Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Through Thursday – Maine Restaurant Week is taking place. Visit mainerestaurantweek.com for a list of participating establishments and special events.

Thursday – Goldies Gin is the featured producer at the next Crafted Conversations event at the Five of Clubs. Portland area baristas will be participating in a latte art competition at Coffee by Design. Mayo Street Arts is holding Dinner, Culture & Connections: Southern India which “celebrates the vibrant culture and flavors of Kerala State in Southern India” . The dinner will be prepared by Bombay Mahal from Brunswick and paired with a series of four beers from Rupee Beer Company. The meal will be accompanied by Indian shadow puppetry  and Mohiniyattam folk dance.

Sunday – Chef Madison Andrews from Mad Mealz is holding a pop-up at the East Ender.

March 16 – The K-Pop Kimbap food truck is holding a pop-up at Cantina Calafia.

March 19 – Chef Matt Ginn will be serving a 4-course wine dinner at Dry Dock. Twelve is holding a 4-course Rhone wine dinner.

March 21-22 – Maine Maple Sunday Weekend is taking place. Visit the Maine Maple Producers Association website to find a sugar shack or two to visit.

March 22 – The local chapter of the American Culinary Federation is holding their Annual Chefs’ Touch Dinner. Barista Milo Ryan-Humphrey will be holding two Brewers Cup program demonstrations at Another Round. A cupcake decorating class with Meadowsweet Bakery is taking place at Angoor Wine Bar.

March 24 – Jordan Brocklesby from Plates of Portland will be the guest speaker at a Maine Voices Live event at One Longfellow Square.

March 25 – Ironside Whiskey Bar is hosting a conversation and whiskey tasting with Aaron Wood.

April 8 – The Maine Menu is teaching a class for hospitality industry professionals on how to work with social media influencers and creators.

April 17-18 – The 2nd Annual Organic Grain & Seed Summit is taking place.

May 3 – CiderFeast is taking place.

May 16 – The Maine Wine Wine Fest (tickets) is taking place in Freeport.

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.

The Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now for sale in packs of 25 on our online store.

 

Milo Ryan-Humphrey at Brewers Cup

| Posted in People

Milo Ryan-Humphrey from Another Round will be going to North Carolina later this month to compete in the US Brewers Cup Championship—one of 24 competitors from around the country.

As shared by Another Round, “Competitors spend months preparing a recipe with their own choice of specialty coffee. Preparing these recipes is an incredibly involved process involving trialing different types of filters, grind sizes, even temperatures and mineral content of the water. Milo will be competing with a washed-process Geisha from Panama expertly roasted by Onyx Coffee Lab.”

Ryan-Humphrey will be holding two demonstrations of the Brewers Cup program on March 22nd at Another Round that are open to the public—tickets are available online.

Review of Mandy and Matt’s Cafe

| Posted in Reviews

The Bollard has published a review of Mandy and Matt’s Cafe in Morrill’s Corner.

I opted for a veggie breakfast sandwich ($8.99) of egg, cheese, spinach, tomato, and onion on an English muffin, which I doctored up with a little salt and a splash of Cholula hot sauce. As with most breakfast entrées on the menu, the price included either home fries (griddled or deep fried) or my favorite: hash browns, pressed flat on the griddle until intensely crispy. I ordered a side of meaty, salty, homemade corned beef hash ($9.99), which was also griddled to a delightful crisp (canned hash is available for those willing to trade excellence for nostalgia).

The Teal Duck in the Old Port

| Posted in Under Construction

A new cocktail bar called The Teal Duck (instagram) is under construction at 8 Exchange Street in the space formerly occupied by Portland Bar and Bites.

Owner Brandon James Allegue shared in the cover letter of his liquor license application his vision for the bar, “The Teal Duck is designed to be a sophisticated, intimate, and dim-lit sanctuary within the heart of Portland. Our focus is on the art of the classic cocktail, paired with a curated menu of charcuterie boards, artisan breadboards, and locally sourced marinated vegetables. We aim to provide a relaxed atmosphere that encourages slow-paced social interaction and an appreciation for culinary craft.”

Allegue plans to serve riffs on classic cocktails, draft beer from brewers in Maine and New England and wines by the glass. The food menu will include a choice of 10 different meat and cheese boards as well as a dessert board.

The 1,800 sq ft space will include a 15-seat bar and table seating for 60 people. Allegue is planning for The Teal Duck to be open daily 5 pm – 1 am. He plans to make some light renovations to the space and hopes to be open to the public in early May.

The photograph above is from this past July.

Gross Going Out of Business

| Posted in Closings

Brant Dadaleares has announced the closure of Gross Bakery. This Sunday will be Gross’s last day in business.

For the past seven years, it’s been a pleasure serving the Portland community. We’re incredibly grateful for all of the support and for everyone who has stopped in along the way.

Gross initially opened on January 4, 2019, with the bakery part of the business coming online in July of the same year. Earlier this year Dadaleares shutdown the dessert bar part of the business to focus on operating the bakery.

Maine Food & Dining News: Brunswick, Freeport, Gardiner, Camden, Biddeford, Saco, Lyman, Winterport, Yarmouth, Ogunquit, South Portland

| 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 ice cream shop called Half Pint Giant (instagram) is under construction in Brunswick. It will be located at 147.5 Maine Street (above right) in the space formerly occupied by The Frappe Shop. They plan to offer hard serve and soft serve ice cream with “unique and nostalgic” toppings, parfaits, sundaes, milkshakes and custom mixed sodas. The owners of Half Pint hope to launch in early April.
  • Spun Bakery (website, facebook, instagram) has taken over the 175-year old building at 11 Mechanics Street (above left) in Freeport where owner Don Gaile plans to open a retail bakery this June. Gaile initially launched Spun out of his home kitchen in 2016 and this is the next step in scaling up his business. The new space will have seating for 15 and Gaile is planning to expand the menu to also include savory dishes like frittata, toasts made on house made Japanese milk bread, and croissant sandwiches.
  • Bintliff’s Corner Brew in Gardiner has been building out a new seating area. The “Conservatory” will provide an addition 15 seats in a sunny room constructed with reclaimed beams, a roof sourced from an mill building in Lewiston, and a circular window that is a design echo of the one in the nearby Gardiner library.
  • Aragosta chef Devin Finigan is serving a 9-course tasting menu at the Norumbega on Saturday March 14th.
  • Fish & Whistle is holding a 4-course lunch and learn called Eating Invasives. The meal will feature locally harvested invasive species, and it will be complemented with a presentation by marine biologist Aubrey Jane. The event is taking place May 31st and tickets are available online.
  • Biddeford Saco Restaurant Week is taking place March 15 – 22.
  • The Biddo Foodies have published a field report from the Blushing Hen farm and bakery stand in Lyman.
  • The Bangor Daily News has a report on The Rolling Pin Cafe and Bakery (facebook) which recently opened in Winterport. They serve breakfast and lunch and are located at 145 Main Street. “The Norrises have plans to make the spot even more of a community hub in the coming months. They’re scoping out dates for evening painting workshops, and will open their outdoor patio with seating in the spring. They are also planning to host a farmers’ market in their parking lot.”
  • The Press Herald has published an article about Lotso Tacos which opened on Main Street in Yarmouth in last fall., and an article about the Ogunquit food scene.
  • As reported on Thursday, the owners of Yosaku and in the final stretch to launch their new Japanese grill and sushi restaurant called Makoto (instagram). Makoto is located on Cottage Road in South Portland and will be opening in April.
  • As reported this past Sunday, the owner of Taj will be launching a cafe in South Portland called Cobblestone Coffee & Company.

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of 100+ coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, plus other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.