GoBerry posted a message on instagram yesterday that they “are sad to announce that at the end of September, GoBerry Portland will be closing”.
GoBerry is located at 399 Fore Street across from Gritty’s and right near the intersection with Exchange Street. They’ve been in business in Portland since October 2011.
The Bollard has published a breakfast review of the Blue Rooster.
The Blue Rooster is an excellent example of Portland’s reasonably priced, yet topshelf, eateries. With its menu of creative sandwiches that change seasonally, baconwrapped hot dogs and handmade tater tots, this tiny Old Port outpost has been my favorite local sandwich shop since it opened in 2013. Now that they’re also serving breakfast I can finally put that love into words and share it here in The Bollard.
The new issue of The Bollard includes an article on the closing of Mama’s CrowBar.
It might be easy to let a bar in a city full of them close without much acknowledgement, shrugging and muttering something like, “Oh well, guess that’s how business goes these days.” But Mama’s was not just a bar. This place had a significant impact on its rapidly changing neighborhood, on the landscape of craft beer on the peninsula, and on the community that gathered around its taps. And the CrowBar isn’t simply going out of business. Its closure is the culmination of a long and tangled legal battle between Henley and the building’s owners — which is a particularly painful way for a well-loved establishment to meet its demise.
Today is Mama’s official last day in business.
Update: the Press Herald published an article on Tuesday about Mama’s CrowBar.
Zagat has posted a video about their search for Maine’s Best Lobster Roll.
Monday — chefs Yana Gilbuena from the Salo Series and Dave Mallari from The Sinful Kitchen are collaborating on a Filipino brunch, and it’s the last day in business for Mama’s CrowBar.
Wednesday — the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Thursday — the first performance of Inside, Outside, Above, Below collaboration with Masa Miyake, aand there will be a wine and cheese tasting at the Public Market House.
Friday — Kate McCarty (aka Cake McParty) will be reading from her new book Distilled in Maine and Steve Corman from Vena’s Fizz House will be serving drinks at the Maine Historical Society.
Saturday — LeRoux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting, and the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Sunday — Rosemont is serving a dinner at Winter Hill Farm in Freeport.
Roustabout x Tandem — Roustabout will be serving a pop-up dinner at Tandem Bakery on September 17th.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.
A new Chinese restaurant named Pia Shang Sichuan Kitchen is now under construction in the former Anna’s Used Furniture & Collectibles at 612 Congress Street opposite the State Theater. Owners Qi Shen and Qiong Fang Tan have applied for a full liquor license. Pia Shang will occupy 2 floors of the building with the kitchen and a second dining room on the 2nd floor.
The draft menu (page 51) supplied with the liquor license application includes items such as Pork in Lychee Sauce with Crispy Rice, and Boiled Fish Slices in Fiery Sauce.
The owners hope to open the restaurant this Fall.
See the PFM Under Construction page for list of other restaurants currently under development.
A new African restaurant called Chez Okapi is under construction at 249 Saint John Street in the space formerly occupied by Taqueria Tequila. Owner Raphael Kabata has applied for a full liquor license.
You can see a copy of the draft menu on pages 65-66 of the City Council meeting materials.
Kabata hopes to open Chez Okapi later this Fall.
The Veranda Group has applied for a liquor license for the new restaurant they have under construction on Commercial Street. The Veranda Noodle House will be located in the former Salt Exchange space. Owner Hai Pham plans to serve a mixed menu off Thai and Vietnamese dishes. You can see a draft menu on pages 29-33 of the City Council materials for Wednesday’s meeting.
There’s a front page report in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram on the serious shortage of qualified cooks to work in the state’s restaurants.
[Troy] Mains, whose kitchen must turn out 150 lunches and 200 dinners a day but is currently four cooks short, said he has interviewed people just out of culinary school who can’t cut an onion or bone a chicken.
“There’s a decline in cooks, not just the amount but the quality,” Mains said. “When I was up and coming in the restaurant business, I can remember a stack of 50 resumes in a folder of people who wanted to work, and now if I hire four cooks, one works out.”
Joe Ricchio has written an article for Dispatch magazine (page 40) listing the 20 or so restaurants he misses the most from the late 90s and early part of this century.
Mentioned in the article are Fresh Market Pasta, Mazza, Bandol, Haggarty’s, Go-Go Burger, Una, Perfetto, Village Cafe, Hu Shang, Carbur’s, Michaela’s, Ladle, Bodega Latina, G’Vanni’s, Portland Public Market, The Roma, Aubergine, Honey’s, Crab Louie, and Ruby’s Choice.
That era overlaps with when I first moved to the city, so many happy food memories….
The new issue of Dispatch also contains an interview with Alice Van de Water, bartender at Rosie’s (page 44).