10 Essential Bars of Portland

| Posted in Reviews

Wine Enthusiast has published their list of the 10 Essential Bars in Portland, Maine.

Portland has entered a modern drinking era, where luxe cocktail bars sit alongside classic, beloved breweries and a new generation of drink makers expand the local palate. We tapped the industry professionals creating this infectious energy around Portland’s drinking scene for their picks of the best bars in town. 

The list features: Room for Improvement, Lambs in South Portland, Maine & Loire, Regards, Papi, The Jewel Box, Bubba’s Sulky Lounge, Blyth & Burrows, Five of Clubs, and Maine Beer Company in Freeport.

Crafted Conversations Series

| Posted in Events

Five of Clubs at the Longfellow Hotel is launching an event series featuring local brewers and distillers. It’s kicking off this Thursday with Shahin Khojastehzad who will be there to talk about his business Handshake.

The series will take place the second Thursday of every month. Here’s the upcoming schedule:

Sissle and Daughters Cafe Closing

| Posted in Closings

Owners Mary Chapman and Will Sissle have announced they’re closing the Sissle and Daughters (website, facebook, instagram) wine bar, market and cafe in Woodfords Corner. The announcement shares “The circumstances of this closure have come on suddenly, and are deeply personal.”

It goes on to say,

We cannot express how much we have loved serving the Woodford’s Corner neighborhood for the short period that we were a part of it; your enthusiasm for the space, the food and the community was palpable every day.

REST ASSURED, Sissle & Daughters Cheesemongers at Washington Ave is stronger than ever! We are honored to continue to serve you there, and look forward to having Mary back on our cheese counter! (Welcome home, Mary ❤️)

The Woodfords location opened for business on November 1, 2024. It’s last day in business will be February 22nd.

Fresh Approach Market

| Posted in General News

The Bollard reports that Fresh Approach Market is at risk of closing due to an administrative issue that’s impacted their ability to process food stamp EBT transactions.

Federal authorities have pulled the food-stamp retail license of a mom-and-pop neighborhood market in Portland’s West End due to what appears to be an administrative snafu at the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s office is attempting to rectify the situation, but without a speedy resolution, the market’s owners say they may not make it through the month.

Fresh Approach is located at 155 Brackett St. They’re open Monday through Friday, 8 am – 7 pm, Saturday 9 am – 7 pm, and Sunday 9 am – 5 pm.

Update: A GoFundMe has been launched to raise funds to help Fresh Approach while they regain their ability to process food stamp transactions.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Monday – Friends & Family is hosting an olive oil tasting with Tenuta di Spannocchia. Chef Christine Lau will be collaborating with Bar Futo on a Lunar New Year dinner.

Tuesday – Chef Christine Lau will be collaborating with Crispy Gai on a Lunar New Year dinner.

Wednesday – The University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Falmouth is offering ServeSafe certification classes throughout the spring.

Thursday – Five of Clubs is kicking off their Crafted Conversations series. Shahin Khojastehzad from will talk about his business Handshake and the bar will have a custom cocktail that features his Persian amaro. Devin Finigan from Aragosta⁠ will be the guest chef at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner. Prairie Baking and Belleflower Brewing are collaborating on a 4-course beer and pastry pairing event.

Friday – Tandem Coffee is restarting their weekly coffee cuppings this week. Sign-up for a free. “You’ll learn about the process that we use to evaluate coffee as our barista guides you step by step through the experience. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions and learn a thing or two about your own palette.”

Valentine’s Day – drop us a line if you know of a Valntine’s Day special menu that isn’t yet on the list below.

February 28 – Kashas Kitchen is serving a Polish Dinner in Kittery.

March 1-12 – Maine Restaurant Week is taking place.

March 2 – Sara Jenkins, Dustin Martin, and Lauren Radel from Nina June will be the guest chefs at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner.

March 6-8 – The traveling Edgar Allen Poe Speakeasy will be in Portland for three nights.

March 11 – Barak Olins and Atsuko Fujimoto are the featured guests at a Maine Voices Live event at One Longfellow Square.

March 23 – The Casco Bay Chef’s Association is holding their annual dinner.

May 17 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

May 30 – June 1 – The Maine Fungi Fest is taking place.

September 14 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

September 19-21 – The Common Ground Country Fair is taking place in Unity.

October 12 – The Maine Open Creamery Day 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.

Maine Food & Dining: Wells, Bath, Freeport, Brunswick, Camden, Northport, Wiscasset

| 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:

  •  Alex d’Emarese and Tiffany DeMartino have leased the former Drake’s Island Cafe building at 2073 Post Road in Wells where they plans to open the Baker Bru Cafe (instagram). Renovations are already underway with the hope of launching by the end of March. The completed 2,400 sq ft counter service cafe will seat 30. d’Emarese and DeMartino will serve house-made pastries, meat pies and quiches as well as açaí bowls, breakfast bowls, and breakfast sandwiches. For drinks they’ll have 6 different types of smoothies, specialty coffee drinks and a collagen boosted hot chocolate. d’Emarese’s first venture was Baker Bru which had opened in North Berwick last March. Baker Bru Cafe will be open Tuesday through Sunday, 7 am – 3 pm.
  • Brunswick-based Reverie Coffee has a second location under development at 9 Park Street in Bath. The 1,500 square foot space (three times the size of their Brunswick cafe) will have a similar design and feature a gated children’s area as well as a section with tables and more casual couch seating and a larger retail area selling Maine made products and art. In addition to the coffee, tea, and baked goods served in Brunswick, owner Hannah Josselyn. plans to offer more savory food options to the menu like rice bowls, sandwiches, salads and eventually have savory and sweet waffles. Josselyn is planning to use the Bath location to host community events like book readings and to partner with the Bath Run Club on outings to the nearby Thorne Head Preserve. The new Reverie is part of a mixed use development in a former hospital building. Renovations are well underway and Josselyn hopes to open the new cafe by the end of February. Reverie initially got its start as a food truck and their Brunswick coffee shop opened in January 2024.
  • The King’s Head Pub is opening a second location in Freeport in the former Jameson Tavern (photo on right) building. Renovations are underway with hopes of opening sometime in April or May. The King’s Head in Portland opened in the summer of 2014. The Jameson Tavern closed this past November and at the time owner Tom Hincks was considering reopening in Windham.
  • The Bowdoin Orient has published an article about Pomelia, the popular new Sicilian-inspired restaurant that opened recently in Brunswick.
  • Down East magazine has published an article about Buttermilk Kitchen in Camden.
  • The Pen Bay Pilot has published an update on the new Spark Bagel cafe that opened recently in Northport.
  • Panacea (website, instagram) opened in Wiscasset this past weekend. The quartet of photos (above left) are from our visit on their opening day and show the clam chowder (bottom right) and mushroom and seaweed chowder (upper left). Panacea is open Friday through Monday, 11 am – 4 pm.
  • Portland-based culinary shop Skordo has announced plans to open a second location in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
  • The Times Record reports that Seafoam Cannabis owner Richard Petron is opening Liberty Pizza in the space next to his Wiscasset Seafoam shop on Route 27. Liberty Pizza expected to open on February 14th.

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

Za Coming to Preble Street

| Posted in Under Construction

Jessica and Brandon Tenney, the owners of Truckin Pizza, are taking over the former Slab Sicilian Street Food spot on Preble Street where they plan to open a new restaurant called Za (instagram).

The restaurant will serve pizza by the slice and as whole pies as well as sandwiches, salads, sides, appetizers and desserts. Their What the Dill Pizza is topped with house-made ranch and sour pickles, fresh dill, potato chips, red onion and mozzarella. A popular item from their salad list is a Roasted Beet Salad made with blueberries, goat cheese, pomegranate molasses, vinaigrette, basil, watercress and pickled onions.

The bar menu will offer wine, local draft beers, cocktails on tap from local distilleries, signature cocktails and spirits from Wild Bevy Distilling in Wells. The Za bar menu will also feature house-made non-alcoholic cocktails, local sodas, and sparkling water.

The Tenneys both hail from Maine. Brandon Tenney is a Culinary Institute of America graduate and worked in NYC before moving back to Maine. Jessica Tenney has worked in restaurants and in wedding and event planning. They each have 25 years of experience in the restaurant and event industries.

This is a dream come true for Brandon and I. This opportunity came and we just knew we couldn’t pass it up. It feels like a full circle moment for us after spending over two decades each working in the restaurant and event space in and around Portland. We are so grateful for all the love and support we have received with Truckin’ Pizza. Everyone kept asking if we had a brick and mortar and where they could find more of our food in Portland that it just seemed like the natural next step.

The Tenneys launched Truckin Pizza in 2022. In addition to providing catering for weddings and other events, Truckin Pizza also operates a food truck at Wild Bevy where they serve dishes like poutine, Tuscan artichoke salad and mac and cheese.

They hope to open Za for business this spring, and plan to use the large outdoor space to host live music and other events during the warmer months.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Saturday – Adrian Arvizu from Big Tree Hospitality⁠ will be the guest chef at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner.

February 10 – Friends & Family is hosting an olive oil tasting with Tenuta di Spannocchia. Chef Christine Lau will be collaborating with Crispy Gai on a Lunar New Year dinner.

February 11 – Chef Christine Lau will be collaborating with Bar Futo on a Lunar New Year dinner.

February 12 – The University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Falmouth is offering ServeSafe certification classes throughout the spring.

February 13 – Devin Finigan from Aragosta⁠ will be the guest chef at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner. Prairie Baking and Belleflower Brewing are collaborating on a 4-course beer and pastry pairing event.

Valentine’s Day – drop us a line if you know of a Valntine’s Day special menu that isn’t yet on the list below.

February 28 – Kashas Kitchen is serving a Polish Dinner in Kittery.

March 1-12 – Maine Restaurant Week is taking place.

March 2 – Sara Jenkins, Dustin Martin, and Lauren Radel from Nina June will be the guest chefs at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner.

March 11 – Barak Olins and Atsuko Fujimoto are the featured guests at a Maine Voices Live event at One Longfellow Square.

March 23 – The Casco Bay Chef’s Association is holding their annual dinner.

May 17 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

May 30 – June 1 – The Maine Fungi Fest is taking place.

September 14 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

September 19-21 – The Common Ground Country Fair is taking place in Unity.

October 12 – The Maine Open Creamery Day 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.