Category: Under Construction

Here are some updates on four restaurants under construction in Portland:

• Tempo Dulu(facebook, website) will be opening on June 19th and is now taking reservations.
• Sam Hayward and Dana Street are planning to open their new restaurant, Scales, at the end of the summer. The “full-scale seafood emporium in the New England style” will have a 25-seat bar and the dining room will seat another 100-120 according to an article from Maine Travel Maven.
• In the same article the Maine Travel Maven also reports that Portland Patisserie(facebook), the new pastry shop from Steve and Michelle Corry, is planning to open in “mid-June”. Take a look at this instagram photo by Chris Kast captured this glimpse of the interior on Instagram.
• Ramen Suzukiya(facebook) needs to make some final renovations in order to get their Certificate of Occupancy from the city. If all goes according to plan they hope to open June 13, according the Eater Maine.

A new food truck called Mami(instagram) plans to launch on June 9th in Congress Square Park. Mami is run by chef Austin Miller and will specialize in “Japanese street food”.

David Buchanan’s new cider company, Portersfield Cider is set to launch this later this month. Buchanan will be selling the Portersfield line of farmhouse-style hard cider from his stand in the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market. David has a pair or ciders in the works:

[The] first release blends over a dozen apple varieties, including Baldwin, Northern Spy, and Golden Russet, while a second will include aronia berries and elderberries.

He plans for the Portersfield farm winery in Pownal to be,

a production space and conservation center, focused on preserving and evaluating rare American cider fruits. In Buchanan’s sixth year of collecting fruit trees, his orchard now has over 250 varieties of apples and cider pears, including many in danger of extinction.

In addition to launching Portersfield Cider, David is the author of Taste, Memory and for the past few years has operated the Old Ocean House Farms stand at the Saturday farmers’ market.

You can get a chance to try Portersfield Cider at the Maine Fare Hard Cider Revival taking place this Thursday.

A new food cart called High Roller Lobster Company(instagram) is under development. Owners Andy Gerry and Baxter Key will be serving lobster and crab roll  on Commercial Street this summer. They hope to be open by mid-June.

Soakology(website, facebook) has a new larger location under construction at 511 Congress Street next to Golden Lotus. The new digs will provide the space to expand the tea house and foot spa sides of their business with dedicated areas for both.

They hope to have the new Soakology open sometime in July.

 

The Forecaster has published an article on Figgy’s Takeout.

When Natalie DiBenedetto looked out her window on Walker Street last year, she didn’t just see a parking lot. She saw an opportunity.

Now, a year later, DiBenedetto is set to open a business in the once-empty lot that she believes will fill one of the city’s last foodie niches: up-scale comfort food and skillet fried chicken to go.

Figgy’s is scheduled to open on Tuesday at 11am.

Figgy’s Takeout(facebook, instagram, website) has announced they’ll be opening on Tuesday June 2nd.

The opening week menu includes skillet fried chicken, wings, potato salad, cole slaw and house made ice cream sandwiches. They’ll be expanding to the full Figgy’s menu the following week.

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.