Other Side Delicatessen owners Peter and Jessica Sueltenfuss have shared a draft menu (page 187) for their new venture, the Other Side Diner (instagram), as part of the liquor license application.
The Other Side Diner will be located at 500 Washington Ave, the space formerly occupied by Hella Good Tacos and Steve and Renee’s Diner.
The owner of Good News Coffee and Package, Michael Vassallo, has decided to change the concept of his business from a coffee and retail store to a cider bar.
The Cider House, located at 28 Brackett Street, will serve ciders from Maine and New England as well as from elsewhere in the US and from international producers along with a “compact tapas-style menu with a few larger items”. Vassallo plans to be open evenings as well as midday on the weekends.
Liz Koenigsberg and her husband chef Will Lavey, the couple who bought Blue Spoon last year, have leased the former Aurora Provisions building in the West End where they plan to open Blue Spoon Cafe & Catering.
Blue Spoon Cafe & Catering will be a casual breakfast and lunch cafe with coffee service and foods to go. It will also be a home base to expand Blue Spoon’s catering service.
Koenigsberg and Lavey shared that as former West End residents, they appreciate what role Aurora Provisions played as a community meeting place and want to open a cafe that bring that back to the neighborhood. They hope to open Blue Spoon Cafe & Catering in May.
Aurora Provisions went out of business last year and the property was bought at auction by real estate developer Tom Landry in January.
For additional information Koenigsberg encourages people to email her at info@bluespoonme.com.
Royale Lunch Bar (website, facebook, instagram) a new 25-seat cafe at 11 Union Street is slated to open for business at 8 am on Wednesday. The draft menu included pastrami sandwiches, reubens, roast chicken sandwiches, burgers, and grilled cheese.
Royale Lunch is owned by Garrett FitzGerald along with business partners Teagan Curry, Joe Farr, and Mike Willett. FitzGerald owns the Bar Harbor Lobster Company. His last venture in Portland was the Portland & Rochester on Preble Street.
As you read last month, Po’ Boys & Pickles on Forest Ave is opening a 2nd location. At the time owner Chris Bettera was keeping the exact address under wraps.
Bettera has now shared that he’s leased the former Federal Spice space in the Old Port at 225 Federal Street. Opening date for the new eatery is not yet set.
Photo courtesy of Po’ Boys.
A new food cart called Rebel Cheesesteaks (instagram) is under development and owner Peter Murphy hopes to be out on the streets of the Old Port sometime in early May.
Rebel will be serving a choice of “local shaved ribeye or smoky north spore mushrooms served on a 10” botto’s hoagie roll with philly cream cheese whiz choice of American, cheddar, mozzarella, pepper jack and options to add peppers, onions, mushrooms, bacon and eggs”.
Murphy has spent the past two and a half years working at the Other Side Deli on Veranda Street. He hails from New Jersey near Philadelphia.
Monday – Belleville is hosting a sold out Mexican pop-up dinner being produced by Turamali.
Thursday – Fred Eliot from Scales will be the guest chef for a sold out French wine dinner at Hugo’s, and The Great Lost Bear is showcasing beer from Maine Beer Company.
Friday – the Bier Cellar is holding a Cushnoc Brewing beer tasting.
Saturday – the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.
A Look Ahead – here are a couple events happening a little further out that you may want to check out.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.
Congratulations to Chaval bar manager Pat McDonald for becoming a national finalists in the 2019 Tio Pepe cocktail competition.
McDonald’s cocktail is the Alcázar, a combination of “Gonzalez Byass “Leonor” Palo Cortado Sherry | Spanish Olive Oil washed Tanqueray Malacca | Gonzalez Byass “La Copa” Extra Seco Vermouth | Barspoon Meletti Anisette | Homemade Saffron Bitters | Expressed Lemon Oil | Pickled Fennel Garnish”
The Portland Magazine has reviewed the Top of the East, and
Great drinks aren’t the only offer at the Top. It serves up romantic city views of our illustrious skyline and Portland Harbor. Your prospects are up in lights from this Olympian perspective. If you haven’t been up here for a while, it’s twice as good as you remember it.
the Press Herald has reviewed the Amigos.
Not just a summer venue, Amigos is also a friendly place to hang out on weekdays after work before it’s warm enough for the patio, especially over a game of pool.
The Brewers Association released it’s 2nd annual list of the fastest growing craft brewers on Wednesday. Two Maine brewers, Lone Pine and Mast Landing were in the top 50. Lone Pine is #5, Mast Landing is #24.
Representing 27 states across the U.S., these small and independent breweries experienced a median growth of 163 percent with the median size being 1,350 barrels of in-house production in 2018. Breweries on the list range from 50 barrels to more than 40,000, and grew from less than 70,000 barrels collectively in 2017 to more than 170,000 barrels in 2018. As a group, these brewing companies represent approximately 10 percent of total craft growth by volume for the year, and include 13 brewpubs, 35 microbreweries, and two regional craft breweries.