2024 Portland Wine Week

The 2024 Portland Wine Week (websitefacebookinstagram) is taking place June 10 – 16 at various locations across the city. There are 50+ events and weeklong offerings on the calendar—be sure to check out the events in the Women in Wine track which are marked with an icon in the schedule at the bottom of this article. 

Listed here are some of the highlights, see below or visit the Portland Wine Week site to see  the full list of events.

Angoor to Open Today

Angoor Wine Bar (websiteinstagram) is set to open today at 3 pm. They’re located 100 Fore Street in a newly designed space in the same building as WEX and the Roux Institute. Angoor is being launched by Sangeeta Nasiff and Rafael Dones.

Angoor is a self pour wine bar. The wine list (see below) includes a wide range of options for customers to choose from. Once you’ve made a selection you can just walk up to one of the machines, and have it dispense a 2, 4 or 6 ounce pour. A personal ID card is issued to customers when they arrive which is used to digitally keep track and to assemble the final bill.

Angoor also has some food options. Shown above is a cheese and meat board which can customized by selecting from 7 cheeses, 4 meats and a few other items like gluten-free crackers, mixed nuts and marinated olives. The menu also offers empanadas, samosas, and desserts from Sugarcane and Two Fat Cats.

The stylish modern space offers bar, table and counter seating as well as a lounge area with upholstered chairs and sofas for a larger group to sit together.

Angoor’s hours are Wednesday/Thursday 3 – 9 pm, Friday 3 – 10 pm, Saturday noon – 10 pm, and Sunday noon – 7 pm.

 

Anjon’s Returning to Scarborough

Owner John DiSanto has announced plans to reopen Anjon’s Ristorante, the longtime Italian restaurant located on Route 1 adjacent to the Scarborough marsh.

Well it’s official the cat is out of the bag I am reopening Anjon’s Ristorante, I have missed it so much as much of you already know, and I wanna die there figuritively speaking and pass the legacy on to my family, I am shooting for a June 15th opening date it’s gonna be tough but I think I can pull it off, working with a shoestring budget so I am looking for help with money to paint the building, inside and out, new point of sale system, pave parking lot, pots, pans, dishes and glassware etc. etc.anyone willing to help me will get VIP treatment for reservations and seating plus your money back at the end of the summer, private message me if you can help, buon appetito manjard and just FUHGEDDABOUDIT

Anjon’s had been in business for more than 60 years when it closed in 2019.

Update: The opening has been delayed to mid-August.

2024 Pocket Guide Now Available

The 2024 Pocket Guide is now available. As in past years the guide highlights a cross section of the restaurants, bakeries, breweries, coffee shops, cocktail bars, and cafes that make eating and drinking in Portland so compelling.

Use the guide as a starting point for your ongoing exploration of the Portland and Maine food scenes. See the Portland Food Map directory for the full list of independent eateries in the city and the Maine Food Map list, and put together your own selection. We’d enjoy seeing your list and hearing about your eating adventures. If you have a moment, send us a copy of your set of favorites and new finds for us to consider for the next edition of the pocket guide.

Many thanks to the Pocket Guide sponsors! Their support is essential to making this resource available: Evergreen Credit Union, The Boulos Company, the Canopy by Hilton Waterfront, Wine Wise, Allagash Brewing Company, The Longfellow Hotel, and Vertical Harvest.

While supplies last you can pick-up a free copy of the guide at these local businesses: Tandem Coffee Roasters, Portland Trading Company, Allagash Brewing, Rose Foods, Oxbow Brewing, Onggi, Ugly Duckling, Bresca and the Honey Bee in New Gloucester, and at the Portland Yoga Collective.

Do you need a larger number of pocket guides for an event you’re holding or for your business? Starting this year, they’re for sale in packages of 25 on our online store. Please contact us if you’re from a nonprofit organizations or if you’re interested in volume discount pricing or have any questions about buying copies of the pocket guide.

One final note: The pocket guide wouldn’t be as good as it, in fact it wouldn’t exist at all, without the skills and contributions of graphic designer Sofija Razgaitis and of Dawn Hagin from Rare Bird Strategic. Congratulate them on their work the next time you see them.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

ThursdayThe Cheese Shop will be teaching a beer and cheese pairing class at Allagash.

SundayPo’ Boys & Pickles is holding a Crawfish Boil at Baxter Brewing in Lewiston.

June 10-16Portland Wine Week is taking place.

June 17 – The 3rd Annual ChopTails Competition will be taking place at Batson River.

June 22 – The Great Falls Brewfest is taking place in Lewiston.

June 29 – The 3rd Annual Mast Landing Wavy Days Festival is taking place.

July 25/26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.

August 3/4 – The Maine Wild Blueberry Weekend is taking place.

August 30September 1Maine Apple Camp is taking place.

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

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

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

Thai Tree Review

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a review of Thai Tree.

Cocktails like the bourbon-and-galangal Vogue and Thai-tea-based Open Your Heart are nods to the iconic pop star (as are all the boozy drinks on the cocktail menu). But you don’t need to be a Madonna fan to eat here. The food menu features some impressive cooking, most of which is prepared from scratch, like fragrant, well-spiced red curries; pad kee mao with wide, supple rice noodles, homemade brown sauce and torn holy basil; and delightful pandan-infused mango sticky rice.

Maine Food & Dining News: Waterville, Wiscasset

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

The Maine Food Map List

Over the last couple years we’ve road-tripped through all of Maine’s sixteen counties to see the state and explore Maine’s food and dining scene. While there’s still so much more to do in that regard, we’re pleased to introduce the Maine Food Map, a growing guide to notable coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other food and dining businesses from all around the state.

The list is a work-in-progress—just like the Maine restaurant scene itself—it will continue to grow as the new establishments come to light and as we work through our extensive backlog of businesses to write-up.

The Maine Food Map currently has 83 entries representing nearly 60 communities from all of Maine’s sixteen counties. We hope you can put it to good use this summer to plan your own eating and travel adventures in Maine.

Check the Maine Food & Dining column each week for a list of new additions, and please keep sending in your recommendations for places across the state that we should visit, share on social media and add to the list.