Review of Mesa Grande Taqueria

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Mesa Grande Taqueria.

This 50-ish seat, affordable Mexican spot encourages diners to linger, enticing them with margaritas (stick to the rocks version), desserts like fudgy chocolate flan, and a range of savory dishes that are, unexpectedly, both scratch-made and high-quality. Barbacoa, carnitas and grilled chicken are all prepared with skill. Ask the well-trained staff for suggestions, and they’ll guide you, recommending smoky pulled pork and beef in the soft tacos, and the grilled chicken in the quesadilla.

Maine Food & Dining News: Winthrop, Brunswick, Camden, Alna

| Posted in Maine

New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

Best of 2024 Winners

| Posted in General News

Portland Old Port has released the list of award winners from their Best of 2024 readership survey. Dozens of categories run the gamut from Best Bar (The Great Lost Bear) to Best Veggie Burger (Totally Awesome Vegan Food Truck).

Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who voted for Portland Food Map, with your help we won the Best Blog/Website category.

LB Kitchen at Rock Row

| Posted in Under Construction

LB Kitchen (website, instagram) has announced plans to open a second location at the Rock Row (website, facebook, instagram) Medical Campus in Westbrook. Owners Bryna Gootkind and chef Lee Farrington hope to launch the new LB Kitchen (instagram) in January.

The 600 sq ft cafe kiosk will be offering pre-packaged versions of the grain, salad and breakfast bowls, sandwiches, and wraps that LB Kitchen in known for. The new location will also serve tea, functional beverages and have a full brewed coffee and espresso bar. Notably, the new LB Kitchen will also be offering new dishes that align with nutritional recommendations from the New England Cancer Specialists and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

LB Kitchen co-owner Bryna Gootkind shared this statement about the new venture,

LB Kitchen’s focus on functional food means looking at ingredients and what they do in our bodies. This lens is helpful in detaching any preconceived value systems from food and ideas that often originate from diet culture and trends. Instead we keep it simple by asking: what can the power of food do for us and how can we make that experience nourishing, delicious and fun…For us, this location is a natural extension of our brand, continuing our focus on how our food is part of a well-being regimen and now more specifically part of a healing process for patients inside this innovative medical center.

Rock Row (website, facebook, instagram) is being developed by the Waterstone Properties Group. The Medical Campus is part of a 26-acre mixed use development located off Brighton Ave near the Portland/Westbrook line. The Medical Campus will be anchored by New England Cancer Specialists. RAYUS Radiology, Saco Bay Physical Therapy, Plastic & Hand Surgical Associates, The Dempsey Center and other organizations will also be located at the new campus along with LB Kitchen. It is expected to launch in early 2025.

Farrington and Gootkind launched LB Kitchen at 249 Congress Street in 2017 and moved into the cafe and market space at the corner of Smith and Congress Streets in early 2023.

To learn more about other new food and dining businesses under development visit our Under Construction page.

Winona’s in Camden

| Posted in Under Construction, Maine

A new restaurant called Winona’s (instagram) is under construction on Elm Street in Camden located in between Mosaic and First Fig.

Owners Devin Dearden and Hannah Adams envision Winona’s having “small wine bar vibes” and offering an ever changing seasonally-driven food menu. Dearden and Adams plan to serve a selection of small plates such as Cod en Papillote with tomato butter, mushrooms and daikon as well as Roasted Beets and Apples with smoked cheddar vinaigrette and pistachio. The bar program will include wine, beer, sake and sherry with both low intervention and more traditional wines represented in the list.

Dearden has been the chef at The Alna Store since the acclaimed restaurant launched in late 2022. He’s previously worked in Cambridge, New York, and in Portland where he was on the staff at Scales and Evo. Adams also works at The Alna Store and previously worked front of house in Portland at Little Giant, The Honey Paw, and Evo. Their time at The Alna Store saw the restaurant awarded 4½ stars by the Maine Sunday Telegram and honored as a James Beard Award semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category.

Adams and Dearden have started renovations and hope to open the 24-seat restaurant this fall. The restaurant will be located at 31 Elm Street in the space that was formerly occupied by Goods which closed at the end of May.

Photo Credit: photo courtesy of Winona’s

Slattery Joining The Alna Store

| Posted in People, Maine

Ben Slattery is joining the team at The Alna Store as their new chef de cuisine. Slattery has worked at a number of Maine restaurants and kitchens over the last twelve years including as the chef de cuisine at the short-lived Pigeons, and as a member of the opening team at Chaval. Slattery is also an experienced whole animal  butcher and worked at L.P. Bisson and Sons in Topsham.

A statement by Slattery reads in part, “My wife and I moved out of the Portland area 5 years ago looking for something that suits our small, growing family. The opportunity to work with the team at The Alna Store feels like a good stroke of fate and a continuation of that trajectory. I’m excited to bring house-made sausages and charcuterie to Alna, and to engage our MidCoast community with family-friendly events; pig or lamb roasts, harvest dinners, holiday celebrations and barbecues. Continuing the work of prioritizing and highlighting partnerships with local farms is super important to me. I’m really excited about the working farmer relationships Jasper and Brian have established over the last year and a half.”

Slattery will be joining a team that includes baker and pastry chef Kristen LaMontagne, sous chefs ​Clara Kazarov and Tyler Dalton, bar manager Charley Zimmerman and owners Jasper Ludwig and Brian Haskins.

The Alna Store was a 2024 James Beard Awards semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category. The Maine Sunday Telegram awarded The Alna Store 4½ stars and named TAS the Best New Restaurant of 2023.

Photo Credit: Photograph by Nicole Wolf

Yardie Ting Moving

| Posted in Under Construction

Yardie Ting (website, facebook, instagram) is moving to the first floor of the Public Market House where they’re taking over the space formerly occupied by Mr. Tuna.

The move will enable owner Shanna-Kay Wright and her team to serve an expanded menu. She expects to add additional seafood options and salads to the menu. Between the front window seating area and the counter that runs along the kitchen, Yardie Ting will initially have 20+ seats. Wright is also working on adding a table seating area and a small market.

Renovations to the 1,734 sq ft space is currently underway (above right) and Wright expects to launch the new Yardie Ting on Tuesday August 27th. Check the Yardie Ting instagram account to follow along with the renovations and relaunch.

Yardie Ting first moved into the Public Market House in 2019 (see below left). Shown below is a 2020 takeout meal of jerk chicken with mac and cheese, festivals and other sides.

To learn more about other new food and dining businesses under development visit our Under Construction page.

 

Gross Bakery Closing

| Posted in Closings

Gross Confection Bar has announced that they’ll be closing their daytime bakery on September 1st. The announcement reads in part,

The decision to close wasn’t easy, but staffing shortages have made it increasingly difficult to keep things running smoothly. We’ve been battling this challenge since COVID, and unfortunately, it hasn’t improved over the past year.

While it saddens us to say goodbye, we’re not disappearing entirely! We’re excited to continue offering a few baked goods during the evening and plan to host bakery pop-ups on weekends from time to time. We’ll keep you posted on those sweet details as soon as we have them.

Gross Confection Bar’s evening dessert and cocktail bar will be unimpacted by this change. The Gross Bakery opened on July 4, 2019 (when the photo above was taken).

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Monday – 2Gether is holding their next Secret Table dinner at an as-yet-undisclosed farm in the Portland area.

Tuesday – The Best of 2024 Awards celebration is taking place at Portland House of Music—tickets are available online.

Thursday – Billy Hager and Hannah Buoye from Waxwing Bakery will be the featured chefs at the August taco night at Dandelion Spring Farm in Bowdoinham.

Sunday – Tender Table is holding its annual food music and art market in Congress Square Park.

August 21 – San Diego cocktail bar Mothership will be at Crown Jewel for a pop-up.

August 29 – Black Goat in Warren will be holding 4-course dinner in collaboration with Eve’s Cidery.

August 30 – September 1 – The Maine Apple Camp is taking place.

September 8 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

September 19 – Mrs. Gee Free Living and Sur Lie are collaborating on a gluten-free dinner.

September 20-22 – The Common Ground Fair will be taking place.

October 13 – The 16th Annual Open Creamery Day is taking place.

October 23 – Mrs. Gee Free Living and Sur Lie are collaborating on a gluten-free dinner.

October 24-26 – Harvest on the Harbor is taking place.

Planning a wedding, holding a business event, or hosting visitors from away? Our printed guides are a great resource to help your guests explore the Maine restaurant scene.
25-packs of the Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now available on our online store.

Gluten-Free Maine

| Posted in General News

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about gluten-free dining in Maine and a list of 100% gluten-free businesses.

In the 16 years since Maine’s first gluten-free bakery, Wildflours, opened in Brunswick, the options for those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance in Greater Portland have only grown. Back then, “gluten-free eating was still a bit of an anomaly,” as Wildflours website puts it. Today, though, whether someone on a gluten-restricted diet likes to eat out, enjoy a beer at a local craft brewery or snack on a special bakery treat, there are plenty of places where they can do so safely.