Under Construction: Magnus on Water

| Posted in Under Construction

The Journal Tribune has published an update on Magnus on Water, the new cocktail bar under construction in Biddeford.

Through that exterior space thee partners’ vision of being part of improving their community will extend through and beyond their restaurant. On Tuesday, City Council approved entering a lease-purchase agreement for Tale Wind to purchase 2 Water St., known as Liberty Park from the city. The LLC will pay $100,000 over 20 years for the lot and will pay to redesign and maintain new landscaping for the park. That area will be connected to new green space the city will create and maintain when the intersection and Main, Water and Hill streets is reconfigured by the Maine Department of Transportation later this year.

This Week’s Events: 207, Rosemont Falmouth, Hush Hush, Wine Dinners, Valentines Day

| Posted in Events

Monday – Rosemont Market is opening their new store in Falmouth today. Chef Krista Kern Desjarlais is the subject of a segment on the show 207 airing today at 7pm on Channel 6 in Portland and Channel 2 in Bangor.

Tuesday – the February edition of Hush Hush is taking place.

Wednesday – Sur Lie and the Portland Chamber Music Festival are collaborating on a sold out salon series dinner, and there will be a wine tasting at the RSVP.

Thursday – A little holiday called Valentines Day is taking place. Consult the social media accounts for your favorite restaurants for V-Day special events.

Friday – Black Tie is holding a Graze farm dinner is taking place in Yarmouth, and there will be a wine tasting at the new Rosemont Market in Falmouth.

Saturday – the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

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.

Perennial Cider Bar

| Posted in Under Construction

A new cider bar and “farm kitchen” called Perennial (website, instagram) is under construction in Belfast.

Perennial is a cider bar and farm kitchen in Belfast, Maine. We offer a menu of traditional and heritage hard ciders from Maine and beyond, along with dishes inspired by the products of our local farms, forests, and coastline. By showcasing the variety of expressions of the apple, the landscapes where they grow, and the culinary traditions that inspire us, our goal is to offer a taste of place and time that acknowledges the richness of the past while savoring the moment in front of us. We hope you’ll join us for a meal, a drink, or both when we open in April 2019.

Chef/curator Khristopher Hogg and barkeep Hunter Sunrise intend for Perennial to be not only a cider bar and restaurant but also a location for “tastings, talks, and other events“ that help “our community to meet and connect with the stories behind what we serve and even develop some new skills or interests along the way”.

Perennial is scheduled to hold their grand opening on April 3rd.

Under Construction: Basket & Blanket

| Posted in Under Construction

A picnic-themed food truck called Basket & Blanket (instagram) is under development with plans to launch this summer.

Co-founders Mike Allen and Avril Williams have launched a $25,000 Go Fund Me campaign to raise funds to purchase the truck and cover other start-up costs of the business. You can read more about their vision for the truck and it’s community service component on the Go Fund Me campaign page.

Eighty 8 Donuts for Sale

| Posted in General News

Owner Kevin Sandes has decided to put Eighty 8 Donuts up for sale.

Greetings friend,

I’m writing to you today regarding my future with Eighty 8 Donuts. Something personal and relevant you may not know about me, this July will mark my 10th year as a kidney transplant patient – or my 10th second birthday as I like to call it. To be blunt, facing death as I have and receiving a second chance at life has taught me (more than anything else) the significance of ‘now’ and my misconceptions of ‘later.’ Unfortunately kidney transplants are not cures. They do not last forever and the chances of receiving just one are pretty slim. So…time being what it is…. this chapter of my life has been outstanding and as much as I want to hang on to it, I know that the time has come for me to let go.

It’s important to me to say that although I will no longer be making the donuts ‘that make ya go nuts’ I will in fact remain grateful that our lives happened to come together, if only as brief as it may have been. Moving forward, the plan is to find a passionate new owner for Eighty 8 Donuts. From there, I will continue to explore some other passions of my own while I seek out future medical care possibilities abroad. Until then, please pass my contact info along to any interested parties and please always, always eat well.

Kevin

No-Show Fees, Winter Deals

| Posted in General News

The Food & Dining section in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about the fees restaurants have to discourage reservation no-shows and the reasons for them,

Restaurateurs say that when you skip out on your reservation, it can have a big ripple effect on supplies, staffing and finances, especially for smaller restaurants. Knowing how many diners to expect helps the chef determine how much food to buy, and what size staff to have on the floor that night.

“It hurts everybody here,” said Niko Regas, chef at Emilitsa, a 48-seat Greek restaurant on Congress Street in Portland. “It doesn’t just hurt the business. It hurts my employees as well.”

Servers may go without tips, Regas said, and the back-of-house staff might be sent home an hour early.

and an article about program some restaurants have put in place to encourage Winter business.

Winter has always been a tough season for Maine restaurants in seasonal communities along the coast. Once tourists go home, making enough money to get through until spring can be a challenge. Towns like Yarmouth, where snowbirds fly south for the winter, can also suffer. This year has been especially difficult, since winter started early with snow on Halloween. Keeping diners in the seats requires creativity – cue the special events, exclusive dinner offers, and happy hour specials that run only during snowstorms.

Review of Evo

| Posted in Reviews

The Bollard has reviewed the Evo.

As vegan diners walking in off the street, this was the most delicious impromptu lunch we’ve experienced in Portland. While the difference in the welcome we received between night and day was stark, and the pacing of the vegan tasting menu too fast, outstanding food and service place Evo at the top of the list as a vegan foodie destination in Maine.

Boston Globe: East End

| Posted in Profiles

The Boston Globe has published an article about the East End of Portland with a focus on the restaurants and other food purveyors located there.

Last year, Kittery stalwart Bob’s Clam Hut opened an outpost at the corner of Cumberland and Washington avenues. If you’re not in the mood for fried clams, Washington Avenue boasts an Ethiopian restaurant, an African market, a boutique Texas barbecue place, a vegan cafe and marketplace, a pho joint, and a Salvadoran restaurant. Drifters Wife, a chef-driven locavore restaurant with its own wine shop (Maine & Loire) in back, is a national critical darling.

Under Construction: Other Side Diner

| Posted in Under Construction

Other Side Delicatessen owners Peter and Jessica Sueltenfuss have announced plans to open Other Side Diner at 500 Washington Ave, the space formerly occupied by Hella Good Tacos and Steve and Renee’s Diner.

The diner will have the same focus on using local product and in-house production as the East Deering and West End Other Side Delicatessens. Other Side will serve traditional breakfast and lunch diner fare with some Greek influences such as baklava and Greek donuts. Jessica Sueltenfuss will be managing the diner. The hope is to open the diner in April.

The launch of diner will not impact the hours or menu at either of two existing Other Side locations.