Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about Atsuko Fujimoto and her business Norimoto Baking, a review of Mazzat in Morrill’s Corner and a look at how a restaurant closure announcement often makes an eatery insanely busy in their final days.
Thai Esaan Closing
The owners of Thai Esaan, Ben Boonseng and Siwaporn Roberts, have announced they’re closing their Portland Street restaurant. Sunday will be their last day in business.
We want to thank all of our wonderful guests that have chosen us to be a part of their family through the years. We are extremely humbled that so many embraced our restaurant and that we were able to succeed as long as we had. Our goal was to serve good food and it showed through our recognition in various news outlets.
Thai Esaan was originally located on Forest Ave and reopened at 65 Portland Street in March of 2023.
Maine Food & Dining News: South Berwick, Wells, Damariscotta, Lewiston, Camden, Saco, Machias
New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:
- Sam Ostrow, the owner of Festina Lente in Kittery, has launched a second restaurant called Secundo (instagram, menu) in South Berwick. Secundo is located at 279 Main Street and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 4 – 9 pm.
- Bake Maine (instagram) which operates the Pottery Cafe on Washington Ave in Portland, has opened
is openinga second location at 2178 Post Road in Wells. - Roger and Prudence Kiessling have leased the space adjacent to their shop The Kingfisher & The Queen in Damariscotta where they plan to open a European-inspired cafe call Rue 77 (instagram). The cafe will serve Stumptown Coffee, baked goods from Solo Pane e Pasticceria in Bath and gelato from Gelato Fiasco. The design will draw “inspiration from the old-school glamour of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s Italy, Amalfi Coast, Slim Aarons, and luxury sports cars (with a bit of understated chic French elegance thrown in), RUE 77 will transport you to a time and place that lives on in your imagination.” Watch for Rue 77 to open in late spring.
- AfroTaste is Lewiston will be closing down at their current location on April 28th. They hope to re-open this summer in a new location.
- Buttermilk Kitchen at Mariner’s (instagram) opened for business in Camden earlier today. Their hours are Monday and Wednesday through Friday 7 am – 2 pm, and Saturday/Sunday 8 am – 3 pm. For additional reporting, see this article in the Penobscot Bay Pilot.
- Swell Nitro Coffee (instagram) is opening for business on Saturday April 27th in Saco. The shop is located at 200 Main Street.
- Mason’s Brewing Company’s new location in Machias opened for business on Wednesday. It’s located in the former Bluebird Ranch Family Restaurant space at 78 Main St.
Waxwing Bakery in Windham
Hannah Buoye and Billy Hager have announced their plans to launch a new bakery in Windham called Waxwing Bakery (instagram). Buoye is a former kitchen manager at Tandem Coffee and Hager had been the executive chef at Helm.
Buoye and Hager plan to offer a menu focused on laminated pastries and breads with a seasonal selection of sandwiches and salads. The counter service bakery will have some indoor seating and will serve Tandem coffee and have espresso-based beverages. Shown above is a zucchini cake with lemon icing that was on sale at their first pop-up back in August.
Waxwing will be located at 868 Roosevelt Trail (aka Route 302). An opening date is still TBD, but they hopes to launch the business later this year. In the meantime you can find them and their baked goods the second Saturday of every month at the Bumbleroot Farm Maker’s Market in Windham.
The name of the bakery is a reference to waxwing family of bird species. See the initial Waxwing instagram post for more info on these birds and their inspiration for the name of the bakery.
Looking Back at April 2009, 2014, and 2019
The Portland Food Map archive provides a chronicle of the past 16+ years of the Portland restaurant scene. While a lot of the reporting here is about what’s happening now and coming next, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at what the hot topics were from 5, 10 and 15 years ago.
Here’s are highlights from April 2009, 2014 and 2019:
- A program called the Maine Food and Drink Ambassadors got going with a class on beer, wine, mead and spirits.
- Bard opened their Middle Street coffee shop on April 6, 2009.
- Grassroots Organic opened for business. The cafe featured raw and low temp cooked dishes that promised to be healthier than food prepared with traditional cooking methods. Cornucopasetic reported they enjoyed “the almond, cacao, banana and nut milk smoothy; a miso sea veggie “soup” with shitaakes; an excellent sea veggie salad with ginger-miso dressing”
- Construction got under way at The Salt Exchange. The restaurant was located in the present day home of the Old Port Noodle House.
- Construction also was progressing for El Rayo at their original location in a former gas station at the intersection of York and High Streets.
- Cara Stadler was named by Food & Wine to their 2014 Best New Chefs list.
- The City Council denied Sangillo’s application to renew their liquor license. The former Sangillo’s building is now home to Tomaso’s Canteen.
- Kate McCarty’s book Portland Food: The Culinary Capital of Maine was published, as was the book Eating in Maine: At Home, On the Town, and On the Road by Malcolm and Jillian Bedell.
- Chefs Masa Miyake and Rob Evans collaborated on a 6-course dinner, a “celebration of Maine-raised pure breed heritage pork”.
- Cheevitdee began serving breakfast.
- Lone Pine Brewing opened a new larger brewery in Gorham.
- The Maine Sunday Telegram published an article about the Minervino family which operates several Portland area restaurants across two generations of family members.
- The Other Side Diner opened for business in April 2019.
- Atsuko Fujimoto launched Norimoto Bakery working out of the Two Fat Cats location in South Portland.
Funding for Vertical Harvest
Vertical Harvest, the hydroponic farm under construction in Westbrook, has received $59.5M in funding, reports the Press Herald.
Vertical Harvest Farms, an indoor farming company focused on microgreens, said $59.5 million in financing will advance its work to develop and operate the 51,000-square-foot vertical farm. The Westbrook business is expected employ 47 workers, with half the workforce including people with intellectual and physical disabilities, CEO Nona Yehia said.
Walter’s Cafe in Brunswick
Prolific Maine restaurateur Walter Loeman has leased space in the Tontine Mall in Brunswick where he plans to open a new business called Walter’s Cafe. Loeman hopes to launch the cafe in May.
This new Walter’s will be a counter service cafe serving soups, stews, salads, sandwiches and drinks along with grab and go food to go as well as stock and bone broth for cooking/enjoyment at home. Four Maine farms (Whatley, Six Rivers, Goranson, Morning Dew) will be featured on the salad menu, each with a dish that highlights seasonal ingredients sourced from them. Bread will be baked in-house and Loeman plans to serve his grandmother’s lobster bisque that some diners (including this writer) will recall was on the menu at Perfettos nearly 25 years ago.
Walter’s will be located in a space formerly occupied by Butchers & Bakers which closed in October 2022. The cafe (located downstairs from Brickyard Hollow) will seat ~30 and Loeman hopes to create a community space where people will want to remain for a time and return to often. He also sees part of the cafe’s mission is to showcase the bounty of Maine farms. He shared that a guiding principle for Walter’s Cafe will be to make it approachable, affordable and repeatable experience.
Loeman has been a member of the Maine restaurant community dating back to the 1980s when he launched the Mariner’s Church Bakery. He’s been the creator or co-creator of many noted establishments including the bakery, the original Walter’s Cafe on Exchange Street, Perfettos, Joe’s Boathouse, Cotton Street Cantina, 15 Independence, Maza, Perfettos Kennebunkport, Fresh, and Farm Truck Juice. In addition he’s the founder of the Farm Truck Institute.
Upcoming Food & Dining Events
All Week – The 6th annual Maine Seaweed Week continues through Sunday.
Wednesday – Mrs. Gee Free Living and Gather in Yarmouth are collaboration on a gluten-free dinner.
Thursday – Palette + Palate, a food event that mixes food and abstract art, is taking place, and Dara Bistro in Cumberland is holding an Argentinian wine dinner.
Friday – It’s the grand re-opening of B + B Bakery which recently relocated from Fore Street to 327 Ocean House Road in Cape Elizabeth.
Saturday – Swell Nitro Coffee (instagram) is opening in Saco, and Portland Chowderfest is taking place.
Sunday – The Casco Bay Chef’s Association is holding their 2024 annual dinner.
April 29 – The Good Food Awards winners will be announced. Eight Maine food producers are finalists in the 2024 Good Food awards program.
May 4 – Author Eric Kim will be at Tandem Coffee for “The Eric Kim & Briana Holt Happy Hour“. Chaval will be holding their annual May the Fourth Star Wars dinner.
May 11 – CiderFeast, an “all-inclusive tasting event celebrates craft ciders from some of the top cider makers in New England and beyond” is taking place.
May 18 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.
May 19 – Fork Food Lab and Mayo Street Arts are collaborating to hold the Taste of Nations Food Festival.
June 10-16 – Portland Wine Week is taking place.
June 17 – The 3rd Annual ChopTails Competition will be taking place at Batson River.
June 22 – The Great Falls Brewfest is taking place in Lewiston.
June 26 – Secret Supper (instagram) is holding a dinner in the Portland area.
June 29 – The 3rd Annual Mast Landing Wavy Days Festival is taking place.
July 25/26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.
August 30 – September 1 – Maine Apple Camp is taking place.
September 20-22 – The Common Ground Fair will be taking place.
Michael Bergin at the Black Point Inn
Mainebiz has published a profile of Michael Bergin, the new executive chef at the Black Point Inn.
After honing his culinary skills at Johnson & Wales University, Bergin moved to Washington, D.C., to cook at Kafe Leopold. In 2007, he was named executive sous chef at Sel de la Terre in Boston, followed by a post there as sous chef of L’Espalier — both famed, old-school French restaurants that have since closed.
Oak & Ember, All-Day Dining
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a review of Oak & Ember, and an article that looks at the all-day service model and the changes that are making that appealing to restaurants and customers alike.