Cafe Louis (instagram) the new South Portland restaurant by Eaux chef/owner Evan Richardson along with business partner Ben Ferri is scheduled to open today.

Cafe Louis will serve brunch and coffee during the day (8 – 3) and dinner (5 – 10). The menu is inspired by Richardson’s family from Costa Rica and Honduras with dishes like Ron Don (mussels, coconut, plantain, cassava, green curry, sourdough) and Fiddle Head Empanada (tat soi, cabot cheddar, garlic scape adobo) on the brunch menu.

Cafe Louis is located at 173 Ocean Street in the same neighborhood as Judy Gibson, BenReuben’s Knishery, Solo Cucina Market, Taco Trio (which is moving to larger quarters) and the soon to open SoPo Seafood store and oyster bar.

The indoor/outdoor rooftop bar Luna (instagram)  and street-level restaurant and coffee bar Salt Yard (instagram) will be opening with the launch of the new Canopy Portland Waterfront (website, facebook, instagram) hotel on Commercial Street at noon on Wednesday.

Located on the sixth floor overlooking Commercial Street, the 88-seat Luna features indoor and outdoor seating areas with views along Commercial Street and across the Old Port (see below). The menu includes a set of house cocktails and mocktails, wines and draft beers as well as small plate such as duck wings, burrata, spicy crab rolls and a selection of desserts. Luna will be open 4 – 11 pm seven days a week.

The 53-seat street level restaurant and coffee bar Salt Yard will initially open for breakfast and lunch (7 am – 2 pm) with dinner service to be added to the line-up later. Salt Yard will be serving coffee from Rwanda Bean along with house made baked goods and a menu that includes flatbread pizza, salads, soups and sandwiches and breakfast items.

 

Crispy Gai (website, instagram) is scheduled to open their new restaurant on Wednesday June 30th. Jordan Rubin (aka Mr Tuna) and Cyle Reynolds originally launched Crispy Gai as a pop-up takeout business last November. Now with its own full kitchen Crispy Gai will offer an expanded menu with dishes like wok fried water spinach, grilled lobster, grilled pork neck, and oysters served with fried shallot and Nam Jim seafood sauce.

The cocktail program will be led by bartender Arvid Brown with “tropical-leaning” drinks that riff off of the ingredients used in kitchen. The menu includes drinks   like the Bermuda Love Triangle (a tropical take on a gimlet that incorporates a lime leaf and lemongrass infused citrus cordial and a local coconut gin) and the Wave of Mutilation—a reference to a Pixies song from the 1980s—which is a Mai Tai-like drink that uses over proof rye whiskey, banana liquor and cashew orgeat.

The new Crispy Gai is located at 90 Exchange Street in the space formerly occupied by Eaux. It will be open Wednesday through Sunday, 4 – 10 pm.

 

The new and expanded Strata (website, instagram) culinary knife and kitchen store is scheduled to open this Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm.

Strata was founded by Evan Atwell in 2018, and was among the first wave of businesses that took up residence in the Black Box container retail spaces on Washington Ave. The new shop is located at 67 Washington Ave in the former Nissen Bakery Building.

Atwell will keep knives at the center of what Strata sells but will have a more diverse product selection including glassware, cookbooks, pasta making tools, traditional handmade Japanese ceramics and lacquerware, aprons, kitchen towels, etc.

Atwell also plans to offer in-person classes for knife sharpening, knife skills, and other topics in the future.