Roost is the name of a new juice bar under construction on Free Street. According to their website they plan on opening this Spring and will sell:

• Juices
• Smoothies
• Raw, Gluten-free, Vegan Menu
• Allergy-free Options
• Organic, Bio-dynamic Wines
• Library of Health Wellness Books
• Hand-crafted Gifts

Word surfaced today of several new businesses under construction:

• Matt’s Wood Roasted Coffee is planning to open a coffee shop in Portland at 567 Congress Street
• Rosemont Market is opening a new location at 9 Commercial Street. According to a report from the Press Herald, “The 1,500-square-foot, no-frills market will cater to Portland restaurants as well as the public, Naylor said. To help keep prices down, there will be no fancy displays or grocery bags. Customers must bring their own bags, just as they would at a farmers’ market.”
• According to the Munjoy Hill News, Otto Pizza has opened a fourth location at the corner of Cumberland and Washington Ave to run their new delivery service.

Chocolatier Sweet Marguerites is in the process of setting up shop in South Portland. In addition to be a production kitchen and retail shop the new store will also offer coffee, hot chocolate and a selection of desserts.

According to a report from the Munjoy Hill News, Leigh Kellis, owner of The Holy Donut, has leased the old Terroni’s Market on Park Ave with plans to open a retail location for her business.

“I’m passionate about it. Donuts are cheap thrills,” said a likeable Leigh Kellis, this afternoon as she discussed the remarkable growth of her 7 month old business during 2011. The growth has been so fast that Leigh has just leased the former Terroni’s Market at 194 Park Avenue from where she will sell retail/wholesale 12 varieties of her Holy Donuts. She plans to have the new location up and running within several months.

The Munjoy Hill News has posted an update on Crema, a new coffee shop under construction on Commercial Street.

“We wanted a coffeehouse in the business district and now we are looking forward to being in the tourist district,” said Kathy Walsh this afternnon. Walsh was referring to the opening of Crema, an Italian themed coffeehouse which is expected to open early in February on the Portland waterfront – 9 Commercial Street…

A new restaurant named Sabor Latino is under construction on Saint John Street. Sabor Latino will serve a menu of Mexican, Salvadorean, and Cuban food. They submitted a 7 page draft menu (see page 56) as part of their liquor license application.

Henry Steinberg has withdrawn his liquor license application for Lamplighters Tavern. According to the Press Herald, several residents of the Pleasant Street neighborhood objected at the City Council meeting last night and in response Steinberg has cancelled his plans.

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an interview with Tony Bourdain about his upcoming appearance with Eric Ripert at Merrill and lingering ill will generated by the Maine episode of his TV show No Reservations,

If comments on social media are any indication, Mainers sure know how to hold a grudge. While some loved Bourdain’s view of Maine through the eyes of his cameraman Zach Zamboni (who grew up in Milo), many others are still wondering more than a year after the show aired: Why wasn’t Portland more prominent in the show, given its growing reputation as a food town? Why didn’t Bourdain go to (fill in the blank) restaurant in Portland? And why was he so mean to restaurateur Dana Street when they were having dinner at his Portland restaurant, Street and Co.?

And for an article in today’s paper food reporter Meredith Goad lands interviews with owners of Gorgeous Gelato and Gelato Fiasco. Gelato Fiasco is in the process of opening a shop at 425 Fore Street almost directly across the street from their local competition.

“It’s not a very clever move in business strategy,” [Gorgeous Gelato co-owner Donato Giovine] said. “If I were them, I’d go to Boston. The only thing I think is, they want to kill us as a business.”

[Gelato Fiasco co-owner Josh] Davis denies that. He says he and [business partner] Tropeano have looked at 80 different locations in the Portland area during the past two years, “and have just not found the place we thought would make it work.”

When the Fore Street spot became available, Davis said, they both thought it was perfect for their business. It has “great foot traffic,” he said, as well as outdoor seating.

For additional commentary on the Gorgeous Fiasco issue see the Portland Examiner.

Bull Jagger Brewing Company has been added to the food map. Portland’s newest brewery plans on specializing in lagers. Their first product, Portland Lager, is billed as “a crisp golden, premium lager modeled after the traditional Helles beers of Bavaria.”

They will be debuting at the Harvest on the Harbor and Portland Lager will go on sale Friday at RSVP on Forest Ave and Downeast Beverage on Commercial Street.

For more information visit their website or “like” them on Facebook.

Rabelais has announced plans to move their bookstore to Biddeford early next year. Biddeford’s gain will be a real loss to the Portland food scene.

Here are details from the Rabelais email newsletter:

Change is afoot. If you’ve been in the store any time in the last year or two you have noticed all the boxes cluttering the store. Rabelais’ collection of Antiquarian Books has increased at a pace that has outgrown our current space. So in the New Year Rabelais will be moving to a larger space. We are so excited about our new location. It has been all we can do to keep it a secret this long. Rabelais’ new home will be a loft in the North Dam Mills in Biddeford. Our new digs will accompany a slight change in the ways of Rabelais. The focus of the business will shift predominantly to rare books, imports, and really special American releases. We’ll finally have enough shelf space for most of our books, and we will be building a test kitchen in which to cook from the tens of thousands of recipes in our collection. As soon as we have made some progress on the new space, pictures will go up on the blog/website. Fear not! We will be at 86 Middle Street through the holidays and a bit beyond, so we hope to be your source for holiday gifts again this year.

See Vrai-lean-uh for her perspective on the move.

For additional reporting see the Press Herald and the Portland Daily Sun.

GoBerry, a frozen yogurt shop, is under construction at 399 Fore Street. GoBerry has 2 other locations in Northampton and Amherst Massachusetts.

According to a report from the Munjoy Hill News, Crema, an Italian coffee house and bakery, will be opening later this year on Commercial Street.

Crema will also sell other Italian products such as gelato, Italian sodas, pastries, cups and saucers. Cathy and John Walso, owners of Arabica, are partners with Banister in this welcome business to the area. There will be seating for 40 – 50 people.

Here are a few updates on restaurants under construction in Portland:

• The window at 416 Fore Street has a sign that says “Coming Soon, The Edge”. The Edge was reported on earlier this Summer by the Portland Daily Sun . It is a new venture by the owners of the Spring Point Tavern in South Portland.
• The former Cunningham’s Bookstore in Longfellow Square is being converted into a neighborhood destination called L.F.K. The space is designed “to look and feel like an old study or library”. Owners Johnny Lomba and John Welliver will also have on display a “modest and rotating collection of old typerwriters with information on various writers who used the same models.” You can see the draft food menu they supplied as part of their liquor license application (page 22) and a floor plan (page 24) online.
• See below for a photo from the site of The Bakery on the Hill which is under construction on Congress Street a couple doors away from Figa. Between the tin ceiling, hardwood floors and the skylight it has the potential to be a really great space.

Here are a pair of new items on the Under Construction list:

• Owner Chris Godin is reopening Granny’s Burritos. This new incarnation of Granny’s will be located on the 2nd floor of the Public Market House in the space formerly occupied by Deux Cochon. Godin has announced a grand reopening will take place September 4th.
• The Bakery on the Hill is the name a of new French bakery that under construction at 253 Congress Street a couple doors down from Figa. Their goal is to open in October.

Here are a few updates on restaurants under construction in Portland:

• Silly’s owner Colleen Kelley is planning to open Silly’s with a Twist next door at 38 Washington Ave. The new venue will include a bar and serve the same menu as its sister restaurant.
• 349 Cumberland Ave has been repainted and a sign in the window indicates “good food coming soon”. There’s no indication yet what type of restaurant it will be. 349 was briefly the home of Apsara before it moved to Fore Street. It had previously been the home of Huong Vietnamese Cuisine.
• The owners of Venue which closed their Portland location on Forest Ave earlier this year are re-opening on Forest Ave at the same location with the same general concept but with different staff and a different name. The new business is named 865 Forest. A draft menu (page 62) was submitted as part of their liquor license application.
• The El Rayo Cantina has also submitted a liquor license application. You can see the draft menu (page 81) online in the agenda materials for Monday’s City Council meeting.