Vinland

| Posted in People, Profiles

The Maine Sunday Telegram features a check-in with chef/owner David Levi as his restaurant Vinland(website, facebook) approaches its 1-year anniversary.

It started slowly. Other restaurateurs had told him not to expect business to pick up until after the Fourth of July, but still, June dragged on. He shook up the menu with a new small plate theme – letting customers build a meal of any five plates for $60. He’d had good press in the Wall Street Journal in May. The cruise ships came in, but those passengers never seemed to make it up the hill. He decided to stay open on the 4th itself; other restaurants were closing, but if there were customers to be had, he resolved to take advantage. “It turned out to be a really big night for us,” he said. For the next couple of weeks, there would be sporadic bursts of business, huge nights on a Monday or Tuesday and then relative calm again. Then around the middle of the month, high season started in a big way. “Every night was a huge night until Labor Day,” Levi said.

Under Construction: Tiqa

| Posted in Under Construction

Tiqa, the restaurant under construction in the new Marriott on Commercial Street, has applied for a liquor license. As we reported back in August, Tiqa will be serving Mediterranean cuisine. Owners Deen Haleem and Carol Mitchell have included a description of the menu (page 63) in the materials submitted for review.

In total Tiqa will be able to seat 276 people: 57 in the lounge/bar, 35 on the patio, a 15 at the chef’s bar, 58 in the dining room and 111 in the private dining room. Haleem and Mitchell hope to open Tiqa in early next year.

tiqa_floorplan

Under Construction: Unwined

| Posted in Under Construction

A new wine bar calling itself UnWINEd is under development at 569 Congress Street. They plan to serve “local and imported fine wines, artisan craft beers, appetizers and petite plates.”

Here’s the concept as described by owner Jared Lawrence Rice in his liquor license application cover letter,

As Portland’s first bar-less bar, unWINEd will spotlight a relaxed atmosphere, with calming acoustic music, leather couches and scattered tables and chairs. Our Goal is to provide Portland with a calm, relaxing environment where people can gather and unWINEd.

Here’s the draft menu:

unwined_menu

 

Under Construction: Bao Bao

| Posted in Under Construction

baobao1Dedicated fans of chef Cara Stadler lined up on the sidewalk in the rain last night outside Bao Bao (facebook, twitter, instagram) for a table at the soft opening. Recipients of the email invitation were asked to “be prepared to show a copy of this email at the door” and to “please refrain from sharing this information with the press”.

A firm public opening date hasn’t been set yet.

Review of Caiola’s

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has reviewed Caiola’s.

A luscious chocolate cream filled a buttery pastry tartlet, slathered with the peanut butter sauce and pretzel streusel.  The ice cream was rich and creamy, but I was expecting to find chunks of pretzel in it but didn’t.  I learned they were ground to a fine powder and blended into the frozen custard base. That, I realized, was the undefinable flavor that I couldn’t pin point and the final, special touch to one of the best dinners I’ve had in months.

O’Maine Media Kitchen

| Posted in General News

The Business section in today’s Press Herald reports on O’Maine Studios and owner Rory Strunk’s current initiative to launch the O’Maine Media Kitchen.

Rory Strunk has built a successful outdoor sports-themed broadcast network, produced an Emmy award-winning television show and created content for such iconic brands as Absolut vodka. Now he wants to build a world-class kitchen studio in Portland that Maine’s food and beverage industry, restaurants and homegrown celebrity chefs could use to meet the growing demand for culinary-themed online video content.

For more information visit the O’Maine Media Kitchen Kickstarter page. Strunk has launched a crowdfunding campaing on Kickstarter to raise $65,000 for the project.

Interview with Kelly Nelson

| Posted in People

Shift Drinks has published a Q & A with Kelly Nelson from Piccolo.

Can you talk a bit about the relationship between a guest and someone who works in the front of the house?
…I have always seen it as a performance as I used to dance and act and my personality is distinct and strong. I found that over the years, I have come to be able to read what the customer wants. You gauge what is pleasurable for the diner and you can then provide whatever service you think would be best for them. Sometimes that means leaving them alone entirely. You give them their food, make sure everything is perfect, and you are a ghost. To the other extreme, you become part of the experience by performing and engaging them in discussion of food and drink. It becomes a full circle of experience between the human interaction and the pleasures of well-paired food and alcohol.

Review of Grace

| Posted in Reviews

Peter Peter Portland Eater has published a bar review of Grace.

I nibbled, crunched, and devoured every last crumb on my plate. Then I finished my drink. I wanted more, but by some miracle, I settled down and stopped ordering since I had somewhere else to be. My wife finished her sangria. We rejoiced. Even though we didn’t order much, everything we had was superb.