Lack of Staff Keeps Toast Bar Closed

The BDN and Press Herald have posted reports on Scratch’s decision to keep their Toast Bar closed due to a lack of staff.

Here’s an excerpt of what Scratch wrote on Instagram,

Unfortunately with the current labor shortage we just can’t find the staff to provide the experience and service to our customers that is so important to us.

It is an extremely difficult decision and one that admittedly feels a bit like defeat because who likes to disappoint folks who want their toast!? But we‘re going to double down at the bakery on Willard Square where we, of course, will have all the bagels, breads, sweet treats, savory eats, coffee and good cheer you can handle.

We plan to revisit reopening sometime in the spring…

The New Cheese Shop Opens on Friday

The Cheese Shop (websiteinstagramfacebook) plans to open their new store located at 107 Washington Ave on Friday at 10 am. A wine tasting with Devenish Wines is taking place 4 – 6:30 pm.

The new store will sell a larger selection, they’ll also begin offering evening classes and have some space for seating and producer demonstrations. Here’s a look at the opening day menu:Owners Will and Mary Sissle opened The Cheese Shop opened September 28, 2018 and have quickly developed a loyal customer base working out of their container sized space in The Black Box incubator.

Ishi Ishi Ramen, a 9-seat ramen counter, is slated to takeover their former Black Box shipping container space.

This Week’s Events: Halloween, Beer Week, VegFest, Chewdaism, Fall Fete

Wednesday – there will be a wine tasting at Maine & Loire, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Thursday – it’s Halloween! Two Fat Cats in South Portland will be having a Halloween Decorating Station for Kids.

Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.

Sunday – it’s the fist day of Portland Beer Week, Allagash is holding their Fall Fete, the 15th Annual VegFest is taking place, there will be a screening of Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montreal, and Drifters Wife is launching their week Pigeon Sundays happy hour.

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.

Heirloom Apple Tasting

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published an article about the 6th Annual Heirloom Apple Tasting.

Apple enthusiast Sean Turley and Anestes Fotiades, the creator of the online Portland Food Map, offer a more closely guided tour of New England apples as part of their Heirloom Apple Tasting held annually on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, formerly Columbus Day, in Portland. This year’s event sold out within hours of being announced on Instagram and featured 213 dessert (best eaten raw), cooking (best in pies) and cider (best in fermented beverages) apples.

Reviews: Coals Pizza, CBG, Quiero, N To Tail

The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Coals Pizza.

Portland’s Coals is homey, rustic and unique among the three in that it is where Etzel plays with new flavors and techniques. Many of his experiments, like the mortadella, pistachio-infused heavy cream and Asiago pie or Nutella dessert pizza, are worth sampling. So is Coals’ version of the Margherita pizza, or its spectacularly good pepperoni-and-hot-honey Bee Cool pizza, both served on a crisp crust that shatters as you take a bite. If pizza isn’t your thing, that’s fine, too. The cheddar-topped burger, spicy cilantro wings and eight tap lines pouring beers from Maine and “from away” make a visit worth your time.

The Blueberry Files has published a first look at CBG.

CBG will undoubtedly fill the same needs Congress Bar and Grill did—a meal before a show at the nearby State Theater, a happy hour spot, a late night nightcap, a casual date night. Open 11am to 1am every day, there’s no excuse for you not to stop into the new CBG and check out the changes for yourself.

The Press Herald has reviewed Quiero Cafe.

The Cubano’s foundation was very tender pulled pork, with a couple layers of what looked to be Spanish ham, dark red in color. It was topped with Swiss cheese, yellow mustard, pickles and garlic aioli. The long roll was slightly toasted on the outside, and light and fluffy on the inside. It was $9 and one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a long time.

The Press Herald has published a bar review of N To Tail.

The upstairs portion has a funky vibe, great food, original cocktails and outstanding service. The downstairs portion has a completely different feel, much more like a basement college bar than a place I’d go for a creative cocktail. I’ll definitely be back to the upstairs portion, which was so enjoyable that I’m willing to forgive the lack of purse hooks under the bar.

Small City Big Appetite Shirts, Mugs and Totes

I’m very happy to announce the launch of a line of Portland Food Map branded merchandise available via our new e-commerce store. Beautifully designed by Sofija Razgaitis, the t-shirts, tote bags, coffee mugs, and stickers celebrate tiny Portland’s culinary achievements with the new PFM tagline “Small City. Big Appetite”.

The totes are great for your weekend trips to the Farmers’ Market or for fall apple-picking forays. The soft cotton t-shirts are the perfect, visible way to show your love for our wonderful, food-obsessed city. The coffee mugs and stickers are your constant reminder to visit all those restaurants, bars, coffee shops, breweries, and specialty food businesses we are so lucky to have.

The initial collection includes:

  • Tote Bag – natural cotton canvas tote (15 x 15) emblazoned with the “Small City. Big Appetite.” tagline and the circular PFM peninsula map logo on the reverse.
  • Short Sleeve T-shirt – silver gray 100% cotton jersey t-shirt with “Small City. Big Appetite.” across the chest and a small Portland Food Map logo on back.
  • Long sleeve T-shirt – navy blue 100% cotton jersey t-shirt with a small Portland Food Map logo on the front and “Small City. Big Appetite.” emblazoned across the back.
  • Coffee Mugs – diner-style coffee mugs (sold in pairs) featuring the “Small City. Big Appetite.” tagline and the circular PFM peninsula map logo on the reverse.
  • PFM Logo Stickers – share your passion for Portland Food Map by displaying one of these diamond-shaped 3″ x 2.25″ PFM logo stickers on your laptop, notebook, etc. If you see someone walking around town with one on their blue iPad come say hello, that’s probably me.

Falafel Mafia to Open a Hummusiya

The owners of Falafel Mafia, Dylan and Cameron Gardner, have leased 1 Monument Way, the space formerly occupied by Foley’s/Scattaloni Bakery where they plan to open Nura (instagram).

Nura will be a 30-seat hummusiya open for breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch serving fresh made breads to order with their hummus and a range of Middle Eastern dishes. The menu will also include a selection of falafel pockets that carry over from the Falafel Mafia menu.

The Gardeners launched Falafel Mafia in 2017. They’re aiming to have Nura open by the end of November.

A hummusiya is casual restaurant with a hummus-centered menu. The most notable example in the US is Dizengoff in Philadelphia which was open by Zahav founder/chef Michael Solomonov.

Terlingua Relocating to Former Silly’s

Terlingua (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) has leased the former Silly’s restaurant location where they plan to open an expanded version of their four-year-old restaurant this spring.

The new Terlingua will seat 60—nearly double in size the current location at 52 Washington. It will also include a small market selling prepared foods as well as and house-made sauces and rubs, and feature an outdoor beer garden and dining deck.

Owners Pliny and Melanie Reynolds stated, “We love this neighborhood and the restaurant community in Portland. We’ve been humbled by the success we’ve had at the current Terlingua location and for us, the time was right to move into a space that can grow with us. We continue to be thankful for our wonderful employees, suppliers and patrons and only look for that to continue in a larger, more adaptive space, as we move a few doors up the street.”

Terlingua 1.0 will remain open during the renovations of the new space at which point the 52 Washington Ave will be leased for use by a new restaurant.