Food writer Kate McCarty and Maine Beer Mavens founder Lora Burns have started a women’s whiskey club called the Portland Spirit Society,
We are a group of women in Portland, Maine who like whiskey and want to learn more about it. Please join us for tastings, tours, and social events.
Update: McCarty has posted some additional info on the PSS on her blog.
Maine Craft Distilling is having a soft opening for their new Freeport tasting room/mixology shop today.
Maine Craft Distilling-Freeport edition is now open for biz. We are calling it our “soft” opening and are sure there is much that we will need to improve upon but come on by and try us out!!! The gala grand opening will be in the new year.
The tasting room is located at 7 Mill Street.
Otto Pizza’s 2nd pizzeria in South Portland opened today. The new pizza shop is located at 125 John Roberts Rd which is right near the Maine Mall.
The John Roberts Road location is OTTO’s 9th location overall (10, if you count our Portland delivery facility), and is one of our roomiest, with 5 picnic tables, and an indoor bocce court. Diners can enjoy pizza by the slice or whole pie, along with a full array of beverages, including beer and wine. (Yes, we’re serving Autohelm, our brand new collaboration with Rising Tide Brewing Company!)
Photo Credit: Otto Pizza
Dutch’s (facebook, instagram, twitter)is now open. Owners Lucy and Ian Dutch are serving breakfast and lunch from their cafe at 28 Preble Street. I’d recommend the brioche cinnamon bun.
Ebb & Flow (facebook, twitter, website, instagram, opentable) has been fine tuning their operation over the last few days with a series of private events and plans to open Thursday at 5 pm. The menu is a mix of Mediterranean inspired seafood and meat dishes. Appetizers will generally be in the $8-14 range and entrees $15-25. The “1000 Degree” items will be a bit more expensive.
Ebb & Flow is co-owned by Angello Ciocca, founder of Nova Seafood, and chef William D’Auvray. It is located at 100 Commercial Street in the completely renovated space formerly occupied by Spread.
To start out Ebb & Flow will be open for dinner Monday though Saturday. They to eventually start serving lunch and Sunday brunch as well.
Oxbow Brewing Company’s new tasting room in Portland is set to open on Thursday at noon. The room is part of a 10,000 sq ft space at 49 Washington Ave that Oxbow took over this summer to use for aging, blending and bottling their beer.
The door to the tasting room is at the back of the driveway to the left of CBD. It’s hand lettered sign (by Will Sears) reads Oxbow Blending and Bottling.
Updated: A Happy Tummy and Maine Today have both posted photos of the new tasting room.
Bao Bao Dumpling House is scheduled to open today at 5 pm. The restaurant was open to the public Saturday night after two days of invitation-only dinner services that saw dedicated fans of chef Cara Stadler lined up on the sidewalk waiting for a table.
MaineBiz, Maine Today and Eater Maine have also posted photos and details on Bao Bao. Check-out Eating Portland Alive some initial impressions on the food and the space.
The C Salt Gourmet Market (facebook) in Cape Elizabeth opened on Wednesday. The market is owned by Mike and Stephanie Concannon. The market sells “Coffee, muffins, cookies and bakery items, gourmet sandwiches and grab and go meals.”
Two more businesses have opened along Congress Street in the West End:
Bramhall and Arabian Days join joins Tandem Bakery, Skillet (still in development), Tawakal Halal and Salvage along with a few established businesses (Yordprom, Flores, and Bodega Latina, Hong Kong Market, etc) in the ongoing development of the business district that stretches from past Longfellow through Bramhall Square and down to Saint John.
The