James Tranchemontagne, owner of The Frog and Turtle, is opening a new restaurant in Westbrook with his wife and brother. The new business is taking over the space formerly occupied by Freaky Bean on Main Street and will be called The French Press Eatery. They plan on having it open in a few weeks and will be serving “12 different breakfast sandwiches, our donuts, soups, salads, sandwiches and a lot of different coffees”.
Category: Under Construction
Under Construction Updates
Portland Psst! has published a round-up on changes of ownership at The White Heart, Thanh Thanh Bida and Awful Annie’s, as well as news that Po’Boy’s & Pickles (see sample menu) is replacing the D’Angelo’s on Forest Ave and G’Vanni’s Bistro (see sample menu) is going to occupy the spot on Exchange Street vacated by Walter’s.
The agenda from next week’s City Council meeting also provides a first look at the menu for Boda. For a more complete list of all the upcoming venues take a look at the Under Construction List.
Bangkok Thai –> Boda
According to an article in today’s Portland Daily Sun, the owners of Bangkok Thai are planning on turning it into an Asian fusion restaurant to be called Boda.
The restaurateurs are closing Bangkok Thai, their popular lunch and dinner restaurant at 671 Congress St., and converting it into a new Asian fusion eatery similar in some respects to their other Congress Street restaurant, the Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro. Boda should be open in December.
“The food will change every two weeks, and we’ll have five to 10 items every night, that’s all. We’ll make it simple but good quality,” said Wongsaichua.
Under Construction: Local Sprouts Cafe
There’s an article about Local Sprouts Cafe in today’s Press Herald. The LSC staff held a community design event earlier this week to go over their plans and gather fresh ideas for the cafe.
The Local Sprouts Cooperative is lined up as the first retail tenant at 645 Congress St., the former site of a University of Southern Maine dormitory.
The cooperative expects to open its Local Sprouts Cafe on the first floor of the building in February or March, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with an emphasis on local and organic foods.
IIK: Cambodian Bahn Chow
Lindsey Sterling has published another ethnic cooking adventures on her blog Inside Immigrant Kitchens. This time she’s cooking with Sopheap Im from Cambodia to make Bahn Chow.
The preparation I’ll take home with me is bahn chow, which I just tried making for a couple friends. The word is: thumbs up. Delicious. Said one: “I love the fresh mint, basil and cucumber. — Ooo! And I just got a little kick from the sauce!”
The article also explains that we’ll all be able to try Cambodian cuisine starting in October because that’s when Im plans on opening the Three Monkey’s world Cafe on Cumberland.
Peace Food Market Now Open
According to a post from Avery Yale Kamila on twitter, the Peace Food Market is now open for business.
Hear No Evil, See No Evil . . .
There’s a sign in the window of the store front at 349 Cumberland Avenue announcing “Three Monkeys World Cafe Coming Soon!”. If that address sounds familiar, it’s because Huong Vietnamese used to be located there. With the addition of Three Monkeys there are now 16 entries on the Under Construction list.
Expansion: Caiola's
Caiola’s is putting an addition to their building at 58 Pine St. The plan is to add a 26-seat function room on to the back of the building.
Under Construction: Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll
Today’s Portland Daily Sun is reporting that Linda Bean will be opening a restaurant in the space currently occupied by JavaNet at 37 Exchange Street.
Now, with a fresh lease in hand, Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll & Dock Lobster will open at 37 Exchange St., the current home of Java Net Cafe. Bean has purchased a long-term lease at the location and will convert the space from a coffeeshop to a takeout and sitdown restaurant that features Maine lobster, Schneider said Thursday.
“This will be our flagship location, and we may go into franchising,” Schneider said.
Mushrooms and Shima in the Sun
Wednesday’s edition of the Portland Daily Sun included an article by Margo Mallar on mushroom foraging in Maine,
There are many who don’t mind a little rainy weather: book-lovers and sellers, movie theaters and mushrooms. Although the record setting summer rains haven’t resulted in record setting harvests, goldenchanterelles, black trumpets, and hens of the woods are making their way from forest floor to dinner plates across Maine.
and an article about Shima, the new Japanese restaurant under construction on Fore Street. The Shima article unfortunately hasn’t made it online so here’s some of the key points:
- Shima’s chef/owner Dave Shima hopes to open in the next 10-12 days
- Chef Shima had worked for 5 years at Fuji and has been the private chef for a number of bands such as Rush, Chicago and Aerosmith
- He plans on serving “an eclectic mix of Japanese, French and some Hawaiian food”
- there will be 25 different types of sake on the menu