Month: September 2021

Upcoming Events: Lobster Week, Wine Dinners, Zwanze Day, ColoniAle

| Posted in Events

This Week – Maine Lobster Week is taking place through Saturday.

Thursday – Wayside Tavern is holding a Sicilian wine dinner.

Saturday – Novare Res is one of a select number of locations worldwide participating in Cantillon Zwanze Day, and the Tate House Museum is holding ColoniAle 2021 with a lecture by Colby professor Ben Lisle entitled “Ale for Invalids: Brewing and Drinking Beer Under the Maine Law in 19th Century Portland.”

September 28th – Cocktail Mary is holding a wine dinner, tickets go on sale September 21st.

SoPo Seafood Now Open

| Posted in Openings

SoPo Seafood (website, facebook, instagram) opened their new fish market in South Portland on Wednesday. They’re located at 171 Ocean Street in the space formerly occupied by Uncle Andy’s. In addition to the retail shop the new business also features a raw bar where co-owners Matt Brown, Lucas Myers and Joshua Edgcombe plan to showcase the local Maine seafood that they specialize in.

SoPo Seafood launched in March 2020. In addition to in-person sales at the market, and selling wholesale to restaurants, they also operate a seafood delivery service (order online) serving Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth, Saco, Biddeford, and Biddeford Pool. The South Portland market will initially be open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 – 7.

SoPo Seafood is located in the evolving restaurant row on Ocean Street that now includes Taco Trio, Solo Cucina Market, Judy Gibson, Ben Reuben’s, and Cafe Louis.

Sarah’s Farmstand Kitchen

| Posted in Under Construction

A new market cafe and catering business called Sarah’s Farmstand Kitchen (facebook) is under development and owner Rachel Chiasson hopes to launch the business later this month.

For the initial menu Chiasson will be serving a takeout menu of rice bowls. Options will include Autumn Harvest (marinated kale crisp apple, charred root vegetables, nuts, maple dijon) and Three Bean (garlic black beans, fried chickpeas, edamame, roast corn, charred peppers, spicy cilantro sauce). All bowls come with a choice of shredded chicken, sliced beef, chopped shrimp or sticky tofu.

In addition to meals to go Chiasson plans to sell produce from the farms she buys from and in doing so expand the market for locally grown foods. The launch of Sarah’s Farmstand Kitchen is the culmination of Chiasson’s long term ambition to run her own business after working for many years in the hospitality industry.

Sarah’s will be located at the Urban Farm Fermentory in East Bayside. It will be open Thursday through Saturday, 3 to 8 pm.

 

Brewer of the Year

| Posted in Beer

Allagash was named the 2021 Brewery and Brewer of the Year by the Great American Beer Festival in the 15k – 100k barrels segment of the industry.

In a statement to the Press Herald founder Rob Tod shared his thoughts on the award,

“We love what we do and care deeply about the quality of the beers we make, and we’re honored and humbled to be recognized for that,” Rob Tod, the founder of Allagash, said in a written statement. “It’s been a particularly challenging and enlightening year and a half. But we’ve been able to weather the storm and, from our perspective, come out on the other side even stronger. Being honored at GABF feels like validation for all of the hard work we’ve put in.”

Old Port Flores Now Open

| Posted in Openings

Flores (website, facebook, instagram) opened their new restaurant on Congress Street on Saturday. The newly renovated space is located at 431 Congress Street adjacent to the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church at the head of Temple Street. The restaurant seats 30+ people and features a bar and full liquor license.

Flores in the Old Port is open Monday 5 – 11 pm, Thursday and Friday 5 pm – 1 am, Saturday 2 pm – 1 am, and Sunday 9 am – 9 pm. The Flores in Parkside will remain open for takeout.

Here’s a look at the menu.

Restaurant Design, Olfactory Portland

| Posted in Under Construction, General News

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article on the changing olfactory nature of Portland, and

The smorgasbord of scents Lausier recounted hasn’t existed since the late 1990s, when the J.J. Nissen Bakery on Washington Avenue shut down. Jordan’s Meats, on India Street in the East End, stopped cooking up hot dogs and deli meats in 2005. The B&M Baked Beans plant, where Lausier worked for 42 years, will stop production by the end of this year, the owners announced in late August.

an article about contemporary restaurant design in our city.

The 1920s glam bar at the Time & Temperature will be the latest in a slew of restaurants and bar/lounges in the city that have been amping up their interior design game. The city’s image as a down-to-earth, no-fuss, mostly rustic farm-to-table culinary scene is changing. Some attribute it, at least in part, to the Restaurant City of the Year accolade Bon Appétit magazine bestowed in 2018.