Restauranteur Tom Barr has submitted a liquor license application for Lazzari, a new Italian restaurant he has under development at 618 Congress Street, the former location of Mesa Verde. The space has been completely renovated and the kitchen now includes a wood-fired pizza oven.
Barr has submitted a draft menu (pages 156-157) with the application. Here’s a section of it:
Cheevitdee has submitted a liquor license application to the City Council. Cheevitdee is a Thai restaurant and is under construction at 363 Fore Street at the corner of Fore and Market Streets.
The materials submitted by owners Nuttaya Suriyayanyong and Darit Chandpen include a draft menu:
Austin Miller and Hannah Tamaki have applied for a liquor license for their new brick and mortar restaurant Mami. Miller and Tamaki have operated Mami Food Truck since June 2015 and this restaurant represents the next step forward for there business.
Mami restaurant will be located at 339 Fore Street in the former Mainely Wraps space. They hope to open this Spring.
Here’s a look at the draft menu for the restaurant:
A 35-seat Korean restaurant called Yobo under construction at 23 Forest Ave in the space formerly occupied by BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe has applied for a liquor license.
Owners Sunny Chung and Kim Lully plan to create an atmosphere that is “intimate and casual, with all the comforts of dining with good friends.” They formerly operated a farm to table restaurant in Concord, New Hampshire called Sunny’s Table. They hope to open Yobo in the April/May time frame.
here’s a look at a draft menu:
Today’s Press Herald includes the second installment in a series by Stella Hernandez on managing a wine list at Lolita,
Putting together our wine list for Lolita was the closest I’ve come to understanding what writers do. It’s less mechanical than you’d think. You have to choose your story line, craft that story, and then there’s the continual editing process. When I gave my first draft to a friend to review, I felt as if I were handing off my first novel. I had handed over something very personal.
and an article about the resurgence of local markets in Portland.
Now the Portland area is experiencing another little growth spurt. In December, Andrew and Briana Volk, owners of the Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, opened Little Giant, an upscale market in Portland’s West End that will complement the restaurant they plan to open next door. Just a couple of weeks ago, Pete Sueltenfuss opened a second Otherside location in the West End. And Joe Fournier, who worked at Rosemont for six years before becoming a partner in The Farm Stand, plans to open his own neighborhood grocery, A&C, on Washington Avenue sometime next week.
The Press Herald reports that Cafe Crepe is taking over the Public Market House space vacated by K. Hortons.
Lauren Brinkmann, owner of Café Crêpe in the Freeport Public Market, said she has considered opening a second location in the Public Market House three times, but she had hoped for a first-floor space. When the K. Horton’s spot opened up, she said, she jumped on it.
Chad Conley, co-owner of Palace Diner, has leased the former Brea Lu Cafe space at 428 Forest Ave where he plans to open a new restaurant serving breakfast and lunch. This new venture will serve a different menu from Palace Diner.
The building was the scene of a fire a year ago that displaced Brea Lu and other residents. It’s in the early stages of construction right now, and Conley hopes to open the restaurant this summer.
Urban Eye has posted an update on the A & C Grocery under construction on Washington Ave.
After nine years in the grocery business — he worked at Rosemont Market and was a founding partner at The Farm Stand in South Portland — he is ready to go out on his own with A & C Grocery. “I’ve been thinking about this concept for years,” said Fournier, who plans to open in two and a half weeks.
A & C Grocery (website, facebook), a “neighborhood one-stop grocery shop” is under construction at 131 Washington Ave.
A new Korean restaurant called YOBO is under construction at 23 Forest Ave in the space formerly occupied by BiBo’s Madd Apple Cafe. Yobo will serve “refined Asian comfort food with a rustic appeal” and feature wonderful boutique wines from small vineyards.” Owners Sunny Chung and Kim Lully plan to create an atmosphere that is “intimate and casual, with all the comforts of dining with good friends.”
Chung and Lully formerly operated a farm to table restaurant in Concord, New Hampshire called Sunny’s Table. They hope to open Yobo in the April/May time frame.
Redevelopment of the old Margarita’s on Brown Street into the Portland outpost of BRGR Bar continues with a recent proposal to add an outdoor deck and make renovations to the street signage and entrance.