make way for the new development, according to Veroneau.
“We don’t know at this point but certainly if El Rayo wants to be part of the project we’d love to have them,” Veroneau said.
El Rayo’s owners did not respond to several attempts to reach them Monday.
According to Facebook post on Sunday by Eat Maine, El Rayo is “closing for good at the end of September“.
Update: El Rayo has put out a press release confirming that they’ll be closing their York Street location at the end of September and will be holding a “Farewell Fiesta” on September 26th and 27th.
2nd Update: the Bangor Daily News has published an article about the transition of this space as well.
The Press Herald reports that the owners of Veranda Thai have leased the former Salt Exchange space on Commercial Street.
It’s unclear whether the owners of Veranda Thai and Veranda Noodle Bar, located across the street from each other on Portland’s Veranda Street, are opening a third restaurant also named Veranda Thai, or just moving the Veranda Thai at 9 Veranda St. to a new location.
The former Vespucci’s space at 211 Danforth has been under construction for sometime. It was slated to become a new restaurant named Blackbird. Owner Keith Hickman has decided to shelve the Blackbird project and will instead be leasing 211 Danforth out.
There are a number of chefs and food retail entrepreneurs currently searching for space for their projects so it has the potential to find a new occupant rather quickly.
Urban Eye and the Press Herald have posted updates on Ocho, the new burrito shop that’s being built at 654 Congress Street by the owners of Otto Pizza.
OCHO (which means eight in Spanish in case your lingo is a little rusty) won’t be your college co-ed’s burrito joint. “We’re interested in expanding the idea of what a burrito can be, and what can be in a burrito,” said Shepherd. “On any given day, there will a handful of specialty burritos to choose from. A few days later, you may see a completely different set of burritos.” [UE]
Nicholas Nappi and Garry Bowcott are developing a new restaurant. The concept is a “re-imagining of the classic soda fountain”.
Nappi and Bowcott are part of the Local 188 restaurant group. They are actively looking for a space with help from Jay Villani and real estate agent Joe Malone.
The Portland Phoenix has posted an interview with Green Elephant managers Ben Richards and Andy Cole. Among other things, they mentioned that the 2nd Green Elephant location under construction in Portsmouth will be opening later this month.
Krista Kern Desjarlais has bought a small property in North Yarmouth where she plans to open a wood-fired bakery called The Purple House. The bakery is located at 378 Walnut Hill Rd, at the intersection of routes 9 and 115. Desjarlais will be serving Montreal-style bagels and wood-fired pastries along with Cuban coffee in the mornings. Ice cream will be on the menu year-round.
Desjarlais will also serve daily sit-down lunch in the 8-seat bakery as well as a monthly prix fixe dinners.
As you can see in the photo, the property does need some TLC to be ready and the wood-fired oven needs to be built, so the The Purple House is not likely to open until very late in 2015 or early next year.
Update: The Press Herald has interviewed Desjarlais and published an article about The Purple House.
A new brewery called Mast Landing Brewing Co.(facebook) is under development in Freeport. The operation was founded by a “small group of friends that met in college at the University of Maine” that have been brewing together for 2 years.
Sam Minervino, owner of Samuel’s Bar & Grill, has applied for a liquor license for Tomaso’s Canteen, the new neighborhood pub he has under construction in the former Sangillo’s. Here’s an excerpt from Minervino’s cover letter,
The decor will pay homage to the history of the neighborhood. My goal is create a comfortable neighborhood gathering place, where those who live and work nearby can come frequently for a drink and a reasonably priced bit to eat.
The draft menu (page 75) includes the Wings that Samuel’s is known for as well as Italian Subs, Burgers and Fried Stuffed Olives. Tomaso’s is named for Minervino’s great grandfather.