Category: Under Construction

Owners Jason Loring, Matt Moran, and Tobey Moulton closed on the sale of Nosh Kitchen Bar to Michael Fraser, Michael Barbuto and Kevin Doyle on Monday. They expect to reopen Nosh later this week.

The new owners plan to remain true the spirit of Nosh with a focus on well executed comfort food. They will be keeping some of the standards from the Nosh menu and folding in some new ideas of their own including a classic cocktail program. Chef Aaron Taylor was been hired to lead the kitchen.

In addition to Nosh, Barbuto and Doyle are currently working to launch The Continental on Brighton Ave. The pair also are co-owners with Fraser at CBG.

Loring has been involved in the launch of a number of new restaurants since Nosh opened in 2010. He’s currently focusing his time on the Slab retail pizza business. Moran is partnering with Joe Fournier in the relaunch of A & C in South Portland.

Bread & Olive (facebook, instagram) is making progress towards an opening day at their location at the corner of Valley and Congress Streets. Owner Sarah Martin, who also operates the Bar of Chocolate Cafe on Wharf Street, is renovating the space formerly occupied by The 5 Spot to bring the new establishment to her neighborhood.

Bread & Olive will seat approximately 40 customers with a 9-seat bar and a collection of 4-top tables as well. Here’s a look at the draft menu (below). In addition Martin plans to serve daily specials such as chili, cioppino fish stew, salmon tacos, pizzettes, spinach and mushroom quiche, a mixed greens salad with pecans, blue cheese and sweet onions.

Brea Lu Cafe (website, facebook, instagram) has announced they’ve leased a new space at 100 Larrabee Road in Westbrook. The new location will seat 170 people—up from 45 at their current location—and will include an in-house bakery as well.

Thank you for being soooooo patient. Here is your payoff. Our new space is located at 100 Larrebee Rd Westbrook. We finally signed a lease. We’re extremely excited. We are going from 45 seats to 170. Hopefully you’ll never wait again. Also we will be having a bakery inside the restaurant. We will also be welcoming Heather Norton back to our restaurant. She will be our full time baker. So looks like the gang is getting back together. I’m so excited. Dear Westbrook We Love You. We Could Never Leave You.

Brea Lu was originally located at 428 Forest Ave. After a fire in their building they relocated in 2016 to their current spot at 9 Cumberland Street in Westbrook.

Update: the Larrabee Road move fell through, according to a report from the Press Herald the owners are now in talks to move to a different spot in Westbrook.

A new bar and lounge called Karibu Kwetu is under development at 263 Saint John Street in the space adjacent to Burundi Star Coffee. Karibu Kwetu is a Swahili expression that means “welcome to our place”.

The owners are Antoine Bikamba, Thierry Mugabe, and Bertrand Muguberi. Bikamba is from Rwanda and is a co-founder of 207 Bar and Restaurant on Cumberland Ave. Both Mugabe and Muguberi are from Burundi.

A new restaurant called Keg and Kraken (instagram) is under construction in the former Kushiya Benkay spot at 653 Congress Street. Owners Jiraphon and Steve Richards along with Nisachuan Young plan to do some light renovations and hope to open in July.

Keg and Kraken will continue to serve sushi and the menu will be augmented to include Thai dishes and tiki-style cocktails.

The Richards own a laudromat in Biddeford. Nisachuan Young has experience in the hospitality business in Thailand where she was the assistant director of food and beverage at the Four Seasons Hotel in Samui as well as the manager of Luca Cafe in Maine.

Kushiya Benkay quietly shut down operations in late May.

A new 40-seat restaurant called Riverton Station (facebook) is in the final stage of construction at 1569 Forest Ave. As part of the cover letter for their liquor license application owners James and Peter Hoglund shared

The restaurant will bring a great open, safe and convenient atmosphere for all ages to enjoy…The menu revolves around pizza and grill type offerings. There will be a mealoption for everyone in the family to enjoy at a price point that they can enjoy often. We hope this will bring some of the history and life back into Riverton and help it evolve into the focal point or center of the community for years to come.

Here’s a look at the draft menu for Riverton Station.

A new business called Queenie’s Castle is under construction in Deeering Oaks Park. It will have indoor seating and tables outside on the front and side decks.

Owner Victoria Queenie Thayer is launching a deli and soft serve ice shop in the historic building and has applied for a wine and beer license.

The draft menu supplied with the liquor license application (see pages 146-148) include items like lobster rolls, grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers and kid’s lunch boxes. The ice cream menu includes soft serve dish and cones plus sundaes, parfaits, frappes and a banana boat supreme.