The Bangor Daily News has published an article on the big increase in the number of food trucks planning to operate in Portland this year.
There were three times as many licensed food trucks in Portland last month than there were in 2019. Those totals could signal another surge in the number of mobile food options on the scene as chefs find ways around high rents and the lingering threat of the virus.
A new wine-centric restaurant and bar called Wayside Tavern (instagram) is under construction in the former Flood’s space in The Francis hotel. The plan is create a space that can be both a restaurant and also a neighborhood spot to grab a glass wine and snack with friends. The wine program will be weighted to old world wines from Europe.
Wayside is being launched by the founders of Roll Call, Michael and Siobhán Sindoni. Prior to moving to Maine, Michael was the executive chef of the Joule Hotel and opened the restaurant CBD Provisions in Dallas. Siobhán was the sommelier/manager at FT33 in Dallas. They also worked together for Makeready as culinary director and service/wine director. Their most recent Makeready opening was Frannie & the Fox in Hotel Emeline in Charleston.
Experience Maine Market (website, facebook, instagram) has leased the former Rosemont Market space at 5 Commercial Street where the market will include a retail shop, tasting space and cafe that specializes in Maine made products.
At Experience Maine owner Rachel Sagiroglu plans to serve coffee and baked goods from local roasters and bakeries in the cafe. The space will be set-up with an area that can hold up to 21 people for tastings of Maine beers and wines. Sagiroglu also plans to build out a demonstration kitchen to host cooking demos with local chefs, cooking classes and tasting events.
Rachel Sagiroglu hopes to open the Experience Maine Market this summer. Sagiroglu grew up in the Begrade Lakes area and worked in the Portland restaurant industry before pursing a career in marketing and event and travel planning with “20 years of experience planning meetings, travel and events and experiential marketing campaigns”.
For more information on read this recent article from Mainebiz.
Update: The new name for this business is The Maker’s Gallery.
Silly’s (instagram) owner Colleen Kelley has applied for a beer and wine license so customers at her current restaurant at 68 Washington Ave can enjoy sangria and beer with their meals.
Cellardoor Winery (website, facebook, instagram) closed their tasting room on Thompson’s Point last September. Owner Bettina Doulton has now leased a new space on Middle Street at the corner of Church Street for Cellardoor to open a new tasting room and retail shop in Portland.
The Portland Phoenix has published an article on challenges restaurants and other food and beverage business are currently encountering in hiring staff.
A recent HospitalityMaine membership survey found 96 percent are hiring right now. Member establishments were also asked to rank how difficult hiring has been on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 the most difficult; 80 percent of respondents said hiring has been at a 4 or 5, which indicates “difficult” or “extremely difficult.”
For more information on this subject read this recent article by Restaurant Manifesto.
Après (website, instagram) a cidery and hard seltzer producer is under construction at 148 Anderson Street in East Bayside. Ian Goering, former head brewer at Tributary Brewing has been hired as the head of production at Après, and the operations manager Sarah Bryan—formerly with Schilling Beer—will manage front of house operations.
Après is being launched by co-owners Ryan Houghton from the Hop Yard and Michael Cardente. Extensive renovations to the industrial building are in full swing with hopes to open the 80-seat tasting room and outdoor seating area sometime this summer.
Après is looking forward to being part of Maine’s burgeoning cider industry, and will be Portland first hard seltzer producer. The production space includes 15-barrel brewing operation and a barrel-ageing room for their cider. A food program for the tasting room is in the early planning stage and will be augmented with appearances by local food trucks.
For people that want the most unique social drinking adventure, Après is redefining the tasting room experience by creating the most unique house-brewed hard seltzer + cider and an unforgettable social environment. We facilitate the simple act of discovery – where people enjoy rare products and connect with others in exciting ways.
Maine has 21 on-market cider producers and now 7 cider producers under construction.
A new restaurant called Stacks Pancake Company (instagram) is under construction at 139 Riverside St. Stacks will serves breakfast and lunch all day, along with bloody marys, mimosas and coffee from Arabica.
The business is being launched by the Papanikoleau family. They previously ran a number of restaurants in New York and New Jersey before moving to Maine. The family is hoping to launch Stacks sometime in May.
Stay tuned for more details on the menu. In the meantime take a look at their instagram-ready breakfast options.
The Small Business Administration page for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund is now live. In contains information on the guidelines for the $28.6 billion grant program as well as details on the paperwork and data that will be required to apply.
According to information from the Independent Restaurant Coalition, the application portal for the grants should launch by the end of April. The IRC also has assembled an FAQ to address key pieces of background information.
Emil Rivera is taking over as the executive chef at Tiqa, the pan-Mediterranean restaurant in the Courtyard restaurant on Commercial Street. Chef Siddharta Rumma has also joined the culinary team at Tiqa.
Tiqa was opened in 2015 by husband and wife team Deen Haleem and Carol Mitchell. It’s currently closed but is expected to re-open in May.
Rivera was founding chef at Sur Lie until late 2019. Rumma was the chef at Ada’s Portland and late last year launched his takeout pasta business Fusillo.