The Forecaster interviewed the owners of Tandem Coffee about the launch of their upcoming West End bakery/coffee shop.
The owners of Tandem Coffee Roasters, which opened two years ago, are preparing a new bakery and cafe at 742 Congress St. It is expected to open this month.
Liquor license approval for two new venues are on the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the City Council:
Fraser tells me they are making good progress on the renovations (see floor plan). According to paperwork filed with the city, they hope to open Bramhall in September. Bramhall, along with Tandem West and the opening of Salvage BBQ and Tawakal Halal last year are starting to develop the post-Longfellow Congress Street commercial life.
The Forecaster reports that 3 former Meat House employees have taken over the defunct company’s former location in Scarborough and are launching the Great East Butcher Co.
Great East is hoping for a mid-August opening for its second store, at 450 Payne Road. The first opened in early July in Stratham, New Hampshire. Both are former locations of The Meat House, a choice Chad Parent said was made based on relationships Moulton already had with landlords.
This week’s paper also includes an article about the South Portland Farmers’ Market.
The outdoor market, held Sundays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at City Hall, has unofficially attracted at least 100 customers a week – a small pool for the market’s 10 or 12 vendors.
But its advocates, including market manager Caitlin Jordan of Alewife’s Brook Farm in Cape Elizabeth, remain optimistic about the market’s slow and steady growth.
Sur Lie is a new bar and restaurant under construction at 11-13 Free Street. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Emil Riverva, the chef who’s slated to lead the kitchen to learn more about his background and what he has planned for the menu.
Rivera moved to Maine after scouting trips to the state this past fall and winter. He’s come to Portland from the DC where he worked for several years as part of the ThinkFoodGroup—a family of 15 restaurants founded by chef/restaurateur Jose Andres.
Rivera tells me he’s excited by the design for the restaurant and looking forward to working in the new kitchen. He’s well on his way to developing a menu that will serve as a starting point for when they open. While it is a tapas-style restaurant Rivera is drawing on a wide range of influences for the menu. He’s especially interested to get a read on customer reactions once they open to further tune the menu. The menu will include some larger plates intended for sharing in addition to the broader range of small plate options.
While construction is under way he’s had the chance to get out and explore the Portland restaurant scene. Pai Men, Eventide, Central Provisions, Hunt & Alpine have been some of the high points so far. In between moving to Maine and helping to launch the restaurant he’s finding the time to plan a wedding, he’s getting married in late August.
Co-owners Antonio Alviar and Krista Cole are combining the spaces formerly occupied by Roost juice bar and Compositions into a single 70-seat restaurant and bar. Their hoping to open sometime in late summer/early fall.
The Forecaster has published an update on the 2nd South Portland Otto under construction by the Mall.
Otto Pizza’s second South Portland location at 125 John Roberts Road will open in early August, according to a liquor license application councilors approved Monday.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Bresca and the Honey Bee, Krista Kern Desjarlais’ snack shack in New Gloucester.
The review also shares that “[Desjarlais] tells us she has a location lined up in Lewiston-Auburn, but needs to decide if she’s ready to get back into the scene”. Should she decide to go ahead I imagine there a lot of Bresca fans, myself included, who will be making regular treks to Lewiston-Auburn this Fall.
The liquor license application for a pair of new restaurants are scheduled for Monday’s City Council meeting:
Joe Fournier, Managing Partner at The Farm Stand tells me that they’re making excellent progress on the build out of the space and that they hope to open sometime in mid-August. They’re currently hiring to staff the market.
The Farm Stand is a collaboration between Fournier, Penny Jordan and Ben Slayton. Fournier has been a longtime member of the Rosemont Market staff, Jordan is a co-owner of Jordan Farm in Cape Elizabeth and Slayton runs Farmer’s Gate Market which sources all its pasture-raised meats from Maine farms.
The Farm Stand is located at 161 Ocean Street in the Knightsville neighborhood of South Portland.
Two new under construction updates surfaced on Tuesday via an article in the Press Herald Real Estate section. The article (not available online) talked about the renovations to the old Nissen Bakery building at 75 Washington Ave.
New developments include:
Alex Steed has interviewed co-owner Briana Holt about the upcoming Tandem Bakery in the West End.
What can folks expect from the new West End shop?
It is going to be the awesome. There will be Tandem Coffee, of course, which they already serve at the East Bayside location. What we kind of want is a neighborhood joint that is focused on yummy, comforting-but-cool, American-style baking…
