Category: Under Construction

Local 188 has announced that they’ll be naming the new restaurant they have under construction at 915 Congress Street, Salvage BBQ & Smokehouse. The restaurant is located at the former home of Portland Architectural Salvage. They’re planning on opening in Spring 2013.

Monday’s City Council meeting will review and vote on liquor licenses applications from several new restaurants under construction:

• The North Point—a “small, rustic, upscale wine, cheese and spirits bar& restaurant” located at 35 Silver Street across the street from The Regency. The draft menu (pages 99, 102-103) includes a selection of cheeses and charcuterie, sandwiches, soups and chocolate truffles . According to the application owner Noah Talmatch has 30 years experience in the hospitality industry, the past 18 years in NYC.
• Dancing Elephant II—Iqubal Hossain, owner of the Dancing Elephant in Westbrook, is expanding into Portland through the purchase Passage to India on Wharf Street. A draft menu (pages 63-64) was included in their application.
• Three Buoys—as previously reported by the Munjoy Hill News, Three Buoy’s Seafood Shanty & Grille is in the process of renovating the former Wings-N-Things on Cumberland Ave. Three Buoys is expanding into the Portland market from their original restaurant in York. Their goal is to open in December.  A draft menu (pages 47-48) was included in their application.
• Buck’s Naked BBQ—as previously reported by The Forecaster, Buck’s is taking over the space on Wharf Street formerly occupied by Havana South. According to the application their goal is to open in November. You can see a photo of the new interior on Buck’s Facebook page.

A new craft cocktail bar called the Portland Hunt & Alpine Club (website, blog) is currently under development with a target opening date in March 2013. No lease has been signed yet but owner Andrew Volk is actively seeking out the right space for the business.

Here’s how he describes his vision for the Hunt & Alpine Club,

The Portland Hunt and Alpine Club will feature craft spirits from Maine and around the world. Their ever-changing cocktail menu will reflect Andrew’s experience and passion in the industry. Along with cocktails there will be a beer and wine menu, and small plates from local purveyors. Customers can expect a relaxing atmosphere that pays homage to the outdoor spirit of Maine while remaining modern and current. The Portland Hunt and Alpine Club will also provide continuing education for those curious about spirits. This program will include bringing in bartenders and industry experts from around the world to Maine.

Volk’s resume includes time as a bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon. In addition to launching the Hunt & Alpine Club, he’s also working as a consultant to Caledonia Spirits in Hardwick, VT.

Hella Good Tacos is planning to scale up their successful food cart operation into a brick and mortar restaurant. Owner Josh Bankhead is raising $25,000 online to start up this new venture. If you’re a fan of Hella Good, then head on over to Peerbackers.com to learn more about his plans and make a pledge to help him out.

Online crowd-funding has been an increasing popular model for local food businesses to raise funds. Food Coma TV, Union Bagel, Roost are a few of the ones that have successfully used this approach to get the financial backing they needed to start-up.

Erika Joyce, co-creator of the Cloak & Dagger supper club, has announced Chinese Laundry, “Portland’s first dim sum pop-up”.

At the moment, the Chinese Laundry is ran by two folks from ‘Nam, myself included.  We’re hoping to start popping up in the late winter, early spring.  If you are interested in getting involved- ie, making dumplings/buns, donating space, marketing, etc., shoot me an email, as we hope to get more hands to aid ours!

Chef Damian Sansonetti is working on launching a new restaurant in Portland. Until recently Sansonetti was the Executive Chef at Bar Boulud in New York City. He’s been scouting locations in Portland and in the meantime is running a series of pop-up dinners.

The next pop-up is scheduled for October 30th; interest in the dinners has been quite strong and an additional dinner in early November is likely. For more information on the dinners or to make a reservation email sonnetpopup@gmail.com.

According to a report from the Munjoy Hill News, Three Buoys Seafood Shanty & Grille is under construction at 111 Cumberland Ave in the space formerly occupied by Buffalo Wings-N-Things.

East Enders will soon have another restaurant option from which to select according to Nikole and Bill Holler, owners of the soon-to-be Three Buoys Seafood Shanty & Grille.  The location is at the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Washington Street – the site of the former Buffalo Wings restaurant.  That’s where mhn.com met them early this afternoon.

According to a report by the Munjoy Hill News, Jay Villani plans on opening a third Portland restaurant this Spring.

“I’m going to be opening a new restaurant next spring.  It’ll be a chicken barbeque place and it’ll be on lower Congress Street,” said Jay Villani Saturday afternoon.

This will be Villani’s third restaurant and fourth food venture in Portland after Local 188, Sonny’s and Bunker Brewing.

Maine a la Carte has published an interview with David Turin about his new restaurant, David’s Opus 10. Turin plans on repurposing the private dining room in the back of David’s in Monument Square to launch Opus 10.

“David’s Opus 10” will be an 18-seat restaurant with its own independent, open kitchen and a fixed price, multi-course menu. Seven courses will be served Tuesday through Thursday, and nine courses on Friday and Saturday. Turin is hoping to open the place by the first week in November, depending on how well renovations go.

Bo Byrne, currently the chef de cuisine at David’s 388, will be moving to David’s to cook with Turin at the new place. Carlos Tirado, who has been sous chef at the South Portland restaurant for the past two-and-a-half years, will take Byrne’s place there.

Whaddapita has announced that they’re moving from Forest Ave to a location in South Portland.

The PitaMan has BIG NEWS: we’re moving and will re-open soon in our new South Portland location. Stay tuned here on our facebook page for updates on our GRAND RE-OPENING.