Leigh Kellis, owner of The Holy Donut, has leased 7 Exchange Street and plans to open a second retail location in the Old Port. 7 Exchange was formerly occupied by the Exchange Street Cafe.
Category: Under Construction
Hand Pies/Little Bigs Set to Open
An article in today’s Press Herald examines the growing trend of hand pies in Portland and mentions a new bakery called Little Bigs that’s set to open in the next few days in South Portland.
Their bakery, Little Bigs, is expected to open at 340 Main St. by Monday and join a growing trend in the Portland area – hand foods, specifically, hand pies.
Hand pies are gaining popularity locally and have been featured this summer in national magazines such as Bon Appetit and Martha Stewart Living.
Interview with Masa Miyake
Mainebiz interviewed Masa Miyake about his start in the restaurant industry and plans for opening Miyake Diner on Spring Street.
MB: Why did you open the original Miyake in the West End, and why are you returning?
MM: I visited Maine on vacation, and we moved to the countryside. My dream was growing a few pigs, chickens and vegetables by myself and working somewhere. But the owners of a small pizza place [in the West End] asked me if I was interested in buying the lease for $20,000. I took it over in June 2007. But it only had an electric stove. So I put in a sushi bar, because you don’t need gas. We served tsubo-style sushi and interesting dishes. A chef came in, Rob Evans [former Hugo’s owner], and told the newspapers the place to go is Miyake. So he introduced us around. At the time we were small.
Under Construction: Menu for Piccolo
The City Council will be voting on Monday to approve the liquor license application for Piccolo. Piccolo will be featuring the cuisine of Calabria and Abruzzi. It will be located at 111 Middle Street in the former home of Bresca.
A draft menu (page 53) and floor plan (page 50) are included in materials provided to the city. Appetizers include options such as a salad of charred chilled calamari, watermelon, bitter greens dressed with olive oil. Meat, seafood and vegetarian entree options will be available such as slow baked sea bass with summer peas, roasted onions and pancetta.
Chefs Damian Sansonetti and wife Ilma Lopez will be running the establishment. Sansonetti is a co-owner of Blue Rooster Food Company and the former executive chef at Bar Boulud in NYC. Until quite recently Lopez was the pastry chef at Grace.
They’re hoping to launch Piccolo sometime in September, serving dinner Tuesday – Sunday, 5-10:30pm.
Under Construction: Boone’s
Maine a la Carte checked in with Harding Lee Smith and he confirmed that the opening of Boone’s is “imminent”.
I went straight to Smith (who told me last spring he was hoping to open June 15) to get an update. He says it won’t be Friday, “as far as I know.”
So, when? “Very soon. Imminent would be a good word.”
Food Trucks: Anywhere Coffee Bar
Carson Lynch, owner of the Gorham Grind, is working on a project to launch a food truck. The new truck will be called Anywhere Coffee Bar (twitter) is slated to launch in early September. Lynch plans on operating year-round. He’s in the process of leasing a parking space along “a main commuter route in Portland” during the week and hopes to also book catering jobs and event appearances on the weekend.
Under Construction: Miyake Diner
The Bangor Daily News has published an interview with Massa Miyake and Will Garfield about Miyake Diner which is under construction in the original Miyake location on Spring Street.
It will also have a very different type of menu. It will be an izakaya-style restaurant, which in Japanese translates to something like a gastro-pub, according to Garfield.
In Japan, izakaya joints are places people go after work to have some drinks — mostly sake — and small plates of food. There won’t be any sushi on the menu, nor gyoza, ramen or pork buns.
Miyake, who once worked in a macrobiotic kitchen in New York City, said the menu will be “small plates, largely vegetable focused.”
Under Construction: Foundation Brewing Co.
A new brewery called Foundation Brewing Company (website, facebook, twitter) has secured financing and leased space on Industrial Way. The brewery is a collaboration between Joel Mahaffey and John Bonney.
As of July, we’ve leased space at the infamous One Industrial Way building, the same complex that birthed some other Maine breweries you may have heard of, like Rising Tide and Maine Beer Company. We’re psyched to be moving in to such a great space down the street from Allagash. Hopefully some of the great beer mojo of Industrial Way will rub off on us.
The brewery’s website lists 2 beers they’re working on: Blaze (hybrid between a traditional Saison and an American IPA) and Bedrock (easy drinking dark beer). They hope to be in commercial production before the end of the year.
Interview with Damian Sansonetti
Eater Maine has published an interview with Damian Sansonetti about Blue Rooster, his plans for Piccolo and being part of Portland’s food community.
What are some items that we’ll see on the menu [at Piccolo]?
You’re definitely going to see cavatelli. Both my grandparents cooked cavatelli and I swear that was the first pasta I ever remember making. I remember making it with my nana, my mom’s mom. As soon as I could see the table, I’d help her. She’d feed the machine and I’d crank it through. When I was older, I’d put the dough through myself. She’d tell me to put it through nice and easy so it didn’t gum up. It makes me happy cooking it. One dish I used to do a lot is a lamb neck bolognese, which I’m looking to have.
Sansonetti also emailed to let me know that his wife Ilma Lopez will be taking on the role of pastry chef at Piccolo and will be joining the staff at Blue Rooster. Additionally, Blue Rooster will be in Newcastle this weekend for a pop-up at Oxbow Brewing.
Under Construction: King’s Head
A floor plan for Kings Head restaurant has been submitted to the Planning Board. Kings Head is a 78-seat restaurant that’s planned for the first floor of the Pierce Atwood building on Commercial Street.