Category: Under Construction

The Honey Paw(instagram, twitter) passed their last inspection earlier this week. As you can see the dining room is nearly almost finished, and the restaurant is on a fast track to open.

The Honey Paw menu is organized into 5 unnamed, numerically designated sections: 001 – 005. Here are a few items  that caught my interest:

• 001: Assorted Pickles
• 002: Lobster Tartine with cilantro emulsion, radish and hijiki
• 003: Saffron Gnocchi Sardi with duck bolognese, eggplant-raisin agrodolce and parmessan; Buckwheat Noodles with dried mackerel, cured egg yolk, paddlefish roe and hazelnut
• 004: Fried Whole Black Bass with pineapple fried rice, lap cheong and coconut salsa verde
• 005: Soft Serve Ice Cream with carmelized honey, honeycomb and magic shell

Behind the scenes there’s a large new kitchen that extends nearly the full length of the building behind Hugo’s, Eventide and The Honey Paw.

The liquor license application for Terlingua(website, instagram, facebook) is on the agenda for the Monday’s City Council meeting. Owner Pliny Reynolds plans to serve a menu of “combining our favorite aspects of Texas BBQ and Latin American fare”. The draft menu (page 68) includes items such as Char-Grilled Squid, Beef Togue & Cheek Tacos, Pozole and barbecue brisket, pork ribs, pork shoulder and lamb.

The 37-seat restaurant is under construction at 52 Washington Ave across the street from Maine & Loire. Reynolds hope to launch the restaurant by May 1. Terlingua will be open 6 days a week.

 

The liquor license application for The Honey Paw(instagram, twitter) is on the agenda for the Monday’s City Council meeting. Owners Arlin Smith, Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor plan to serve a menu of “noodles and pastas from around the globe in a casual and comfortable environment”. Sadly, no draft menu is part of the application materials.

The 36-seat restaurant is under construction at 78 Middle Street immediately adjacent to Eventide with which Honey Paw shares kitchen space. Smith, Taylor and Wiley plan to open The Honey Paw this month serving meals 7 days a week, 11 am to close.

Samuel’s Bar & Grill owner Sam Minervino has leased the former Sangillo’s on Hampshire Street where he plans to open a Tomaso’s Canteen later this year.

Tomaso’s is named after Minervino’s great grandfather, who immigrated to Portland from Italy.

Update: See this article in the Press Herald for additional information.

The Press Herald reports that the small “castle” in Deering Oaks may be bid out as restaurant space.

“Our goal is something that is really user-friendly (for) a wide demographic, and all-American (so) everyone can relate to it,” [Cheryl] Lewis said. “We originally thought about crepes, but in the end, it’s really got to be something everyone is familiar with.”

Though the space is small, Lewis is excited about the potential for both indoor and outdoor seating, including a beer garden that would have a couple tap beers and wine, as well as nonalcoholic beverages such as root beer and smoothies.

Jason Loring, co-owner of Slab and Nosh along with Mike Fraser from Bramhall and Nat Towl are launch The Point, a new clam shack on Thompson’s Point, according to a report from the Press Herald.

The restaurant, which will be called The Point, will serve all the fried foods traditionally found at clam shacks, including fried clams, fried oysters and fried scallops, as well as steamers and lobster dinners. Loring said he would serve Rhode Island calamari when it is in season, and three or four versions of lobster rolls, including a tempura-fried lobster roll served with a corn chowder.

Loring & Co plan to open this July with all outdoor seating and kitchen facilities in 2 shipping containers.

Cellardoor Winery has plans to open a tasting room on Thompson’s Point in 2016. See the PFM Under Construction page for a full list of local food businesses in development.

 

The Forecaster has posted a report on LemonCycle.

While most 15-year-olds get summer jobs at grocery stores or pizza places, Nat Jordan has decided to do something a little more entrepreneurial.

The Cape Elizabeth High School sophomore is starting his own business, LemonCycle, and plans to launch it this summer in Portland.

Jordan is putting a twist on the classic lemonade stand: he plans to use a tricycle with a cart built on the front to ride around and sell homemade lemonade.

The Press Herald reports that Tony’s Donuts has closed their South Portland location and is planning to expand their Portland store.

Fournier plans to expand the original family business at Congress and Bolton streets by renovating a former auto maintenance garage on the property into a coffee shop, he said.

“By the time I get done with renovations, you won’t recognize it,” Fournier said.

The owners of the Hunt + Alpine Club and Piccolo are in the early stages of collaborating on a new restaurant. Damian Sansonetti, Briana and Andrew Volk and Ilma Lopez plan to launch the new venue sometime in 2016 which they’ll operate in addition to continuing to run their current establishments. Details on concept and location are not yet public.

The City Council meets Monday and among the other things on the agenda are liquor licenses for:

• Portland Mash Tun, a small scale brew pub under construction at 29 Wharf Street. Owner Rick Binet is planning a 54-seat bar that serves house made beer as well as small selection of wines and spirits and a food menu of burgers and other pub food (page 63).  Binet is also a co-owner of The King’s Head Pub. He hopes to open Portland Mash Tun in May.
  
• M.C. Union the 70+ seat restaurant and bar operated by chefs by Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier under construction in The Press Hotel(web, facebook, instagram). The draft menu (page 86) includes a raw bar selection, appetizers like “Khmer chicken wings with cool cucumber noodle salad and caraway black pepper dipping sauce” and entrees  such as chicken under a brick and MC lobster mac and cheese. The hotel is expected to open this Spring.
• Crooners & Cocktails(facebook, twitter), a “moderately priced 39 seat supper club offering a wide array of classic American cuisine, wines and classic cocktails.” C&C is under construction at 90 Exchange in the space most recently occupied by Thai 9. Full draft menus for lunch and dinner are on pages 107-108.