Under Construction: Hilltop Coffee Moving

| Posted in Under Construction

Hilltop Coffee (facebook) is moving from it’s present location next to Rosemont Market on Munjoy Hill to 100 Congress Street, the former home of Bar Lola. This will be the 2nd move for Hilltop. It was originally located at 99 Congress, the current home of Willa Wirth.

Hilltop is owned by Guy and Stella Hernandez. The pair recently shutdown Bar Lola and are working on a new restaurant project that will open next year.

In additional coffee news, the Coffee by Design building on Washington Ave is available for lease. CBD has moved their roasting operation from that building to East Bayside and will soon be opening a coffee shop in that neighborhood as well.

Holiday Oyster Advice & the Winter Farmers Market

| Posted in General News, Events

This week’s Portland Phoenix provides advice on making oysters part of your holiday party,

To successfully shuck your own oysters, you’ll need an oyster knife ($10), available at the seafood market where you purchase your oysters. Above all, be careful. Shucking oysters is supposed to add to a holiday party, not interrupt it with an emergency-room visit. Wash your oysters well to remove the grit on the shells. Use the tip of the oyster knife to pry open the two shells of the oyster at the hinge using leverage, not brute strength. Watch a few videos online to get the basics, and practice your technique until you’re shucking with ease.

and an article about the new East Bayside location for the winter farmers market.

This winter, the Portland Farmers’ Market will be in a new location in a neighborhood known for its food and beverage businesses. It won’t be the first time the farmers’ market has moved to complement the growth of an area. In 1990, the Wednesday market moved from Federal Street to Monument Square to counteract the loss of the Porteous department store (where the Maine College of Art is now). It makes sense now that the winter farmers’ market is moving to East Bayside, Portland’s most up-and-coming neighborhood.

Both articles are by Blueberry Files author Kate McCarty.

Update: for additional reporting on the winter market see this article in the Bangor Daily News.

Mainely Wraps & Daily Greens Opening Today

| Posted in Openings

mainelywraps_logoMainely Wraps (website, facebook) will open their Portland cafe at 339 Fore Street in Boothby Square today. This will be the 3rd location for Mainely Wraps which also has shops in Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough. Mainely Wraps was founded by Rich & Naphtali Maynard.

In separate news, Bangor Daily News reporter Kathleen Pierce has tweeted that Daily Greens, will also be opening today in the Public Market House. Presumably this is the much improved name of Azure, the new salad booth that’s been under construction since late August at the Public Market House.

Sergio Ramos, Tequila Sommelier

| Posted in People, Distilling & Cocktails

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about Sergio Ramos, the certified tequila sommelier and managing partner at Zapoteca.

The beverage formerly inspiring the cry “let’s do shots” is now a top-shelf contender. In a corner restaurant in Portland, one man is doing his part to bring tequila to its richly deserved prominence.

“I’m a defender of the spirit,” said Sergio Ramos, who notes he is one of only four tequila sommeliers in the country.

Maine Shrimp Season Cancelled (Updated)

| Posted in Fisheries

The Bangor Daily News is reporting that regulators have cancelled the 2013-2014 Maine shrimp season.

Northeastern regulators shut down the Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery for the first time in 35 years Tuesday afternoon, worried by reports of what researchers called a fully “collapsed” stock that could be driven to near extinction with any 2014 catch.

Update: You’ll also want to read the article in Wednesday’s Press Herald.

Karen Kay Geary, 68 (Updated)

| Posted in Beer, People

The Beer Babe has posted an article about the passing of Karen Kay Geary, co-founder of D.L. Geary Brewing.

Notably, Karen was the first female brewery owner in Maine, and among the first in New England and the U.S., after prohibition. Author and beer historian Tom Acitelli commented that, “To be a woman involved in craft beer in the early/mid-1980s was to be in rare company; it was, like the larger brewing industry, very much a man’s world on both the consumer and business sides.” I, for one, would like to thank her for being a pioneer in the early days and paving the way for those that came after her in craft beer. I hope you will join me in raising a toast in Karen’s honor.

Update: For more information see the article in Wednesday’s Press Herald.

555’s New Private Dining Room

| Posted in Openings

2013-11-25 555 Private Dining ©Jeff Roberts Imaging (8)

Five Fifty-Five created a beautiful new private dining room on the 3rd floor of their building. The room can be set up in a number of different configurations and seats a maximum of 30-35. A projection screen is available for business presentations.

There are only a handful of private dining rooms in Portland and so this space begins to address that need. Hopefully some of the other restaurants in town also follow Five Fifty-Five’s lead.

For more information on the room contact Sarah Allenby, Five Fifty-Five’s manager of marketing and events at sarah@fivefifty-five.com.

Photo credit: Jeff Roberts Imaging

2013-11-25 555 Private Dining ©Jeff Roberts Imaging (12)

2013-11-25 555 Private Dining ©Jeff Roberts Imaging (7)

2013-11-25 555 Private Dining ©Jeff Roberts Imaging (11)