Category: General News

The Portland Daily Sun has posted an article by lobsterman Chris Shorr entitled “Why is Sangillo’s in the crosshairs?”

So my question is, why would the police single out Sangillo’s? If they are so concerned with putting a stop to late night hooliganism and violence, why wouldn’t they focus on the bars in the Old Port first?

Perhaps it’s because as a police force, they recognize that they will never be able to effectively corral the after hours trouble makers in the Old Port. So they might as well feign diligence by blaming a single blue collar establishment for a struggling neighborhood’s problems.

The Save Sangillo’s campaign has set up a facebook page at facebook.com/SaveSangillos.

The Save Sangillo’s campaign has launched a Facebook page to bolster support for the popular neighborhood bar. Go “like” the page to show your support for the bar.

The campaign got a boost today when Eater Maine published an impassioned pro-Sangillo’s editorial from Snug owner Margaret Lyons,

Every neighborhood needs a Sangillo’s. There is a contingent that requires a certain type of bar. Whether that continent be Donald Sussman or Timmy Noname, they need a place where they can just have a gee dee drink … for cheap. Sangillo’s is not a charity endeavor for hipsters or an outreach project. They don’t need salvation. They need the opportunists to shut the f*** up and for their neighbors to circle the wagons. For what it’s worth, The Snug has Sangillo’s back.

and an essay on the from preeminent Portland bartender John Myers on “why Sangillo’s is a great neighborhood saloon“,

Those kinds of places, with that kind of vibe, I fear, are not long for this world. Sangillo’s is one of them, though.

A great neighborhood saloon like Sangillo’s reminds me of a geologist plunging his tap into the earth and pulling up a striated sample of rocks and dirt and compacted debris. He can read history in a 2-foot plug of dirt. I’ve watched the neighborhood change over the decade or so I’ve been in Portland just by watching the people change in that bar.

USA Today has posted a short list of small cities “culinary zeal”.

Sprudge has published an article about the coffee service at Hugo’s and the restaurant’s partnership with Tandem Coffee Roasters.

But what’s most unique here—besides being served an amuse course of a single, roe-topped french fry—is, you guessed it: the coffee. Wish to follow your meal with a seasonally paired coffee brewed for you on Chemex? Or a meticulously made syphon, theatrically prepared at the bar, thermocouple and all? Or simply a cup of delicious French press coffee? In partnership with new-kid-on-the-block Tandem Coffee (our friends and partners here at Sprudge), Hugo’s has transformed the finale of an already transformative dining experience.

An article in today’s Press Herald explores why Sangillo’s decided to stop serving Rémy Martin and Hennessy.

Are cognac drinkers troublemakers?

That would seem to be the premise behind a Portland bar’s ban on two kinds of cognac – Hennessy and Rémy Martin – as the owners try to convince city officials that they are making the place safer.

The Portland police have made a recommendation to the City Council not to renew Sangillo’s liquor license, according to a report from the Press Herald. The Council will consider the recommendation on March 17.

On March 17, the City Council will consider the department’s recommendation to deny a renewed liquor license for Sangillo’s Tavern on Hampshire Street. “We feel public safety is jeopardized by the continuing operation of this establishment,” says the department’s recommendation.

The reporter checked in with owners of Dean’s Sweets and Hugo’s as well as a local resident, none of whom expressed any concern about Sangillo’s.

Carmela Difazio of Hampshire Street has never been inside Sangillo’s but has lived two doors down from the bar her whole life.

“There’s hardly any problems, only every once in a while,” she said. “I don’t see any reason why it should have to close.”

The owners of Little Bigs have recently been contacted by the NYC creators of the trademark Cronuts with a cease and desist order, according to a report from Maine a la Carte.

The NYC baker who created the Cronut had the name trademarked, and according to James and Pamela Plunkett’s Little Bigs Facebook page, he’s sent the bakers a cease-and-desist order. It seems the name crauxnut is, legally speaking, just a smidge too similar to the trademarked name.

Wannawaf has sent out an appeal asking for help to recapitalize their business. According to the message, the effort to launch 2nd store in Portland impacted the financially viability of the enterprise.

So here it is, Wannawaf in Boothbay harbor is going to go out of business because of my mistakes in Portland. I bled our consistently profitable Boothbay store in order keep Portland going a little bit longer, and as a result I do not have the capital to reopen this year.

If you want to help Wannawaf out go to their page on Go Fund Me.

The USM Free Press has published a report on the challenges of launching and running a successful restaurant.

According to Professor Charles Colgan of public policy and management and the Muskie School of Public Service and long-time former chair of the State of Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, there’s nothing unusual about that. “Restaurants are the same pretty much everywhere. They are the business most frequently started and most frequently closed.”

The Golden Dish has put together a “short list of Portland shops and their specialty foods.”