Category: Under Construction

Meredith Goad has written a feature article for today’s Press Herald about how the scarcity and high cost of restaurant spaces in Portland is impacting young chefs who are seeking to open a restaurant.

The city’s food reputation was built on the backs of young, independent chefs opening their own places where they could serve local, seasonal foods and let creativity and originality reign. But as space shrinks and rents rise, some chefs are worried that soon the only people able to open a restaurant in the Old Port and its outskirts will be big names with much deeper pockets than a 28-year-old just out of culinary school.

Brian Duff from the Portland Phoenix shares the restaurant openings he’s most looking forward to in the coming year. Vinland, Slab, the new restaurants from Tao and Bar Lola and new food trucks are among them.

The Fishin’ Ships food truck has successfully met their $12,000 Kickstarter fundraising goal with 20 days left to spare. Owners Sam Gorelick and Arvid Brown plan to launch Fishin’ Ships (facebook, twitter) this April.

A second food truck, Anapurna’s Thali is also running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their 2014 food truck project.

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about Vinland, which is slated to open this Friday.

When David Levi set out to open his first restaurant, Vinland in Congress Square, he had the region’s native people — members of the Penobscot Indian Nation — in mind. What would the Penobscot eat? Mussels flavored with apple cider vinegar? Smoked duck? Poached cod in herbal broth?

Such delicacies grace the menu at his 39-seat bistro, slated to open Friday, Dec. 27. Levi, a New York City culinary artist with a master’s degree in poetry, is a different breed of restaurateur.

According to Vinland’s facebook page, you can make reservations for Friday’s soft opening by emailing info@vinland.me.

Maine a la Carte has published an update on the El Rayo’s plans to open a new restaurant in Scarborough.

Inside, the restaurant will have an open kitchen with 8 “theater” seats, a 10-stool bar and a mix of booths and other tables seating 84.

[El Rayo manager Norine] Kotts said the new El Rayo Tacqueria y Cantina is expected to open next summer.

For more information on Portland area restaurants under development see the PFM Under Construction List.

90 Congress Street is slated to become the home of the new restaurant that Guy and Stella Hernandez currently have under development. Their business partner in this new business is part owner of 90 Congress.

Guy and Stella closed down Bar Lola in mid-November and since then have been working on their new venture. An earlier announcement made public their plans to move Hilltop Coffee to 100 Congress Street, so essentially the coffee shop and the restaurant are trading spaces while both stay on Munjoy Hill.

The Fishin’ Ships (facebook, twitter) food truck has launched a Kickstarter campaign. Owners Sam Gorelick and Arvid Brown are raising $12,000 to help pay for a food truck. They’ve already made good progress and have received more than $5,000 of pledges towards their goal.

So how did we decide on our goal? Some newer trucks, with lower mileage, are priced as high as $20,000, whereas some heavily used trucks we’ve looked at are as low as $5,000.  We hope to find a happy medium between the two and that is why we are asking for $12,000.  This will allow us the purchasing freedom to buy a nicer vehicle, without having to pinch pennies further down the road.  If we find a truck for less than our goal, the remaining Kickstarter money will be directed towards retrofitting costs such as kitchen equipment, electrical, plumbing, labor and licensing.

Today’s shaping up to be a great day for Portland food truck news.

Gloria Pearse is raising $4,000 on Kickstarter for Anapurna’s Thali, a vegetarian/vegan Indian food, according to a report from Eater Maine.

The menu will be all vegetarian and vegan, with gluten free options. There will be two choices for the Thali: choose from 2 vegetables plus rice and chapati (flat bread,) or an Unlimited Thali where you can mix and match and keep going! Also, there will be traditional snacks such as Samosas, and Bhelpuri a puffed rice cereal snack with fresh onion, tomato, and chili.

Friends Sam Gorelick and Arvid Brown plan on launching Fishin’ Ships a new food truck in Portland this April, according to a report from Maine a la Carte.

In addition to serving a classic fried haddock with wedge-cut chips, lemon and homemade tartar sauce, “our menu will introduce you to things like chipotle, lime-battered cod, fried in an Allagash White beer batter and paired with maple coated sweet potato fries.”

“Or a bacon, scallion monkfish fried in Geary’s HSA batter and served with mashed potato fritters. We will be rotating these combos and many more like them, all using local beers and all in accordance to what is fresh and what flavors we feel like playing with.”