Two area restaurants are providing free meals to those in need this Christmas:
Edible Maine has published an interview with Joe Robbins who is the chef at Bissell Brothers in Milo.
Chef Joe Robbins’ mission is proving that cultural preservation is not locked in the past by bringing contemporary indigenous cuisine to the front and center of Maine’s food scene – one plate at a time.
Cabana has announced that they’ll be closing their Middle Street bar and restaurant on December 31st.
Words are not enough to express how sad we feel to inform that Cabana will be closing its doors this December 31st of 2023. The reason behind our closure is due to unforeseen family health issues. As you all know family will always comes first and be our priority. Therefore, the founder and creator of Cabana, Rene has decided to step down and take over his family business and responsibilities. So, he will be passing his ownership to somebody else.
The message goes on to say that, “As of now, we don’t have any information about what the future holds for one eleven Middle Street.”
Cabana was launched in August of 2022 by René Emilio Peña.
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A board game bar and cafe called Another Round (website, instagram) is under development at 549 Congress Street in the storefront between Nosh and Regards.
Another Round will have around 250 board games available to play. Owner Harry Sultan hopes to have something for just about everyone with games for people playing in groups, in pairs and solo. Another Round will have classics like Monopoly (including the Portland edition) and Uno, games like Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride as well as perhaps less well known ones like Brass Birmingham, Scythe and Twilight Imperium.
Sultan envisions Another Round as “laid back place to relax with great games, specialty coffee, excellent beer, and a welcoming community”. The 36-seat cafe (see floor plan below) will have a variety of seating options including a bar, couches and tables for gaming and a banquette along the right wall. Sultan is working with Woodhull to designer buildout the 1,397 sq ft space. The interior is expected to make use of natural materials with wood running throughout the space accented by an abundance of greenery. He hopes to launch Another Round by the start of summer.
Another Round will be serving brewed and espresso-based coffees, local beers on tap, wine, a selection of cocktails as well as nonalcoholic options. Sultan hopes Another Round will eventually be roasting its own coffee, but he will initially be sourcing from independent Maine roasters and from Coffee Project New York. Another Round will also have a light food program including pastries for their morning coffee customers and light fare throughout the day.
Sultan (linkedin) attended the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies and has a background in digital media and audio/podcast production. He most recently worked as an executive producer at Food52.
Tuesday – La Gallera will be popping-up at Cabana. Coals is holding their 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Building contest.
Wednesday – it’s the opening day at Novel (website, facebook, instagram) located at 643 Congress Street.
Thursday – The Portland Harbor Hotel is holding an event featuring the children’s book Chowder Rules: The Story of an Epic Food Fight. Sacred Profane is serving a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner. The Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta will be screening Cup of Salvation a film about restoration of the Armenian wine industry—the Damariscotta River Grill and Bred in the Bone are both holding Armenian wine dinners after the movie. Oun Lido’s is popping up at The Jewel Box.
Friday – The Portland Museum of Art is screening the 4-hour movie Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros.
Sunday – The Harbor Bistro + Terrace is serving a 4-course Christmas Eve dinner.
Christmas
December 28 – Browne Trading is holding a caviar and champagne tasting.
New Year’s Eve – we’ll add special NYE dinners here as restaurants announce their plans.
January 1 – Shay’s is holding a New Year’s Day brunch.
January 5/6 – Roma Cafe is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the restaurant with a 5-course dinner with optional wine pairings.
January 8 – Marilou Ranta, the chef/owner of the Beard Award-winning restaurant The Quarry in Monson will be speaking at the Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta.
January 20 – Flanagan’s Farm in Buxton will be holding a Supper Club dinner featuring chef Adrian Arvizu from Big Tree Catering.
January 27 – Flanagan’s Farm in Buxton will be holding a Supper Club dinner featuring chef Christian Hayes from The Garrison.
February 10 – The Portland On Tap beer festival is taking place at the Cross Insurance Arena. Flanagan’s Farm in Buxton will be holding a Supper Club dinner featuring chef Krista Kern Desjarlais from Bresca and The Purple House.
February 18 – Flanagan’s Farm in Buxton will be holding a Supper Club dinner featuring chefs Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti from Chaval and Devin Finigan from Aragosta.
March 28 – Ballast will be hosting a murder mystery dinner.
June 10-16 – Portland Wine Week is taking place.
June 26 – Secret Supper (instagram) is holding a dinner in the Portland area.
June 29 – The 3rd Annual Mast Landing Wavy Days Festival is taking place.
August 30 – September 1 – Maine Apple Camp is taking place.
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Novel (website, facebook, instagram) is set to open this Wednesday. It’s located at 643 Congress Street near Longfellow Square. The combination bookstore, coffee shop and bar serves coffee (which they roast in-house), beer, mocktails, wine and cocktails along with baked good and quiche, pie and flatbread (see full menu below).
Owners Joshua Ames and Nate Donovan have partnered with The Green Hand bookshop to stock the shelves with a wide assortment of fiction and nonfiction books including a children’s section.
The ~50-seat space has a variety of seating options including standard tables, counters in the window a 7-seat bar, leather couches and even a pair of rocking chairs. Novel will be open Wednesday through Sunday, 8 am – 10 pm.
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Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a 4 star review of Quanto Basta.
Pizza toppings are locally inspired and seasonal, but the true star of each pie is the airy, chewy sourdough crust. When it’s baked to blistered perfection (as it usually is), English’s pizzas are superb. Don’t miss the bright, savory, olive-and-lemon-peel-topped Limone or the remarkably light Pizza Rossa, a vegan pie with an herby, sweet, raw tomato base. Appetizers like raw vegetables with bagna cauda, and lean bresaola topped with greens tossed in an insanely tasty preserved lemon vinaigrette are also worth ordering, especially with a glass of wine from the moderately priced, all-Italian list.
Owner Betsy English launched the Quanto Basta food truck in 2021. The Quanto Basta restaurant is located at 249 Congress Street and opened in July which is when the photos above were taken.
A new 50-seat bar called Leisure Time Cocktail Company (instagram) is under construction on Thompson’s Point. Leisure Time will feature draft cocktails and freezer cocktails using local ingredients and premium spirits. A future phase of the business will see Leisure Time expand into selling canned and kegged cocktails.
We are dedicated to using the science of botany and molecular gastronomy to make craft cocktails accessible to a wide audience while also adhering to the longstanding traditions of mixing a good drink you can sit back, relax and have fun with.
The Leisure Time food menu prepared by chef Emma Reed will include pierogis and hand cased hotdogs/sausages as well as a rotating selection of soups and salads. Vegan and gluten free options are expected to be on the menu.
Leisure Time is being launched by Kai Parrott-Wolfe and his business partner Matt Noyes. Parrott-Wolfe grew up on Peaks Island and after working at a number of NYC bars launched his own establishment in Brooklyn—the now closed Post Office Whiskey Bar. He returned to Portland in 2019 and has been working as the bar manager at Luke’s Lobster.
Leisure Time will be located in the back right corner of the building Bissell Brothers is in. The space was originally a Cellardoor event room and most recently was a Rwanda Bean cafe. Noyes and Parrott-Wolfe will be renovating the 1,400 sq ft space to add banquette and table seating and reconfigure the space behind the counter with equipment needed for the bar. They envision a space that is “a mix of 60’s lounge, your grandparents’ camp and a botanist’s lab” which is a “cozy space at lunch for professionals to do work or families from the children’s museum and a cocktail lounge at night to have snacks or dinner at before a show down at the Point.”
Parrott-Wolfe and Noyes hope to open Leisure Time this spring.
To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars, breweries, bakeries and other hospitality businesses in development visit the Portland Food Map Under Construction List.
Chocolats Passion (website, facebook, instagram) has won six medals from the 2023 Academy of Chocolate competition in London:
A total of six US-based chocolatiers won 16 medals in 2023.
Chocolats Passion recently moved into a new larger space at 175 Spring Street in the West End.
New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here a recent update from Lewiston, Biddeford, New Vineyard, and Camden about about new restaurants under construction: