A Wave of Hard Seltzer

| Posted in General News

The Maine Sunday Telegram reports on the growing popularity of hard seltzer and increasing number of Maine-based producers.

In March, Sean Sullivan, executive director of the Maine Brewers Guild, took an informal survey of craft breweries to find out how many are making hard seltzers or planned to. The survey is already out of date. He now estimates that at least 20 Maine breweries make hard seltzer, and a handful of others are considering it.

When customers walk through breweries’ doors, Sullivan said, they always ask tasting room managers, “What do you have that’s new?”

“This summer, I think a lot of our brewers are answering that question with seltzer,” he said.

A New Home for A&C Grocery

| Posted in Under Construction

A & C Grocery (website, instagram) has leased 229 Congress Street where owner Joe Fournier plans to relocate his popular Washington Ave eatery. Fournier announced the intention/need to move to a new location back in early April and has been actively looking at space across the city since then.

Fournier plans to have the new A & C open by September and will run both locations in tandem through the remainder of the year. During those remaining months of 2021 the new location will be open in the evening while the original location will still serve the lunch crowd. In 2022 Fournier plans to expand the menu and offer indoor lunch counter seating. Stay tuned to the A & C instagram for more details on that as they come into focus.

As a prank Fournier has placed a sign in the window of 229 Congress Street (see above) that announces that a Starbucks will be opening this fall. People curious enough to scan the QR code at the bottom of the sign get taken to a video where he shares the good news about the new A & C.

229 Congress Street is located adjacent to Cocktail Mary; it was formerly occupied by Sip of Europe.

Smalls Coming to the West End

| Posted in Under Construction


A new cafe and market called Smalls (instagram) is under construction at 28 Brackett Street. Co-owner Samantha Knopf plans to offer “light fare, espresso and natural wine” along with pantry items, produce, flowers as well as art and wellness items.

Smalls will be serving Variety Coffee and will be sourcing baked goods from Lion’s Share Bread.

The owner taking the creative lead is Samantha Knopf. Samantha is a veteran of the NYC hospitality world as well as having had past lives as a birth doula, florist, potter, set designer and teacher before making Portland her home in the winter of 2019. With Smalls, she brings her love of food and curated eye for artisan objects to one location where she can invite the community to share in the taste she has cultivated. Smalls plans to serves and sell products sourced from small scale local producers and makers.

Knopf long with co-owners Arryan Decatur and Karl Deuben (both from East Ender) hope to launch early this fall.

158 & Hilltop

| Posted in People

The new edition of Mainer includes articles about the longtime owners of 158 Cafe and Bread & Butter Catering, Josh Potocki and Katie Schier-Potocki.

It’s fitting that 158 became a local favorite by feeding people sourdough bagels. That’s the type of bread you get when dough is leavened with the wild yeast floating in the air around us, not the lab-cultured, mass-manufactured baker’s yeast sold in stores. Sourdough also has local flavor, which is why San Francisco’s is famous; the yeast there has a distinctly strong sourness. Wild yeast is free yeast, funky yeast, freaky yeast. The sourdough starter still used to make 158’s bagels is almost old enough to legally drink. “It started as Luis and now has morphed into Luisa,” Josh said of this primordial dough. “She is all natural South Portland hybrid.”

Like Luisa, 158 must be kept alive. “If nothing else, keeping [158] open for the community as a safe haven, as a free-thinking space to come in this world, I think is very important,” Josh said, “because those spaces are becoming less and less, where it’s not controlled by some bullshit.”

and the new owners of the Hilltop Superette, Radhika Shah Patel and Sam Patel.

Because Sam’s vision is of what Hilltop can become once he and the team fully enhance and expand the store’s selection of groceries and prepared food, remodel the interior, redo the exterior, and add outdoor seating, among many other, smaller projects. His goal is to have everything done in time for a grand reopening party next spring. He’s already set the date, of course: May 21, 2022.

The Slow Return

| Posted in General News

The Maine Sunday Telegram reports on the bumps in the road as supply chains and staffing shortages impact a return to “normal”.

As vaccinations and the waning of the pandemic drive locals back to their favorite restaurants this summer, and tourists who have been set free from masks and social distancing flood the state, those diners probably won’t find the Maine restaurant experience to be the same as in 2019. Restaurants are now allowed to operate normally, but a severe shortage of workers, coupled with snags in the supply chain and rising food prices, are making that long-awaited return to normal difficult. One restaurateur likened the past couple of months to coming off “a 15-month winter.”

Restaurant Real Estate: July 2021

| Posted in Under Construction, Real Estate

Welcome to the July 2021 edition of the Portland Food Map restaurant real estate listings sponsored by The Boulos Company. This monthly column gathers in one convenient place the spaces available in Portland that could be potential sites for restaurants and food producers/retailers to locate their next business.

Even in these tough times for the hospitality industry some people are pursuing their dreams and opening new food businesses. Finding the right spot is one of the crucial early challenges in launching a new business and hopefully this new resource will make that step just a little bit easier.

West End

722 Congress St – the building that’s home to Yordprom Coffee and the soon to close Figgy’s is for sale for $650,000.

101 York St – a 15,000 sq ft sub-dividable space in the new building on the corner of York and High Street is available for $15-20/sq ft (NNN). The space already has a hood vent and grease traps installed.

Arts District

555 Congress St – the former Five Fifty-Five building is for sale for $2,400,000.

605 Congress St – a 1,180 sq ft space in the State Theater Building is available for $25-35/sq ft (MG).

Bayside

148 Anderson St – 3,000 sq ft in East Bayside located next to Tandem Coffee available for $17/sq ft (NNN).

170 Anderson St – 2,000 – 3,500 sq ft in East Bayside available for $15/sq ft (NNN).

15 Chestnut St – the 14,000 sq ft building that was the former home of Grace is for sale for $3,730,000.

84 Cove St – The 8,969 sq ft former Milk & Honey in Bayside is available for $13/sq ft (NNN).

360 Cumberland Ave – two spaces (900 sq ft on Cumberland Ave and a 1,000 sq ft space in a building set back from the street) are available for $24-25/sq ft (NNN).

31 Diamond St – this 2,800 – 22,034 sq ft industrial space in East Bayside is available for $16/sq ft (NNN).

178 Kennebec St – a new building under construction will have 1,800 – 5314 sq ft for lease at $30/sq ft (NNN).

23 Marginal Way – a 1,300 sq ft space in Century Plaza is available for $28/sq ft (NNN).

25 Portland St – 2 spaces in the Flat Iron Block (600 and 725 sq ft) ar available for $1,300 and $1,500/month respectively.

34 Portland St – the 4,256 sq ft building that was formerly occupied by Candy’s is available for $3,500/month.

24 Preble St – the 2,800 sq ft former home of Arcadia is available for $20/sq ft (NNN).

Old Port

1 Commercial St – the original location of Benkay at the corner of Commercial and India Streets is available. The 2,494 sq ft is for lease at $35/sq ft (NNN).

383 Commercial St – 4 street level retail spaces will be available (1,631 – 1,971 sq ft) at $28/sq ft (NNN) in a new building under construction at the corner of Maple and Commercial Streets.

30 Danforth St – 3 units (1,800, 1,881, 2,900 sq ft) are for lease at for $2,47 – $3,950/month (MG).

88 Danforth St – a 1,231 sq ft free standing building on Danforth Street is for sale for $320,000.

18 Exchange St – 1,800 sq ft of retail space for lease at $6,950/month (MG).

425 Fore St – The 2,94 sq ft former Five Guys space is available for $40/sq ft (MG).

446 Fore St – 1,600 – 3,400 sq ft in the former Pearl space with entrances on Wharf and Fore Streets is available for $30-40/sq ft (MG).

505 Fore St – The 2,996 sq ft former Pizzarino space is available for $24/sq ft (NNN).

40 Free St – A new building is under construction on Free Street by JB Brown. The first floor will have 4/5 storefronts ranging in size from 1,358 to 3,067 sq ft. The construction is expected to be completed in early 2021. The rate is $30/sq ft (NNN).

55 Market St – this 3,700 sq ft space on Market Street was formerly occupied by the Big Easy. It’s available for $24/sq ft (NNN).

111 Middle St – this 1,600 sq ft space has a storied past as the former location of Piccolo and before that Bresca. It’s available for $3,500/month (NNN), the building is also for sale.

28 Monument Square – the former Maine Squeeze juice bar in the Public Market House is for lease. Contact leasing@juicery.com for more information. Also, the second floor space formerly occupied by Sichuan Kitchen is available, call (207) 939-0980 for information.

66 Pearl St – the 5,796 space formerly occupied by Bull Moose is available for $15.75/sq ft (MG).

2 Portland Square – the turnkey former Walter’s is on the market. 3,219 sq ft for $28/sq ft (MG).

3 Portland Square – This new building will include 2,500 – 20,000 square feet of retail space for$28.50/sq ft.

3 Spring St – the 2,554 – 3,500 sq ft former Lio space is available at $19/sq ft (NNN).

India/Washington Ave

47 India St – the former Lois’ Market; 1,000 – 3,300 sq ft for $3,000 – $8,200/month (NNN).

100 Fore St – 2 retail spaces are available in a new building planned for Fore Street. 1,141 and 1,914 sq ft respectively, $27 – 30/sq ft (NNN).

Forest Ave

333 Forest Ave – a 2,468 retail space is available for $16/sq ft (MG).

701 Forest Ave – this former Rite Aid building is being converted and has 4 retail spaces available for $20-25/sq ft (NNN).

1190 Forest Ave – located right in the center of Morrill’s Corner. 3,000 – 5,082 sq ft at $12 – 20/sq ft (NNN).

1569 Forest Ave – a 1,400 sq ft “soon to be completed restaurant/retail building” is available on outer Forest Ave.

Other

170 Brighton Ave – a 2,173 sq ft former mini market is available for $20/sq ft (MG).

570 Brighton Ave – a 700 sq ft retail space available for $1,000/month (MG).

865 Brighton Ave – a 1,232 sq ft former gas station/quick market is for sale for $400,000.

1041 Brighton Ave – 1,500 -7,000 sq ft of space available in the strip mall that’s the longtime location of Panda Garden. The space is available for $10-13/sq ft (NNN).

441 Congress St – The 2,400 sq ft former home of Guitar Grave across the street from 1 Monument Square is available for $20/sq ft.

Westgate Shopping Center – two spaces are for least at $17-37/sq ft (NNN).

23 Lincoln St, Biddeford – a 12,600 sq ft space divided equally on two floors, each floor has a kitchen with hoods is available for $11/sq ft (NNN). Contact Tony Delois for more information at anthony@uncommongroups.com.

Other Spaces – some vacated restaurant spaces haven’t yet been formerly listed for by the owner. Check the closing announcements for the latest information.

Glossary

MG – Modified Gross which indicates that the operating expenses (taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.) for the property are included in the lease rate. The tenant would pay its own utilities, which sometimes includes heat.

NNN – Triple Net which indicates that operating expenses are not included in the lease rate, and the tenant will pay them separately. They are often referred to as CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges and taxes, which are expressed as $/sf. The tenant is also responsible for utilities.

Gross – Gross indicates all expenses including utilities are included in the lease rate. The tenant would be responsible for phone and internet access, as well as interior janitorial.

Apres Opened Last Night

| Posted in Openings

The East Bayside cidery and hard seltzer producer Après (website, instagram) opened for business Friday night. They’re serving house-made hard seltzers as well as beer and cider from other producers. They began fermenting their first batch cider this week.

Après is being launched by co-owners Ryan Houghton from the Hop Yard and Michael Cardente. Ian Goering, former head brewer at Tributary Brewing has been hired as the head of production at Après, and the operations manager Sarah Bryan—formerly with Schilling Beer—will manage front of house operations.

Apres plans to hold their official grand opening on Friday July 16th. They’re located at 148 Anderson Street.

Hi-Fidelity Beer in East Bayside

| Posted in Under Construction

PD Wappler and Dante Maderal have leased Unit 6 at 200 Anderson Street where they will open Portland’s newest brewery, Hi-Fidelity Beer (website, facebook, instagram). Maderal and Wappler are planning to launch with a 3 barrel system and intend on focusing on low ABV beers. They plan to serve their own house beers as well as a variety of liquid refreshment with non-alcoholic options such as coffee, tea, and house-flavored seltzer.

The tagline for Hi-Fidelity is  “our beer, your space”. They envision operating a tasting room that melds a traditional brewery tasting room and a public space that will appeal to the members of the Portland arts community.

Maderal was formerly a brewer at Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor, and Wappler is a musician. They hope to open Hi-Fidelity Beer by the end of this summer.

Cakes Extraordinaire Opens in Yarmouth

| Posted in Openings

The new Cakes Extraordinaire (website, facebook) opens today. In business since 1984, and located for many years on Brighton Ave, the bakery has relocated to Yarmouth.

Owner Steve Leeman tells me he’s really happy with his new location in the former Ice It Bakery space at 305 US Route 1.

The hours for the new shop are Tuesday through Saturday, 7 am – 5 pm.