Category: Under Construction

A new venture named Forq Food Lab is now under development in Portland. Founders Neil Spillane and Eric Holstein are creating a commercial kitchen and business incubator to help Maine food entrepreneurs get through the early stages of product development and to successfully launch their businesses.

Business owners will get access to Forq on a membership basis similar to how coworking spaces like Think Tank and Peleton Labs operate. They plan to provide to members:

• Immediate market feedback and validation with a public tasting room on-site
• Staff that trains members on equipment, regulatory compliance, and business plans
• Equipment that is maintained and available to use immediately with no up-front investment
• Member collaboration: Innovative products, sales leads, lower ingredient costs

Spillane and Holstein have put together a strong board of advisors, located a potential space for the kitchen and are now finding the remaining funding they need to make it a reality.

Investors and/or potential Forq business members can contact Neil Spillane for more information at forqfoodlab@gmail.com.

Two Westbrook based businesses are planning to open this week:

• Rosen’s Deli, aka Full Belly Deli, will be opening their new sandwich shop at 650 Main Street at 10:30am on Tuesday. They’ve posted their new menu on Facebook.
• Catbird Creamery is planning to open their new location at 861 Main Street next weekend.

A boat-based ice cream business called Sea Snacks is set to launch this Sunday, according to a report from Maine a la Carte.

[Ashley] Rutherford, a 34-year-old medical practice manager who lives in South Portland, is launching a new business this weekend selling ice cream from her boat on Casco Bay…she decided to start her own business, stocking her 20-foot Mako with Italian ice, ice cream cups, Snickers and Twix ice cream bars, freeze pops, ice cream sandwiches and similar treats.

For more information visit the Sea Snacks facebook page.

A new restaurant and bar named Roustabout is under development on Washington Ave in the old Nissen Bakery building. According to the press release, the 75-seat restaurant will be open 6 days a week serving a “well crafted, imaginative takes on Italian-American fare, and the full bar will serve from daylight to candlelight, featuring a small but respectable beer list; an attainable, mostly natural wine list; and a concise list of well executed cocktails.” Roustabout will be oppen for lunch, dinner and late night food as well as weekend brunch.

Owners Kit Paschal (Row 34, Hunt & Alpine, Eastern Standard) and Anders Tallberg (Hugo’s, Hungry Mother)

have a long history in the food and beverage industry, and look forward to bringing their considerable experience to a new concept together. Balancing care and thoughtfulness with a hearty, rugged New England sensibility, Roustabout will feature excellence in hospitality and a well considered bar program in a relaxed atmosphere. Culture comes first for Paschal and Tallberg, and they look forward to being a fun and vibrant hub in the community.

For those of you keeping count this makes 3 different restaurants currently under development on inner Washington Ave: Terlingua, A Lively Palate and now Roustabout. Maine & Loire opened on Washington Ave earlier this year.

In the release, Paschal and Tallberg share that they are “very excited to be a part of the growing neighborhoods of Munjoy Hill and East Bayside…[and] want to offer all the comforts of a place where you’re going to want to become a regular.”

The Forecaster has published an  article about the new Lois’ Natural Market on India Street which is scheduled to open on May 19.

The new space, at the corner of India and Middle streets, sandwiched between Two Fat Cats Bakery and Micucci’s Grocery Co., is approximately 2,300 square feet and is scheduled to open May 19.

It will boast the same offerings as the couple’s Route 1 store in Scarborough: grocery items, homemade soups and salads daily, lunch and breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, and dinners to go. The new space will also eventually incorporate an organic juice bar. 

African Super Market(facebook) has moved from outer Forest Ave to 44 Washington Ave, the space formerly occupied by Discount Halal.

The Press Herald reports that chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier are no longer involved in the project to launch M.C. Union, the new restaurant in The Press Hotel which is opening later this month.

For months, The Press Hotel and two of Maine’s best-known chefs have been trumpeting their partnership in a new venture – M.C. Union, the restaurant in the boutique hotel on Congress Street in Portland that’s expected to open in May.

Suddenly, in what a spokeswoman said was a mutual decision between the chefs and the hotel, that union is dissolving.

James Beard award-winning chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier have taken their initials off the restaurant and will not be involved in running it…

Molly Ritzo has leased the Wicked Good Street Kitchen food truck on Peaks Island to launch Milly’s Skillet(website, facebook) next month. Ritzo has made some improvements to the truck and plans to serve a menu of “small breakfast menu and gourmet picnic-style sandwiches”.

Ritzo is blogging about her experience in launching the business on her website millysskillet.com. She plans to hold a grand opening for the truck on May 15th and 16th.

Visit the PFM Under Construction page for the most complete list of food businesses under development.