Review of Lil Chippy

| Posted in Reviews

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a 4 star review of Lil Chippy.

Don’t miss the classic fish-and-chips, prepared here with local hake dunked in a vodka-and-beer batter and plated up with crisp, dark golden skin-on French fries. And don’t ignore the “Buddies” section of the menu, where you’ll find a few of Portland’s best sandwiches, all served on Little Spruce milk bread rolls. In particular, the mushroom buddy is excellent, with its layers of crunchy fried oyster mushroom, miso mayonnaise and a generous portion of cilantro. But perhaps the best dish on the menu is the fiery, beautifully balanced chicken buddy, a crunchy, deep-fried chicken thigh drizzled with charred onion ranch dressing and homemade Calabrian chili hot sauce.

Lil Chippy was launched by Ashley Wolf and William Durst on June 28th.

Maine Food and Dining News: Greene, Saco, Lisbon Falls, Scarborough, South Paris, Biddeford, Belfast, Rockport, Fairfield

| Posted in Maine

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

    • A new restaurant called Kool Runnins Jamaican Cuisine (instagram) has opened for business in South Paris, Maine. Chef/owner Walton Wray is serving a menu that includes ox tail, jerk chicken and pork, curry goat and sweet potato pudding. Kool Runnins is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am – 9 pm.
    • The Sedgley Place (website, facebook, instagram) in Greene is new ownership. Ali Desjardin plans on continuing the 5-course menu and has launched a new brunch service. This winter Desjardin plans to add new dinner hours on Mondays and Wednesdays.
    • Carolina and Luis Tovar are the new owners of Pacifico (website, facebook, instagram) in Saco. The Tovars have been working at Pacifico for two years and purchased the restaurant from Carlos Guzman and Alejandra Herrera who launched Pacifico on November 28, 2020. The Tovars plan to maintain what has made Pacifico a success as “vibrant, welcoming space that celebrates Latin flavors and culture.” They’re planning some new concepts for the menu and look forward to developing partnerships with other local businesses. This Monday they’ll be holding a cocktail event “featuring spooky cocktails from local bartender Jordan Jones.” Guzman and Herrera will continue to own and operate their two other restaurants, the Quiero Cafes in Portland and Saco.
    • Blue Ox Malthouse (website, facebook, instagram) celebrated the grand opening of their new facility in Lisbon Falls last week. The new building has tripled their floor malting space and quadrupled their processing capacity. Blue Ox was launched in April 2013 by Joel Alex.
    • Stacks Pancake Company is working to open a second location at 183 US Route 1 in Scarborough. The Papanikoleau family opened the original Stacks on Riverside in July 2021.
    • The owners of Vickie’s Veggie Table have announced they’ll be closing their Biddeford cafe. Their last day in business will be this Monday, October 28th. Their statement read in part, “we are incredibly grateful for the two years you have all given us. Vickie’s Veggie Table has been such an incredible experience for both of us and we are so happy that we were able to bring downtown Biddeford some healthy vegan options. We hope that we’ve helped inspire Biddeford to open up more vegetarian, vegan, and healthier spots so that our community can grow in a positive way. We also hope we’ve inspired you to cook some yummy vegan food at home!” They plan to write a Vickie’s Veggie Table cookbook.
    • The Midcoast Villager has published an article about Concepta Jones and her business Concepta’s Studio (website, instagram). Jones operates a self service roadside bakery and sells a selection of South African Indian spice blends. The article reports, “Jones plans to sell her baked goods and other dishes at the Belfast Farmers’ Market starting in January. She is planning a menu built around her signature curries, including curry pies and curry wrapped in roti, the flaky Indian flatbread.”
    • Khristine and Zac Leeman have leased the former Joshua’s space on Maine Street in Brunswick where they plan to open a new restaurant. The Harpswell Anchor report the menu will include, “[t]avern-style food, including burgers and sandwiches, will be served, as well as entrees, including gluten-free and vegetarian options.” The Leemans opened Sundrenched, on Bailey Island in 2022, and Linden + Front in Bath this past February.
    • The Maine Bagel has announced their last day in business will be November 27th. They’ve been located on Route One in Scarborough for close to two decades.  A statement posted online (facebook, instagram) reads in part, “Due to circumstances beyond our control we are obligated to vacate the building that has given our family so many wonderful memories. We have been blessed with employees and customers that have allowed our dream to come to fruition. We set out with a vision to provide the community with a bagel shop that prided itself on service, quality, and value. We believe we achieved this and in the process gained many friendships that we will cherish forever.”
    • The Bangor Daily News and Midcoast Villager report that a new owner, Steve Ashey,  has taken over the Chocolate Drop Candy Shop (website, facebook, instagram) in Belfast. Ashey hopes to relaunch the candy shop on November 30th. The previous owners had closed the shop in September after 15 years in business.
    • Nina June owner Sara Jenkins has won an award from Montagna Cortonese for the 2023 vintage of the olive oil she produces in Italy.
    • Meridians restaurant in Fairfield has permanently closed. The restaurant had initially shut down in January and reopened back in June.

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

Lay Day Roasters

| Posted in Under Construction

A new coffee roaster is under development in West Bayside. Lay Day Roasters (website, instagram) is the creation of Cashel Stewart and former Buzz Coffee owner Corey Koch. It’s located at 150 Preble Street near Trader Joe’s and will launch next week.

Lay Day is a new coffee roastery anchored by high quality roasted coffee offered affordably to the Maine community as wholesale, bulk, in retail bags, and as a delivery subscription. Lay Day’s coffee emphasizes rich, complex flavors of coffee from all over the world. The initial launch features coffee from Santa Maria in the Huila region of Colombia, in light and medium roast profiles. Later this month, Lay Day will introduce coffee from Guji in the Sidamo region of Ethiopia, darker roast profiles, and cold brew (brewed in-house) on tap available at the roastery. A standard 12 oz bag will be $15, and customers are encouraged to visit the roastery bulk station, a partnership with GoGo Refill, where customers can reduce their waste and save up to 20% on their beans.

Future plans for Lay Day include the launch of a cold brew coffee truck for events, wholesale cold brew kegs, getting Lay Day coffee on shelves at local retail shops and on the menu at local establishments. Koch and Stewart also hope to hold coffee tastings and community events at the roastery.

Online ordering for Lay Day will become available Friday, October 25th, and the retail shop at the roastery will open the following week Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 7 – 10 am, and Wednesday, 3 – 6 pm. Watch their instagram account for news about the launch of the cold brew coffee service at the roastery.

Golden Fork Awards

| Posted in General News

The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs held their biennial Food Producers Showcase today at Thompson’s Point. The event included dozens of Maine companies from oyster farms to bakeries to packaged good producers like Pen and Cob Farm and Ragged Coast Chocolates. The MCE announced the winners of the three Golden Fork Awards:

Congress Street Anania’s Closing in December

| Posted in Under Construction, Closings

Ed and Barbara Anania are planning to retire in December and have put the Congress Street Anania’s (website, facebook, instagram) building and business up for sale with plans to close the landmark store on Christmas Eve. Additionally, they’re in the process of selling their Washington Ave location to their store manager and partner Zach Lord who plans to continue to operate it under the Anania’s name.

Ed shared that he’s been working at the family business since he was 10 years old, and Barbara has been involved in the business since 1989. It was Ed’s father, also named Edward, opened the first Anania’s market in 1963. Over the years they expanded to South Portland and Washington Ave. The South Portland location was sold a few years ago and reopened as the Ferry Village Market in 2020.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Wednesday – Mrs. Gee Free Living and Gather are collaborating on a gluten-free dinner. GMRI is hosting a talk about sustainable seafood with guest Ben Conniff, co-owner of Luke’s Lobster.

Thursday – The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs is holding the biennial Maine Food Producer Showcase & Golden Fork Awards at Brick South on Thompson’s Point. Farms for Food Equity is holding their Fall Harvest Gathering fundraiser with food from Big Tree Catering and Harbor Fish, wines from National Distributors and beer from Oxbow. The Knotted Apron is serving a 4-course Vendage wine dinner.

Thursday-Saturday – Harvest on the Harbor is taking place.

Friday – Kasha’s Kitchen in Kittery is holding a Polish dinner.

Saturday – Maine Vegfest is taking place.

Sunday – Victoria Nam from Siblings Bakery is teaching a virtual class on Spiking Your Cakes With Whole Grains for the Maine Grains Alliance.

October 29 – The annual HospitalityMaine summit is taking place at Sugarloaf.

November 4-10 – 207 Beer Week is taking place.

November 5 – Gross Confection Bar is holding a (sold out) pastry baking class.

November 11-17 – Brunswick Wine Week is taking place.

November 14 – Angoor Wine Bar and Taj are collaborating to hold a Friendsgiving Feast with a 3-course meal from Taj paired with a set of wine pairings.

November 20 – GMRI is holding an event to discuss Climate Resilience Potential in Gulf of Maine Fisheries.

Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving seems a ways off but restaurants, bakeries, markets and other businesses have already begun sharing their plans. See our 2024 Thanksgiving Resource Guide for a full list of dinners and take-out options as well as birds, baked goods and side dishes for your meal at home.

November 29 – The deadline to submit recommendations for the 2025 Beard Awards.

December 1 – Sean Turley will be delivering a presentation on cider & pomology at Lambs in South Portland.

December 31 – Elk’s Lodge 188 is holding a Vegas-themed New Year’s Eve party; $80 per person.

Planning a wedding, holding a business event, or hosting visitors from away? Our printed guides are a great resource to help your guests explore the Maine restaurant scene.
25-packs of the Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now available on our online store.

CO2 Capture & Review of Camp Pennant

| Posted in Reviews

This week’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a review of Camp Pennant,

“Camp” is a unique conceptual theme for a restaurant, but Fraser not only makes it work, he and his front-of-house staff bring a transportative levity to the experience. Chef Max Mejia’s menu of comfort foods is also solid, especially a Caprese-style sandwich bookended by pizza dough baked in the restaurant’s enormous Le Panyol wood-fired oven, crisp-tender roasted broccolini topped with garlicky bread crumbs, and warm soft-baked pretzels to dunk in hops-infused mustard. It’s not perfect yet, but Camp Pennant is already a charming diversion.

and an article on how breweries are using technology to adapt to capture carbon dioxide produced during fermentation for reuse at the brewery.

The funny thing is, breweries also produce CO2, or carbon dioxide, in the beer-making process. Recently, a few Maine breweries have turned to technology newly adapted to small craft breweries that allows them to recapture the CO2 they produce and reuse it to make their beer. These closed-loop systems can save the breweries money, offer security in the event of future CO2 shortages and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

Maine Food & Dining News: Bar Harbor, Wells, Kennebunkport, Saco, Dixfield, Biddeford, Westbrook

| Posted in Maine

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

    • South Berwick-based Lee Franks has opened a second location of their burger and hot dog restaurant in Wells. It is located at 321 US Route 1. They’re currently open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
    • Mussette owner Jonathan Cartwright has announced plans to launch Caring Community Cuisine, a new initiative to “focusing on family nutrition and human interaction to help those battling cancer.”
    • Lorraine Fagela plans to launch her new Saco gluten-free bakery/cafe on Friday. Sweets & Co. (instagram) is located at 294 Main Street and will be open 9 am – 5 pm on Friday and Saturday this week.
    • The Bethel Sugar Shack recently launched Mimi’s Place (facebook) in Dixfield. Mimi’s serves a menu of burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads and specialty pizzas. They’re located at 60 Weld Street and are open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am – 8 pm.
    • Peekytoe Provisions (website, facebook, instagram) recently opened their new Bar Harbor market/cafe. Owners Drew Smith and Cyndi Bridges have built out a new market/cafe at 244 Main Street where they’re open Wednesday through Sunday, noon – 8 pm. The market stocks seafood as well as charcuterie, cheeses and other provisions. The cafe serves (menu) a wide range of apps, salads, sandwiches and entrees with cocktails, wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages.
    • Owner Derek Laplume has announced plans to close the Pint & Pawn board game cafe in Biddeford at the end of November.
    • Kennebunkport-based chef Germán Lucarelli, has leased space at Rock Row in Westbrook with plans to open a new restaurant called The Asador Grill.

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

The Asador Grill at Rock Row

| Posted in Under Construction

Chef Germán Lucarelli, owner of The Lost Fire in Kennebunkport, has leased space at Rock Row where he is planning to open The Asador Grill (instagram). The restaurant will specialize in Patagonian cuisine featuring traditional open-flame cooking.

“The Lost Fire began as a means of reconnecting with the tastes of my home and introducing people to the unique style of grilling Argentinians have mastered, “ said Chef Germán Lucarelli. “The Asador Grill will bring guests closer to the wonder of authentic open fire cooking than ever before.”

Lucarelli opened The Lost Fire in 2018, two seafood restaurants Casa Seventy-Seven and Ultramar in 2023, and he launched an ice cream food truck in 2024 called Dos Elenas Gelato. The Asador Grill will be his first business in the Portland area.

Construction of the 7,000 square foot restaurant is expected to start in 2025. An opening timeframe is TBD.