Prolific Maine restaurateur Walter Loeman has leased space in the Tontine Mall in Brunswick where he plans to open a new business called Walter’s Cafe. Loeman hopes to launch the cafe in May.

This new Walter’s will be a counter service cafe serving soups, stews, salads, sandwiches and drinks along with grab and go food to go as well as stock and bone broth for cooking/enjoyment at home. Four Maine farms (Whatley, Six Rivers, Goranson, Morning Dew) will be featured on the salad menu, each with a dish that highlights seasonal ingredients sourced from them. Bread will be baked in-house and Loeman plans to serve his grandmother’s lobster bisque that some diners (including this writer) will recall was on the menu at Perfettos nearly 25 years ago.

Walter’s will be located in a space formerly occupied by Butchers & Bakers which closed in October 2022. The cafe (located downstairs from Brickyard Hollow) will seat ~30 and Loeman hopes to create a community space where people will want to remain for a time and return to often. He also sees part of the cafe’s mission is to showcase the bounty of Maine farms. He shared that a guiding principle for Walter’s Cafe will be to make it approachable, affordable and repeatable experience.

Loeman has been a member of the Maine restaurant community dating back to the 1980s when he launched the Mariner’s Church Bakery. He’s been the creator or co-creator of many noted establishments including the bakery, the original Walter’s Cafe on Exchange Street, Perfettos, Joe’s Boathouse, Cotton Street Cantina, 15 Independence, Maza, Perfettos Kennebunkport, Fresh, and Farm Truck Juice. In addition he’s the founder of the Farm Truck Institute.

Ryan Carey has purchased the former Elsmere BBQ building at 476 Stevens Ave in Deering Center where he plans to open Noble Pizzeria & Barbecue. The new restaurant will serve the barbecue menu his restaurant Noble Barbecue (instagram) has become known for, and will expand the offerings to include New York-style pizza and milkshakes.

Carey intends to do some light renovations to the building before opening in July. The Noble BBQ restaurant on outer Forest will remain in business until shortly before the new restaurant is ready to open. In addition to Noble BBQ, Carey also operates the Fire & Co. (instagram) catering company.

The former Stars and Stripes tasting room space at 3 Spring Street has been leased and is slated to become a new bakery called Yuri’s Desserts (instagram). The owners hope to launch Yuri’s in September.

The menu at Yuri’s will include items like whipped cream cakes, fruit tarts, macarons, cookies, and milk shaved ice as well as croissants and donuts with a variety of cream and fruit toppings.

Daewon Kim and his wife Eunjee Park will operate Yuri’s along with bakers Yuri Kim and Gunsang Park who have a combined 34 years of baking experience including work for Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours in South Korea and in the US.

3 Spring Street was most recently the home of a tasting room for Stars & Stripes Brewing, and prior to that was the location of Cara and Cecile Stadler’s restaurant Lio.