Category: Under Construction

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.

Chris Busby reports that the new Full Belly Deli will be located in the Old Port at the corner of Fore and Market Streets.

Speaking of delis, Portlanders were stunned when Full Belly Deli abruptly closed its location on outer Brighton Avenue this winter. Now comes word that Full Belly’s mile-high pastrami sandwiches and other indulgences will reappear at the corner of Market and Fore streets, in a space most recently occupied by a failed link in the Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt chain, according to landlord Joe Soley, who has an avowed taste for tongue. Soley also said the deli may apply for a license to serve beer and wine.

A Cape Elizabeth high school sophmore named Nat Jordan has launched a $2,500 Kickstarter campaign to help fund lemonade food cart called LemonCycle(twitter, facebook).

LemonCycle will operate out of a modified cargo tricycle-based this summer on the streets of Portland.

LemonCycle blends two of my favorite summertime passions together; biking and lemonade. More importantly, it provides the people of Portland, Maine, with an eco-friendly, refreshing way to cool off during the sweltering months of June, July and August.

What we are is a lemonade cart on the frame of a cargo tricycle. Cargo tricyles are an up-and-coming form of delivery, food vending and everyday travel.

Full Belly Deli(facebook) owner David Rosen has announced that he’ll be re-opening the business this Spring. There’s no official word on the location but some folks have suggested it will be in the Old Port.

Today’s Press Herald provides a detailed back story on the Old Port Lobster Shack and its owner Russell Deutsch. The California-based business is constructing its 4th restaurant at 425 Fore Street. This will be the first OPLS in Maine.

It dawned on him that a lot of the graduates of New England schools worked in the San Francisco Bay area, including Silicon Valley, and were probably lobster starved. So he wrote a business plan and got in touch with his old contacts from the exporting business. He opened his first lobster shack in Redwood City, in a strip mall next to a Super Cuts. It struggled at first; then three or four months in, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a review. “The next day we had 250 people in line at my door,” he said, “and it hasn’t settled down since.”

Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy had a packed house last night at the East Ender(website, facebook, twitter, opentable) for their friends and family party.

The restaurant is scheduled to open on Monday, March 9th at 11:30 am.

See Maine a la Carte for some photos from last night’s gathering.

Nova Coffee is under construction at the corner of Brackett and Pine Streets They’ll be located in the same building (West End Place) as the new Rosemont Market. Nova plans to serve Tandem Coffee.

The City Council meets Monday, and among other items on the agenda are consideration and approval of liquor licenses applications for:

• The Old Port Slice Bar is taking over the space at 420 Fore Street formerly occupied by Joe’s NY Pizza. A draft menu (page 69) was submitted along with the application.
• The Sinful Kitchen(facebook, website), as previously reported, will be located at 906 Brighton Ave in the building formerly occupied by La Familia. Chef David Mallari will be serving brunch Wednesday through Sunday. The draft menu (pages 84-85) is a mix of traditional brunch items along with food that will make gluten-free eaters and paleo dieters happy.

Also on the agenda is a California-based company called the Old Port Lobster Shack which has leased 425 Fore Street. The company has existing locations in Portola Valley, Redwood City and San Jose. According to their cover letter, their eateries are “seafood restaurants specializing in lobster prepared in various ways that are commonly found in Maine lobster shacks.”

Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy are planning to re-open the East Ender on March  9. The restaurant has been undergoing some renovations including new signage by Will Sears and seating by Pistol Pete. Small Axe fans will be happy to learn that the burger safely made the transition to the East Ender menu. The Pastrami Salmon Tartine (house made pastrami salmon open faced sandwich on SouthSide Rye with radish, pickled onion, mustard seed, creme fraiche) sounds particularly delicious.