Month: April 2016

Alcohol Delivery Service Launches Today

| Posted in Openings

Old Port Wine and Spirits is partnering with the app-based ordering service Drizzly to launch an alcohol deliver service in Portland South Portland.

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about the partnership.

Drizly requires a minimum purchase of $30 and adds a $5 delivery charge. It does not mark up the prices of the alcoholic beverages themselves. Its selection currently consists of all the beverages that Old Port Spirits has in its inventory – nearly 1,300 varieties of beer, wine and liquor as of Thursday afternoon.

Release of Straight To Black:Out

| Posted in Events

This Saturday, Liquid Riot is releasing Straight To Black:Out, their barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout.

Straight To Black:Out is a bold and rich Russian Imperial Stout. We aged two batches, one in a bourbon barrel and one in a port wine barrel, to display the effects that types of barrels can have on beer. The port barrel was sourced from Fenestra Winery, a small port producer in Livermore, California. The bourbon barrel was sourced from Buffalo Trace, the legendary bourbon producer in Frankfurt, Kentucky.

Under Construction: The Sugarbird Coffee Truck

| Posted in Under Construction

sugarbirdA new food truck called The Sugarbird Coffee Truck is under development. Owner Justin Dewalt  plans to provide seating, music, wi-fi hotspot and other items to create a cafe-like feel in the immediate area around the truck.

Sugarbird will serve coffee from Unrest, a small Mid-Coast roaster founded by Micah Beaulieu, that roasts their coffee outdoors with specific hardwoods matched to the qualities of the beans.

Dewalt recently spent time in South Africa running the tasting room for Springfontein Wine Estate and it was while he was hiking in the Western Cape region that he came across a Sugarbird that became the inspiration for the name of the business. Prior to his time in South Africa he worked as the wine manager at Central Provisions.

Watch for Sugarbird to be out serving coffee and baked goods on Commercial Street and the Eastern Prom sometime next month.

Under Construction: Fork Food Lab

| Posted in Under Construction

The Bangor Daily News has published an article about the Fork Food Lab.

“It is a co-working facility for food,” said Holstein.

The lab will be open 24/7, but instead of printers and standup desks, double-deck ovens, stoves, mixers, kettles and tilt skillets will be available for all. The only thing members need is creativity and their own knives.

“We take care of nearly everything, even the rubber gloves,” said Holstein, chief operating officer and Colby College graduate. “We have staff on site to do the deep cleaning and heavy mopping — all these things you don’t think about when you are starting a business.”

Under Construction: Fly Fox Juice Bar

| Posted in Under Construction

birchhincksFly Fox Juice Bar (instagram) is under construction at 98 Washington Ave. Owner Birch Hincks tells me that she’s “couldn’t be more excited to share my passion of fresh juice and smoothies with my favorite city”.

Her vision is to run “a fresh juice and smoothie bar, using a range of local and non-local ingredients. Our focus is to provide products that are delicious, healthy and accessible. Most of our juices and smoothies [will be] more heavily vegetable based, aiming to reduce the amount of sugar content. Our set menu [will be] small, allowing for more space to create rotating seasonally influenced items.”

Hincks hopes to open Flying Fox by early June.

Review of Union

| Posted in Reviews

Down East has reviewed Union.

Both of our mains were showstoppers. My beef tenderloin was served with lion’s mane mushrooms and fingerling potatoes under a truffle cream, all fashioned into a sort of log across the plate, with the two fork-tender beef slices capping each end, an earthy-savory revelation, like a walk in a dark woods. By contrast, the roasted hunk of cod was as bright and light as a winter morning. Served with mussels and a twirl of pasta, the whole affair perched on a succulent slab of roasted fennel.

Under Construction: 469 Fore Street

| Posted in Under Construction

Love Kupcakes (website, facebook,  twitter, instagram) has leased 469 Fore Street, the space immediately next to Dean’s Sweets and across from Miyake.

Owner Amy Alward tells me that while they renovate the space LK will continue to be for sale on the second floor of the Public Market House and at their food truck in Millcreek next to Bull Moose.

Love Kupcakes is also going through a process to rebrand their business to broaden the menu of products they sell.

This Week’s Events: Straight to Black:Out, Noma: My Perfect Storm, Savio Soares Tasting, Crofter & Artisan Market

| Posted in Events

noma-my-perfect-storm-poster-lgFriday — The first screening of Noma: My Perfect Storm is taking place, and Maine & Loire is holding a Savio Soares wine tasting.

Saturday — Liquid Riot is releasing Straight To Black:Out, Northspore is being featured at Rosemont’s Meet Your Maker dinner, a 2nd screening of Noma: My Perfect Storm and the Winter Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday — a 3rd screening of Noma: My Perfect Storm and the weekly Crofters & Artisan Market is taking place.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

Under Construction: Blake Orchard

| Posted in Under Construction

blakeorchardBlake Orchard (website, instagram, facebook) has successfully completed a $18,250 kickstarter campaign to open a “locally sourced artisan juice shop” in Portland.

Owner Alexandra Blake Messenger started Blake Orchard about a year ago and sells 9 raw juices and nut milks at farmers’ markets in Worcester and Somerville. She has identified a retail space in Portland and is raised funds on Kickstarter to help with build-out and equipment costs.