According to a report in the Forecaster, Udder Place is going out of business.

“It’s a bittersweet thing,” owner Sam Lambert said.

Several years ago, after his wife gave birth to triplets, Lambert said he decided it was time to change careers. He got his real estate license and has been working for RE/MAX in Topsham. He and his family live in Bath.

“We have four children under the age of 4,” he said. “With the economic downturn, it just made sense to move on.”

According to the article, “A few of the regulars and some Udder Place employees are hoping another coffee shop will open in the area, and are doing what they can to try to make that happen.”

Bathras Market in Williard Square has announced that they will be going out of business. January 20 will be their last day in operation.

We have had a wonderful year filled with support and encouragement from all of you, but it seems that the competition from larger supermarkets combined with the seasonal nature of our location, as well as our own family circumstances, are preventing us from doing the business we need to do in order to survive as a year-round grocery market and deli.

We have tried our best to have a unique mix of quality products with fair pricing, but it has become clear that we do not have the buying power to compete with prices at larger stores, which greatly impacts our ability to generate sales during these difficult economic times.

Indications have been piling up all week but this afternoon the Press Herald received confirmation that Havana South has gone out of business.

Michael Boland, who opened the restaurant with his wife, Deirdre Swords, in 2010, confirmed the closure today in an email to the Portland Press Herald that was also signed by chef Cassady Pappas. The restaurant’s last day of business was New Year’s Eve.

“We worked long and hard, but in the end it just wasn’t possible to continue financially,” the email read.

Deux Cochon announced today that “[d]ue to an unforseen change of wind direction, Deux Cochon has unfortunately been put on immediate kibosh.”

The American Journal has published a report on the closing of Tranchemontagne’s in Westbrook. (via the Westbrook Diarist)

“We’ve been doing a lot of off-site catering,” said Richardson. “This business has been growing so fast that we just wanted to focus our attention on one thing. With Andre’s band getting signed, something had to give a little.”

According to a report from the Press Herald, Ricetta’s will be closing their pizzeria in South Portland.

The Western Avenue location’s last day of operation is Sunday. The company cited the rising cost of fuel and operating costs and shrinking revenues in the restaurant industry as factors. The company’s Falmouth location remains open.

After 7 years in Monument Square, Henry VIII’s will be going out of business at “the end of the month”.

Owner Alice Olcott told the  Press Herald that,

while they had a loyal customer base, it just wasn’t big enough. She said business is off 20 percent from last year and food prices have gone up.

“We are just not covering our expenses,” said Olcott.

Mainebiz reports that Siano’s Old Port location has closed and is making way for Zapoteca, a new Mexican restaurant that, according to the article, “will be competing with upper-level Portland restaurants such as Havana South, Fore Street and Street and Co.”

Shannon Bard trained at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio, Texas, which specializes in Latin American cooking, and will be the restaurant’s head chef. Possible entrees include Red Snapper Veracruz with a tomato, green olive, cilantro and lemon sauce; carne asada with an anchovy-chili sauce; and stuffed, baked jalapenos. The restaurant’s salsa and mole sauce will be homemade, and the bar will serve 70 to 80 tequilas and fresh-squeezed juices, Tom [Bard] says.

The Urban General Store on Congress Street has gone out of business. The store was owned by Norm Jabar who also operates Norm’s Bar & Grill and the Downtown Lounge. Norm’s East End Grill on Middle Street closed last Fall.

Today’s Press Herald includes a pair of front page stories on “food-service transitions”. The first article is on the closing of Terroni’s Market on Park Ave—today is its last day. Terroni’s was opened by Florence Terroni in 1949.

And as regulars dropped in for lunch and said their goodbyes, it was an emotional time.

“Don’t get me crying again,” [44-year employee Sheila] Cunningham said while reminiscing about her years at Terroni’s.

The second article is on the increased interest of chain restaurants in Portland and the plans two burger chains that have plans to open in the Old Port.

“They are looking for niche markets that they wouldn’t have touched a few years ago, (when) they had bigger fish to fry,” said Dick Grotton, president and CEO of the Maine Restaurant Association.

This spring, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, a nationwide chain based in Lorton, Va., will open in the Old Port, in a 2,900-square-foot space at 425 Fore St.

Another Virginia-based burger chain, Arlington’s Elevation Burger, plans to open three Maine locations, including one in the Portland area this year, said spokesman James Stewart.

Here are few food news updates:

• Mousse Cafe closed up shop for the last time on Saturday ending a run that started 2 years ago in August 2008.
• Liban Market, an African market on Washington Ave, has been added to the food map.
• A new Chinese restaurant is under construction on Washington Ave at the location formerly occupied by Litza’s.

I’ve heard from a couple readers that Norm’s East End Grill is closing down. A call to the restaurant confirmed that this is their last night.

North Star Music Cafe owner Kim Anderson announced today that the cafe will be closing their doors for the last time this Sunday at 5 pm. It’s certainly sad news for the East End and the community of people from all over the city that made North Star a regular part of their lives.

It is with a heavy heart that I write to you today.  I have come to the difficult decision to close the doors of North Star.  I have so much love for this community and this city.  I am sad to say goodbye, but I am grateful for the three years you have embraced me and the North Star as family…

For additional reporting see articles in the Munjoy Hill News, Portland Daily Sun and Press Herald.

Today’s Press Herald includes a report on the closing of The French Press Eatery (see earlier news here)

James Tranchemontagne, a co-owner, said he ran out of money to keep the business going. The expansion cost an estimated $130,000.

“We have known for the last two months that it was touch and go,” he said. “It’s a wicked bummer. Food is my life. It’s everything you put your heart and soul into. For it to fail it’s hard.”

and a What Ales You article on Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale,

The spices immediately bring pumpkin pie to mind, although I don’t taste any actual pumpkin. There is a slightly sour aftertaste. It is a golden color, without much of a head. Although I like pumpkin pie, I don’t like the Pumpkinhead — mostly because, to me, that malt and hops flavors don’t survive the spices.

For additional reporting on the closure of The French Press Eatery see this article in the American Journal.

Just a week after an open house to showcase their new dinner menu and bar, The French Press Eatery has announced on Facebook that they’re “closing the doors indefinitely due to circumstances beyond our control.” (via Edible Obsessions)