With the changes in state regulation restaurants are evolving the services they offer. With that in mind Portland Food Map now maintains two lists to help you decide where to eat:
Please let me know if you know of any establishments in Portland that may be missing from either list.
A growing number of Maine breweries including Allagash andd Bissell Brothers are participating in the Black is Beautiful international beer collaboration project. They are joining 800+ breweries from 50 states and 13 countries in producing a beer recipe developed by Weathered Souls Brewing in Texas.
Maine breweries participating so far are Allagash, Atlantic, Austin Street, Bissell Bros, Blaze, Definitive, Fogtown, Mast Landing and Orono. Check with the individual breweries on their release schedule and the local organization to which they’ll be donating proceeds to.
Maine Food for Thought has published their recent panel discussion on Maine food history.
On the panel were Steve Bromage, Don Lindgren, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Sandy Oliver and Darren Ranco.
The Forecaster has a report on the pandemic’s impact on restaurants in South Portland and more broadly in Maine.
“It’s been devastating.” That’s how Craig Dilger, owner of Foulmouthed Brewing in South Portland, described the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on local restaurants. This week, Gov. Janet Mills issued new orders allowing restaurants in Cumberland, York and Sagadahoc counties to once again offer indoor dine-in seating, but since local restaurants haven’t been allowed to do so since March, the damage may already be done.
Silly’s will be returning to Washington Ave in the space that was the home to Simply Vegan by Silly’s, 68 Washington Ave.
The Silly’s facebook page features a picture of a mixer making cake batter with the caption “Coming Soon!” Needless to say, the response from Silly’s fans has been enthusiastic.
Silly’s went out of business last year. Their former building is currently under construction and will be the new location of Terlingua.
Owner Michael Vassallo has decided to close his West End business, The Cider House, permanently.
The Cider House is closing for good. We were poised to have a really strong summer to tide us over the winter months, but that’s not in the cards now and we can’t see a viable path forward.
You can see a list of the food businesses and events that have permanently closed on our Pandemic Casualty List.
Eat Well magazine has recently hailed Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner as one of their 2020 Food Heroes.
This year, the company expects its 24 farmers to harvest 550,000 pounds of kelp, up from 220,000 last year and just 30,000 in 2018. And in this case, bigger is better: the more kelp Warner sells, the more the ocean (and air) benefits and the more successful Maine lobstermen are. But Atlantic Sea Farms’ big coming-out party happened this past spring, when national salad chain Sweetgreen hired James Beard award-winning chef David Chang to create a sweet potato and kelp bowl for its menu.
If Warner’s name sounds familiar but you just can’t place it, it might be because she ran a bakery, Maine Pie Line, when she first moved to Maine.
Update: A combined outdoor/indoor dining list has been published. This page is no longer being kept up to date.
The Governor’s office has announced that restaurants can resume indoor dining in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties as of Wednesday.
The Mills Administration announced today that indoor dining in Androscoggin, Cumberland, and York counties can voluntarily resume on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 with added health and safety protocols outlined in the COVID-19 Prevention Checklist. The decision to allow inside dining in these three counties follows a plateauing of new cases in recent weeks, based on the 14-day moving average, as well as the stabilization of hospital rates in the same counties. Previously, only outside dining, takeaway, and delivery services were permitted at restaurants in these three counties. With this change, restaurants statewide will now be open to both inside and outside dining with added health and safety precautions.
Restaurants have started announcing plans to restart indoor dining:
In addition to the (now sold out) multi-baker cookie box Bakers Against Racism initiative, several other Portland area bakers have announced their own Bakers Against Racism efforts:
Bakers Against Racism is taking place in Mid-June in cities all around the world with thousands of bakers from hundreds of cities taking part.
Chef Cara Stadler and her business partner/mother Cecile Stadler opened Zao Ze Cafe and Market (instgram) yesterdsy in Brunswick.
Zao Ze serves “Asian street foods, with a focus on breakfast and lunch”. You can see the menu and order online. It has an open air seating area in the Tao Yuan parking lot.
Shown here is the Drunken Lamb Rou Jia Mo sandwich made with Shaoxing and Baiju braised lamb and kimchi on a sesame bun.