Category: Under Construction

Atsuko Fujimoto has leased 469 Stevens Ave where she plans to relocate Norimoto Bakery (website, instagram) from South Portland. The new location is in the building formerly occupied by Simply Scandinavian Foods in Deering Center which is also home to Quality Shop, Rwanda Bean Coffee, Pat’s Meat Market, The Honey Exchange, Elsmere, and other businesses.

Fujimoto is looking forward to having more space for her growing business and to creating a work space uniquely tuned to her way of working and that provides room for her and a growing team to work.

Fujimoto hopes to be fully moved in and open for business in time for the holidays. She’ll be closing down her current location later this month (September 18-19 are the last takeout days) and then opening the new bakery as soon as the build out is complete. The new Norimoto will have a takeout window inspired by old tabako-ya corner tobacco kiosks in Japan.

Ian and Kate Malin have announced the sale of Little Giant to the Gin & Luck hospitality group. Gin & Luck is best know for their Death & Co cocktail bars in New York City, Los Angeles and Denver.

“This is the latest example of how Portland has developed a national reputation in the food and beverage world,” said Ian Malin, who started Little Giant with his wife Kate and partners in 2017 .

“COVID was a blow to the entire restaurant industry,” Kate Malin said. “But we changed and adapted—first with paper plates and takeout out cocktails and then with an all-season outdoor space and a vaccine requirement. Our customers responded enthusiastically and 2021 has been our best year ever. We couldn’t be prouder of the team at Little Giant, and we’re very sad to say goodbye.”

Gin & Luck are still working out the details of the unique name and concept (not a Death & Co branded location) for their location in the West End so stay tuned for updates in the next few weeks. Gin & Luck COO and partner Alex P. Day moved to Portland 2 years ago.

The team’s attraction to Portland is a deeply personal one. Gin & Luck partner and COO, Alex Day, has been a resident of Portland for over two years. “Moving to Portland was transformative for me, both personally and professionally,” says Day. “I’ve found myself not only inspired by the beauty of Maine and all it has to offer, but also by a F&B community that has been incredibly welcoming every step of the way. They’ve blown me away by their deep love of hospitality, culinary creativity and enlightened business practices, and I’m thrilled by the chance to contribute in a small way – to create an establishment unique to Portland and a new F&B expression for our company, and above all, to play a meaningful part in what makes this city such an amazing place to live and visit.” The Gin & Luck team plans to release more information about their vision and timeline in the coming weeks.

“The fact that Gin & Luck chose Little Giant and Portland for their next project says a lot about the food scene in our city,” Ian Malin said. “We are excited to see this commitment from such a well-known and well-respected brand.”

A new food truck called The Portland Board (website, facebook, instagram) is set to launch in September by owner Graham Young. The Portland Board will be operating out of a vintage baby blue 1979 Volkswagon bus.

Young plans to offer both medium and larger sized boards for groups as well as smaller “bites” of pairs of chacuterie options. He also hopes to collaborate with local business with one-off menus that expand beyond The Portland Board’s focus on chacuterie.

Young started working in restaurants when he was 11-years-old and “quickly developed a love for the fast pace and hard work which always stayed with me”. He’s worked in the cannabis industry for the last decade in Maine and California. Since he’s moved back to Maine has been inspired by the food community here and the food truck is a way of connecting with it.

Phil Rosenthal and crew are in Maine this week filming an episode of his Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil.

Over the next 6 days they are planning on visiting a number of establishments in Portland, Biddeford and the Midcoast. The episode will be part of the 5th season of Somebody Feed Phil. A release date hasn’t been set yet.

A new Maine cooking show called Plate the State (website, facebook, instagram) is currently taping their first set of episodes which are expected to air Sundays on News Center Maine at 11 am starting on October 3rd.

The show is co-hosted by former Union chef Josh Berry and Maggie Knowles who will be “sharing the stories of where our food comes from and how to enjoy it at home”.

The season premiere opens with a fly fishing adventure in Rangeley then how to make a trout dinner over a campfire at Cathedral Pines Campground. Throughout the 11-episode season, viewers will visit The Honey exchange, Slack Tide Sea Salt, The Apple Farm, and Mousam Valley Mushrooms amongst many others.

Belleville (website, instagram) has leased this building at 767 Forest Ave where they plan to build out a production bakery. The new bakery will nearly quadruple the size of their production space. A rotating rack oven and proofing equipment are on order and expected to arrive later this year. Belleville hopes to be back in full swing by the holidays and will keep up their occasional pop-up series in the meantime.

The new bakery will allow them to produce more baked goods more efficiently to meet the ever growing demand for their croissants, pizza and other foods.

The Munjoy Hill location will continue to be the retail shop for Belleville. However sometime in late 2022 or 2023 they may open a second retail location at the bakery on Forest Ave.

Bravo Maine (website, facebook, instagram) is relocating to 559 Brighton Ave (the original Rosemont Market building) where they’ll be serving dinner Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (starting September 15th) in addition to holding their ongoing cooking class series.

We are happy to announce we are moving to the former Rosemont Market annex at 559 Brighton Avenue in early September. This new location will allow us to offer a better experience for our cooking classes with a beautiful bigger kitchen and a nice workshop area. We will also offer in our new location FRENCH DINING, every Tuesday and Wednesday night. The entire menu is house-made from the baguettes to the Chocolate Bomb Fondue. Originally from France it was important for me to share my enthusiasm and love regarding for French food.

Bravo Maine had been co-located with Ruby’s West End (website, instagram) at 64 Pine Street. Ruby’s itself has their own expansion news. They’ve started serving dinner Thursday through Sunday. Ruby’s is up for a liquor license at Monday night’s City Council meeting. You can take a look at their dinner menu on their website.

Belleville has announced that they are in the process of signing a lease for a production bakery space. The new space will enable them to expand their production capacity and “efficiently operate a sustainable business”. They will also be making some renovations to their Munjoy Hill storefront which will remain the primary retail space for the business.

We’ve severely missed baking for you all but are forever grateful for the time and space we’ve found to reimagine this bakery. Thanks in part to so many of you, we’ve rediscovered our joy and passion and are incredibly inspired to continue living out this dream.

Belleville plans to be closed for the remainder of August but will resume holding periodic pop-ups in September. When they reopen on North Street Belleville will be open 4-5 days a week for breakfast and lunch.

At some point in the future a second retail shop for Belleville may open at their new bakery.