Even during these colder months, local entrepreneurs are making progress to turn their mobile food plans into food truck realities:
Tom Minervino along with his sister Meg and business partner Mike Barton have leased 1000 sq ft of space at 855 Main Street in Westbrook where they plan to open Legends Rest Taproom (facebook, instagram, twitter). 855 Main is located in the same building as Big Fin Poké.
Legends Rest will feature smashed burgers and a rotating selection of local draft beers and will have a full bar.
The Minervino family also founded and operates Samuel Bar and Grill, and Tomaso’s Canteen.
Legends will be working with the creative folks at Might and Main to develop the branding for the business.
Legends Rest will join Quill Books & Beverage and Veranda Thai (672 Main St), both of which are also under construction in Westbrook.
Yarmouth’s Ice It Bakery (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) will be opening a second location at 502 Stevens Ave, reports the Press Herald.
Alan Fried, who owns Ice It! Bakery in Yarmouth with his wife, Sharon Kuhrt, said the new location at 502 Stevens Ave. will feature everything sold at the Yarmouth bakery – pastries, cupcakes, custom cakes – but it will also be a coffee shop with full espresso bar service. Fried and Kuhrt plan to emphasize more prominently their savory hand pies at the Portland bakery, and they’ll add some breakfast sandwiches and light lunch items to the menu.
See the Portland Food Map Under Construction page for a complete list of new food businesses in various stages of development.
Forage Market (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) has leased space at 123 Washington Ave where they plan to open a Portland branch of their popular Lewiston bakery and cafe.
Owner Allen Smith is excited to open on Washington Ave because as he explains, “it feels like a place we can be part of a neighborhood and get to know our customers by name. And we love the camaraderie of the amazing group of food entrepreneurs already on the street.”
Forage is perhaps best know for the bagels which Saveur tipped for the best in the country. In addition, Smith and his team lead by Portland store manager Laura Posiak also plans to serve breakfast sandwiches and hand-made pastries in the morning and European-style market sandwiches along with soups and salads for lunch.
Smith has ordered a wood-fired masonry oven from Spain which is expected to arrive in the Spring and hopes to open Forage “as soon as the mortar is dry”.
A bookstore/coffee shop/bar called Quill Books & Beverage (facebook, instagram) is under construction in Westbrook. Owners Matthew Irving and Allison Krzanowski have leased space at One Westbrook Common.
Irving has worked for several years as a bartender at Lolita in Portland and Krzanowski is a weaver. At Quill they’ll be serving cocktails as well as bagels, baked goods, yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast, and sandwiches and salads for lunch, as well as a line-up of toasts, cheeses and charcuterie for small snacks.
Quill plans to stock a “diverse selection of carefully curated gently used books, including many recent titles” and will host “author and poetry readings, book clubs, and a weekly board game night”.
Sagamore Hill Lounge (website), a new “high-end cocktail with outdoor, seasonal, sidewalk seating,” is under construction at 130 Park Street in the lobby of the Lafayette Building at the corner with Congress Street.
Owners Ryan Deskins and Michael Savona hail from Newton, Pennsylvania. They hope to open Sagamore Hill in April.
The Portland Pottery Cafe has applied for a liquor license. They plan on adding dinner hours when they’ll operate under the name Lena’s and serve an Italian menu. You can see a draft menu for Lena’s on page 72 of Monday’s City Council packet.
Blue Lobster Wine Co. (facebook, website, instagram) launched their wholesale business in September and is now planning to open a tasting room at their location at 219 Anderson Street.
Bow Street Distributing has purchased 495 Forest Ave where they plan to open The Tasting Room. They plan to use for “beer, wine and liquor tastings and trainings”.
