Y%F Coffee Opens Next Week

| Posted in Openings

Y%F Coffee (instagram) is set to open on Friday, March 20th. It’s located in the long vacant ground floor space at the corner of Congress and High Streets. It will initially be open daily, 8 am – 4 pm.

The spacious cafe features counter seating along the windows overlooking Congress Square, a number of tables in the center of the dining room, a pair of group seating areas with comfy large format chairs, and a green tiled service counter at the back of the space.

Y%F is brewing house-roasted coffee from Ethiopia and Mexico and a decaf coffee from Colombia. Owner Yousif Albadri and his team are serving the standard line-up of drip and espresso-based drinks plus specialty beverages like Spanish lattes (sweetened with condensed milk), pistachio lattes and two variations of Turkish coffee. The menu also includes Belgian hot chocolate, a variety of nonalcoholic mojitos, matcha, green and black teas, and Karak tea.

The food options at Y%F include breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast, bagels with cream cheese, and sweet treats like chocolate croissants and pistachio croissants, three flavors of tres leches cake, Dubai cheese cake and Dubai strawberry cups, and a Basque cheesecake.

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.