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.
Category: Under Construction
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.
Under Construction: Piccolo
Chef Damian Sansonetti has leased 111 Middle Street, the former location of Bresca, and plans to open a new restaurant called Piccolo. Sansonetti will be serving a menu inspired by cuisine of Calabria and Abruzzi, tapping into the rustic tastes of of the regions where his family hail from. He plans to make some changes to the interior design of the dining room but otherwise leave the overall layout the same, and hopes to open the restaurant in September.
Sansonetti moved to Portland from NYC where he had been the Executive Chef of Bar Boulud. He’s a co-owner of Blue Rooster Food Co. on Dana Street. In addition to Piccolo, he still has plans to open a restaurant in Portland called Sonnet at some point in the future.
Under Construction: Coastal Root Cocktail Bitters
A new company called Coastal Root is working to launch a line of locally produced bitters later this summer. Owner Nolan Stewart developed an interest in bitters during his tenure as a bartender at Five Fifty-Five. The first of his bitters has a base of gentian, burdock and dandelion root with sassafras and sarsaparilla playing a leading role. Stewart has a second bitters in the planning stages that will feature hibiscus, jasmine and ginger.
The Coastal Root Facebook page explains, “We are a company dedicated to creating cocktail bitters, and innovative cocktail ingredients in Portland Maine. It is our goal to use local ingredients to give our bitters a Maine identity.”
Portland’s cocktail culture is making some good strides forward. Maine Craft Distilling recently joined New England Distilling to provide locally produced spirits, craft cocktail bar the Portland Hunt & Alpine Club is under construction on Market Street, a mixology shop called Vena’s Fizz House opened last week, and now Coastal Root will be providing a source for locally produced bitters.
Under Construction: CBD in East Bayside
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes feature article about 20,000 square foot new facility Coffee by Design has under construction in East Bayside. An earlier report indicated that this new location was solely to serve as a roastery, offices, training facility and equipment store but the new plans incorporate a coffee shop where “connoisseurs will be able to order limited-edition roasts at the coffee bar and choose the brewing technique, including pour-over, French press and espresso.”
While Diamond Street will be a place where people can “geek out” on coffee, Lindemann said it will also cater to artists, blue collar workers, students and others looking for a cup of coffee and place to kick back in a “warm, earthy” environment.
“There is a trend in our industry that is elitist,” Lindemann said. “We want amazing coffee to be available to everybody. …
“Our humble beginnings are still there.”
CBD will be joining, Urban Farm Farmentory, Tandem Coffee, Bunker Brewing, Maine Craft Distilling, and Rising Tide Brewing as well as Pure Pops, Bomb Diggity Bakery, and Eat Local Fish in the East Bayside neighborhood.
Under Construction: Elsmere BBQ & Wood Grill
Maine a la Carte has published an article about Elsmere BBQ & Wood Grill (facebook, website), a new restaurant under construction in South Portland.
Powers calls barbecue “the only true American cuisine.” He spent at least 15 years “studying” barbecue, stopping at every little diner and BBQ joint he could find on road trips, searching for the perfect smoke, the perfect sauce. He constructed two smokers himself out of 1950s refrigerators.
At Elsmere, in addition to the Texas smoker, Powers and Rush will use an Argentine grill from California. The grill, which hasn’t arrived yet, has a big wheel that raises and lowers the cooking grates. It takes an hour and a half for the wood to burn down to embers, then the coals are raked forward in a continuous feed.
Under Construction: SoPo’s Restaurant Expansion
The Current has written about the recent growth in the number of South Portland restaurants.
Since mid-March, eight new restaurants have opened in South Portland, and licenses have been issued for another six, all slated to open by mid-August. According to City Manager Jim Gailey, South Portland has seen boomlets like that before, but it’s always been in the area of the Maine Mall and inevitably followed by rapid turnover.
“What’s really odd, and really kind of nice, is that a lot of this is going on right here, downtown, with small, owner-operated places,” said Gailey.
The article mentions a new venture called the Elsmere BBQ and seems to indicate that the South Portland Tony’s Donuts is still under development.