Clam Bar & Royale Lunch

| Posted in Under Construction

Owner Garrett Fitzgerald has been renovating his restaurant space on West Commercial Street and expanding the building footprint with prefabricated structures from OpBox. The new complex will be the joint home for Clam Bar (instagram) and the Portland Beer Garden for lunch and dinner, and the Royale Lunch (instagram) for breakfast and lunch service.

Fitzgerald’s Christmas tree business will launch on the property on the day after Thanksgiving. Royale Lunch will likely open this winter and the full ensemble cast to open in the spring.

Full Turn in East Bayside

| Posted in Under Construction

A new restaurant called Full Turn (instagram) is under construction in the former Baharat space in East Bayside. The launch of Full Turn is being led by Chloe Kessell and Melissa Pappas in collaboration with the owners of Baharat. Josh Lemay will be running the bar program.

Full Turn will be serving seasonal menus that change-up frequently with restaurant concepts that shift with each ‘turn’ of the menu. Pappas and Kessell plan to collaborate with local farms, breweries and other food producers on special items for their menus. They also hope to create opportunities at Full Turn for chef residencies, pop-ups, and special events. While by design the food and concept will change often, the team is aiming for a steady price point, service level and atmosphere.

Kessell has worked in the restaurant industry for 12 years in both Boston and Portland, and most recently was the general manager of Baharat. Pappas comes from a restaurant family and has worked both front and back of house roles most recently the kitchen manager of Baharat. The pair have worked together in the past to organize pop-ups and events and as hospitality consultants through Sate at Home and Sate at Work.

For us, hospitality is about sharing and taking care of each other. Sharing food, sharing drinks, sharing experiences and sharing knowledge, and that care and respect starts in your own house with your own team. We are so fortunate to have a staff of like minded hospitality professionals with incredible skills and ambition. When the opportunity to take this truly collaborative approach both with our staff and the restaurant community came up, we couldn’t turn it down. We’re excited to have the chance and circumstances to make the changes we’ve wanted to see in the industry and get back to the reasons we all love it after such a difficult run. We want to make good food with good people and share it with our great community in an environment focused on the experience and putting locals front of mind.

The owners hope to open Full Turn in December after construction to expand the kitchen and light renovations to the dining room.

Dok Mali Opens Tuesday

| Posted in Openings

The new Thai restaurant Dok Mali (website, instagram) is scheduled to open Tuesday for lunch and dinner 11:30 – 8:30. Dok Mali is located in the former Lois’ Market space at 47 India Street which chef/owner Nonglack Thanephonesy has completely renovated into a 32-seat restaurant.

The menu includes the option of a flight of all seven types of dumplings, grilled okra, corn fritters, six different types of noodle soup,  and main courses like Crying Tiger (marinated ribeye, served with sticky rice, veggie skewers and roasted tomato dip) and La La Pork (braised pork belly, bok choi + egg served with ginger rice).

In addition to Dok Mali, Thanephonesy is also the owner of Capital Thai Kitchen and Bar in Exeter, NH. She grew up in Portland and is excited to bring to life a new Thai restaurant in her home town.

Dok Mali will be open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner opening at 11:30 am.

Upcoming Events/Thanksgiving List

| Posted in Events

Tuesday – Dok Mali is scheduled to open at 11:30 am.

November 7 – French author and cider producer  Claude Jolicoeur will be giving a talk at Urban Farm Fermentory.

November 11-13 – the 5th Annual Downeast Cider and Cheese Festival is taking place in Ellsworth.

November 14 – Cera is hosting a meeting “to start a dialog amongst Portland’s chefs/restauranteurs about sustainability in food systems.”

November 16 – Broken Arrow is serving a 4-course cider dinner, and Evo is holding a 5-course Rhone wine dinner.

November 19 – Lorne is holding their 2nd annual La Fête du Beaujolais.

Thanksgiving – here’s the start of our 2022 Thanksgiving dining and takeout list. Drop us a line if you know of a Thanksgiving-themed offering not yet on the list.

Fruit Bat Cider Distribution

| Posted in Openings

A new distribution company called Fruit Bat Distribution (instagram) has launched. Fruit Bat will exclusively focus on the distribution of hard cider. Owners Jessie Robb and Josh Lemay have a strong passion for cider as well as deep ties in the restaurant industry. Their goal is to create a bridge that helps the growing cider industry thrive.

The first two producers that Fruit Bat are representing in Maine are Sundstrom Cider and Metal House Cider, both located in the Hudson Valley. Lemay and Robb expect to be expanding their portfolio as they build demand for quality ciders and build relationships with restaurants.

Fruit Bat is collaborating with local restaurants on some cider-centric meals. Here are the first two on the schedule:

Twin Swirls Opens Saturday

| Posted in Openings

The Twin Swirls (instagram) ice cream shop is slated to open this Saturday. They’ll be serving a limited menu on Saturday but will eventually have on offer hard serve and soft serve cones and dishes, milkshakes, sundaes and coffee.

The name Twin Swirls is inspired by owner Sarah Palmer’s twin six year old girls, Alex and Sage.

The shop is located at 865 Brighton Ave in the Nason’s Corner neighborhood, and their regular hours will be Thursday through Sunday, noon to 8 pm.

Zu Bakery Pop-ups

| Posted in Openings

Zu Bakery (website, instagram) owner Barak Olins is aiming to launch his new West End location in early November.

In the coming two weeks he’ll be holding a series of pop-ups from his bakery at 81 Clark Street on Wednesdays and Fridays, 3 – 5 pm. Stop by to try some of the the breads and baked goods he’ll be featuring in his shop.

When Zu Bakery is fully open Olins and his team will be serving pastries and coffee at the start of the day and with baguettes and other breads going on sale as they come out of the oven and offering two types of pizza alla Romana at the end of the day.

Olins plans to make most of his bakery products with Maine grown grains he mills in-house. In addition to morning pastries and breads, Zu Bakery will also sell biscotti, granola, seasonal pastries and a small selection of bottled wine.

Olins originally launched Zu Bakery in 2000. Previously he was a co-founder/chef of the highly regarded Cafe Uffa, which was located in Longfellow Square and opened in 1995.

Upcoming Events: Harvest on the Harbor, Grimm & Gore, Veg Fest, Halloween Fest

| Posted in Events

Thursday – Saturday – Harvest on the Harbor is taking place. Also, the SMCC culinary and hospitality students are putting on the Grimm & Gore Storybook Dinner.

Saturday – the 17th Annual Veg Fest is taking place, as is the 2022 East Bayside Halloween Fest.

November 19 – Lorne is holding their 2nd annual La Fête du Beaujolais.

Thanksgiving – here’s the start of our 2022 Thanksgiving dining and takeout list. Drop us a line if you know of a Thanksgiving-themed offering not yet on the list.

  • Hanks – is taking pre-orders for turkey, sides and desserts; order deadline on November 16th for pick-up on November 23rd.
  • Harraseeket Inn – is serving their Grand Buffet (menu); $139/adult, children 6-12 are $49/child, children 5 & under are free.
  • Petite Jacqueline – is serving a 3-course dinner (menu TBD); reservations available on Resy.
  • Rosemont Market – is taking preorders for turkeys, baked goods, prepared dishes and more.
  • Ruby’s West End – is taking preorders for sides and desserts; order deadline on November 20th for pick-up on Thanksgiving morning.
  • Saltwater Grille – a 3-course dinner for $55-65/person.

Hugo’s Will Not Reopen

| Posted in Closings

Big Tree Hospitality owners Andrew Taylor and Arlin Smith announced that they will not be reopening Hugo’s their fine dining restaurant on Middle Street.

Portland, you made Hugo’s such a special place to dine and gather since 1988. We will always be grateful for the love and community that these walls have created. While Hugo’s closed over two years ago due to COVID, we are finally ready to announce that Hugo’s will not be reopening in its previous form as a fine dining restaurant.

Hugo’s was where the Big Tree Hospitality story began, and it will always be one of the most important parts of our history. First opened in 1988 as a bistro and piano-lounge by Johnny Robinson as a tribute to his son, Hugo, the restaurant underwent many iterations over the years. Bought in 2000 by Rob Evans and Nancy Pugh, Hugo’s quickly became one of the most avant garde restaurants in the country, earning Rob Evans significant national accolades such as Food and Wine Best New Chef 2005 and James Beard Best Chef Northeast 2008. Big Tree Hospitality founders Andrew Taylor, Arlin Smith, and Mike Wiley worked together under their mentors Rob and Nancy for four years prior to purchasing the restaurant in 2012. The Big Tree trio renovated the space in 2015 where it thrived until the COVID closure in March 2020.

Future plans for the space are still TBD but it’s available for private parties and small events.

Update: The Press Herald has also published an article on what the closure of Hugo’s says about the state of fine dining in Portland.