Under Construction: Outlier’s Eatery

| Posted in Under Construction

Outlier’s Eatery (Facebook, Twitter), the restaurant under construction on York Street, has filed for a liquor license application. The restaurant hopes to open sometime in March. According to owner Peter Verrill’s cover letter,

The menu will consist of locally harvested, organic food. The beer will be almost 100%  from Maine brewers. Whenever possible, we will use Maine distilled liquors. Our coffee will be organic and fair trade. In short, Outlier’s Eatery will be a fine dining bistro offering the West End healthy and sustainable farm to table products.

A draft copy of the menu is available online (page 23). Chef Jonathan Dexter will be running the kitchen, he’s formerly worked at Street & Co. and at Hugo’s.

Tivi Design, which designed and built the bar at Grace has been hired to handle the interior design. Take a look at Outlier’s Facebook page for an extensive set of photos of the restaurant.  Eater Maine has some additional details on the interior design.

outliers_floorplan

Hush Hush #3

| Posted in Under Construction, Events

hushhush3Map & Menu has posted a field report from last night’s Hush Hush event, the monthly cocktail and tasting party organized the Portland Hunt and Alpine Club. This month’s cocktails featured the Fernet Branca line of products and were accompanied by some very delicious eats from chef Chris Gould.

Tonight, Meredith and I enjoyed a private peek into part of Portland’s food and cocktail future with a sampling of two future area establishments, and I’m happy to report that the town seems to be in good hands.

My personal favorites from the night were the Saffron Sour (Fernet Branca, Royal Rose Saffron, egg white, and lime juice) and the Yellow Fin Vetresca (slow cooked yellow fin with preserved orange, Anaheim pepper and celery leaves).

Both Portland Hunt and Alpine and Chris Gould’s new restaurant are slated to open later this year.

Photo Credit: Map & Menu

Under Construction: Enio’s

| Posted in Under Construction

The Forecaster has published an interview Bob and Laura Butler about their new restaurant, Enio’s. According to the article, the Butlers hope to open Enio’s sometime next week.

Located in the former Buttered Biscuit, Enio’s is named after Laura Butler’s father. The restaurant, with a Tuscan flair, will be a return to the greater Portland dining scene for the Butlers.

“I’m sure it will be like riding a bike for us,” Laura Butler said. “We were familiar with the building and neighborhood, and I think Portland is saturated.”

The couple operated Rachel’s, first in the Old Port and then on Woodford Street for 15 years.

Bartender Interview: Alison Hartford

| Posted in People

Dispatch has published an interview with Alison Hartford who tends bar at The Grill Room.

What’s your favorite drink to make? “It’s made with Hendricks gin, St. Germain, muddled lime and rosemary, and blood orange puree, topped with soda water. I like making mojitos, too. I tend to not get a lot of specialty cocktail orders, so I’m all about providing good service.”

Figa’s Second Goodbye

| Posted in Closings

The Golden Dish has published details from his recent meal at Figa and owner Lee Farrington’s announcement that she’s closing up the restaurant for another few months until April or May to “regroup”.

Before we left I went up to Lee to say how much we enjoyed dinner and glad that she was back. 

But then she dropped her bombshell.  Figa would be closed again, this time for about two months.  She still needed to rethink her concept, tidy up her home life and figure it all out.

I didn’t understand.  If it ain’t broke why fix it?

Food Law Colloquium Report

| Posted in Events

The Portland Phoenix has published a report on last weekend’s food law colloquium.

Do front-yard gardens and backyard chicken coops, as leading symbols of our thriving food movement, deserve First Amendment protection, much as black armbands did during the Vietnam War? Does a focus on “food miles” distract from the urgent need to reduce the greenhouse gases agriculture emits as we strive to feed a world population of 9 billion by 2050? Should the government mandate vegetable consumption — just as New York City and others have enacted bans on Big Gulps and trans fats?

Bar Review of Blue Spoon

| Posted in Reviews, Beer

Today’s Press Herald includes a bar review of Blue Spoon,

If you have the chance and get there at the right time, I would highly suggest trying this bar for brunch. The steak and eggs plate I ordered was absolutely delicious, as was Melissa’s eggs benedict.

If Blue Spoon is busy whenever you’re able to drop in, be patient. It’s worth the wait.

and the latest installment of the What Ales You column.

Under Construction: David’s & The Porthole

| Posted in Under Construction

Chef David Turin tells me he’s working to launch a Kennebunk location of David’s and a David’s Opus Ten. He hopes to have the new restaurants open sometime in May. That will make for a total of five David’s restaurants in three cities.

According to an article in today’s Press Herald, The Porthole is under new management and is scheduled to re-open this spring.

Ken McGowan, whose family owns Custom House Wharf, said he will own and manage the Porthole Restaurant and Pub.

“It will be run to every inch of the health code,” McGowan said Tuesday. “I’m not skimping on anything.”