Some additional info on Kushiya Benkay, the new Japanese restaurant under construction in Longfellow Square, has surfaced in documents filed with the Portland City Council.
As the name seemed suggest, Kushiya is indeed a sibling of Benkay on India Street. The draft menu (page 40) supplied with the liquor license application is available online. It includes a full traditional sushi menu as well as a list of Yakitori options.
Owner Hyon Kim is planning on an opening date in July.
There are a couple new additions to the Under Construction list:
Roost House of Juice is raising money on Kickstarter to help fund their juice bar under construction on Free Street. Owners Kathleen Flanagan and Jeanette Richelson will be “offering fresh-pressed juices and smoothies with as much local organic Maine produce as possible” that are “entirely plant-based with no soy, no gluten, and no dairy”. If that sounds like your thing you might want to help them out with a donation.
The campaign if already off to a good start and is approaching the 50% mark for their $8,500 goal.
Roost is following in the footsteps of Food Coma TV and Union Bagel Company. Both organizations ran successful Kickstarter campaigns that were important in getting their ventures up and running.
There are a couple under construction updates in this week’s City Council agenda:
Bier Cellar is under construction at 299 Forest Ave across the street from Glickman Library. As the name suggests the store will retail craft beer as well as a big selection of craft beer, as well as wine, cider and mead. Owners Greg and Katie Norton “are optimistically shooting for June 1” for an opening day.
Tandem Coffee Roasters is under construction at 122 Anderson Street in Bayside. Involved in the new venture is Kathleen Pratt who resume includes the highly regarded Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco.
You can follow their process of getting the operation up and running on their Tumblr and see some additional photos om the More & Co. blog.
A new ice cream shop is under construction on Commercial Street in the former home of Bubble Tea. I’ve heard the name of the business is Captain Sam’s Ice Cream.
Portland magazine has published an interview with Carmen Gonzalez, chef of new restaurant opening this Spring in the Danforth Inn.
If you dine with González at her new restaurant, opening May 15 at The Danforth bed and breakfast, you can go international, too, devouring sizzling snacks as part of a culinary “journey through most of Latin America and the Caribbean,” where lobster will be served as few up here have seen it before.
“One of my signature dishes is a lobster and avocado terrine with key lime mayo and aranitas (grated green plantain and garlic fritters), which I plan to have on the menu, along with lobster fritters.”
The Food & Dining section in today’s paper includes an article about chef Carmen Gonzalez and the new restaurant she’s opening this Spring at the Danforth Inn,
“Carmen at The Danforth,” scheduled to open in mid- to late May, will be something really different for Portland – a small, 40-seat boutique restaurant inside an historic inn that has a celebrity chef in command of the kitchen full-time.
The summer menu has just been completed, and is heavy on Maine seafood served with a Latin twist.
and an article about the Maine organic seed industry.
Maine is home to five certified organic seed companies, and some are seeing signs of economic recovery in this season’s sales.
“I think people were more comfortable economically this year,” said Gene Frey, who works at Fedco Seeds in Clinton.
The Forecaster has published an article about Tony’s Donut’s plans to open a location in South Portland.
Now, after operating out of its 9 Bolton St. location for more than 45 years, Tony’s Donuts is planning to pen a second bakery at 1059 Broadway in South Portland. Fournier expects the new shop to open in fall 2012.