Category: Openings

Red Sea Restaurant is holding its grand opening today, 11 am to 10 pm. The restaurant is located at 30 Washington Ave. The menu includes a variety of Eritrean and Ethiopian dishes like Sambusa, Falafel, Zigni as well as vegetarian entrees and rice-based dishes.

Coffee by Design opened their new location in East Bayside today. It’s CBD’s 5th location and the new site for their roastery and corporate headquarters.

See articles from the Press Herald, Bangor Daily News and Portland Daily Sun for all the details.

The West End Deli opened at their new location (photo) at 545 Congress Street yesterday. The new store is located immediately adjacent to Emilitsa and just a couple blocks away from Monument Square.

Portlanders now have another way satisfy their craving for Thai food. Thai 9 has opened their new restaurant on upper Exchange Street at the former location of Little Seoul.

Thai 9 opened on February 10. This is their 2nd location, the original Thai 9 is at the Cabella’s plaza in Scarborough.

The Bagor Daily News has a report on the launch of Tortilleria Pachanga.

Her company, Tortilleria Pachanga, is newborn, just weeks old. Using organic, Maine-grown corn, which she mills on the premises with her own grinding stones, Rowe is one of a mere handful of tortilla makers in the Northeast.

“I want to make a really great, fresh tortilla with corn that’s grown from as close as possible,” said the former Spanish teacher, who lives on Munjoy Hill.

That means working with local farmers and selling hours-old tortillas to restaurants, food trucks and specialty markets in Greater Portland.

The Forecaster has a report on the upcoming opening of the Sweetgrass tasting room taking place this Friday.

The grand opening runs from noon to 8 p.m., and the tasting room will be open for regular hours Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Included in the wine and spirit pairings Friday are cupcakes from Kupcakes Inc. in Monument Square and truffles from Dean’s Sweets on Middle Street. Neighboring businesses Just Kim at 366 Fore St., Vena’s Fizz House at 345 Fore St., and Lovely Things at 332 Fore St. will also offer extended hours and sales.

The highly anticipated Central Provisions (website, facebook, twitter) opened tonight at 414 Fore Street. The restaurant featueres a diverse menu of small plates and cocktails and also features a strong wine program. The bottom floor facing Wharf Street is a bar and one flight up on Fore Street is the main dining room and open kitchen.

Central Provisions is owned by Chris and Paige Gould. Gould is a Maine native. Most recently he who worked at the Ken Orringer restaurants Coppa and Uni before the couple moved to Portland.

Patrick McDonald has joined the staff as bar manager and Chris Peterman has been hired to head up the wine program. Macdonald has been working at Gingko Blue and Peterman is running the American Sommelier training program in Portland.

For more images from opening night see Maine a la Carte and Active Beer Geek as well as  Instagram photos from Blueberry Files, Sean Wilkinson.

Miyake Diner (facebook) is opening tonight at 129 Spring Street; the location of the original Miyake restaurant.

Miyake Diner is styled  as a Japanese izakaya bar, a small casual space serving sake, beer and a menu of small plates. The opening night menu will feature dishes like:

Okonomiyaki (photo) – $8.50
Japanese style pancake with cabbage, scallion, and Maine shrimp, bacon or both

Niku Tofu– $8.50
Beef braised in soy and mirin with tofu and yam noodles

Kaisen Chawanmushi – $12.50
Custard with lobster, crab, uni, scallop and mitsuba

Egg, Egg, Egg!!! – $10
Deviled egg topped with uni and wasabi tobiko

as well as some more standard Japsnese fare such as edamame, seaweed salad, miso soup, shumai, and sashimi.

Miyake Diner seats 16 people. It will be open daily 6 pm to 1 am. Joe Ricchio is managing the bar, and Small Axe owners Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy are working in the kitchen alongside chef Masa Miyake.

This is the third restaurant in the Miyake family.

Casa Fiesta Mexican Bar & Grill is now open. They’re located at 865 Forest Ave.

Also now open on outer Forest Ave is Aladdin Market at 646 Forest Ave in Woodford’s Corner.

Vinland (website, facebook, twitter)opened tonight. The restaurant is located at 593 Congress St, adjacent to Congress Square Park.

For Friday and Saturday dinner chef/owner David Levi is serving a “$40 three course menu, your choice of starter, main, and dessert” with a full bar. For reservation email info@vinland.me.

Update: See this article from the Huffington Post for more info on Vinland.