Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy had a packed house last night at the East Ender(website, facebook, twitter, opentable) for their friends and family party.
The restaurant is scheduled to open on Monday, March 9th at 11:30 am.
See Maine a la Carte for some photos from last night’s gathering.
Nova Coffee is under construction at the corner of Brackett and Pine Streets They’ll be located in the same building (West End Place) as the new Rosemont Market. Nova plans to serve Tandem Coffee.
The City Council meets Monday, and among other items on the agenda are consideration and approval of liquor licenses applications for:
Also on the agenda is a California-based company called the Old Port Lobster Shack which has leased 425 Fore Street. The company has existing locations in Portola Valley, Redwood City and San Jose. According to their cover letter, their eateries are “seafood restaurants specializing in lobster prepared in various ways that are commonly found in Maine lobster shacks.”
Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy are planning to re-open the East Ender on March 9. The restaurant has been undergoing some renovations including new signage by Will Sears and seating by Pistol Pete. Small Axe fans will be happy to learn that the burger safely made the transition to the East Ender menu. The Pastrami Salmon Tartine (house made pastrami salmon open faced sandwich on SouthSide Rye with radish, pickled onion, mustard seed, creme fraiche) sounds particularly delicious.
Steve and Michelle Corry have released some additional information about Portland Patisserie(facebook), the new cafe and bakery they have under construction at 46 Market Street.
The focus will be on the traditional Patisserie theme-with beautiful displays of whimsical pastries, pies, cakes, desserts, breakfast pastries, etc. Although there will be a constant rotation of sweets such as crème brulee, chocolate mousse, cookies and brownies, as well as sweet crepes with peaches and vanilla cream or Nutella and banana served hot right out of the pan, additionally, there will be some limited fresh baked breads and in the theme of a true “Grand Café,” there will be full lunch and lighter dinner fare such as an array of savory crepes, salads, and sandwiches: Think duck confit, caramelized onion, and figs wrapped in a warm crepe or imagine an avocado and shrimp salad on house baked croissant- just a sample of some of the savary fare that will be offered.
Catherine Côté-Eliot who has worked at Financier in NYC and at Standard Baking will be pastry chef. The Corry’s hope to open Portland Patisserie in May. A sample menu was supplied with the press release.
An “upscale supper club & lounge celebrating the favorites of a classic era” called Crooners & Cocktails(facebook) is under construction at 90 Exchange Street, according to Eater Maine.
Evo(twitter, website, facebook) has applied for a liquor license. They are on the agenda for the City Council’s meeting on Monday.
According to the material supplied with the application, the owners plan to serve a menu of “Eastern Mediterranean Cuisine”. A draft menu (pages 74-75) was supplied with the supporting paperwork. Here’s an excerpt.
The full floor plan (1st floor show below) seems to show a mezzanine area for additional seating. You can find some concept sketches for the space on Evo’s facebook page.
Update: The Golden Dish reports the chef Brandon Hicks will lead the kitchen staff,
Executive chef is Brandon Hicks, who also oversees the kitchen at the Chebeague Island Inn as well has having had a solid background at some of New York’s top-rated Michelin starred restaurants. Executive sous chef is Matt Ginn, formerly executive chef of Five Fifty-Five in Portland as well as L’Espalier in Boston.
A new restaurant called Evo(twitter, website, facebook) is under construction at 443 Fore Street which small space at the corner of Fore and Union that’s part of the Hyatt.
Evo will be a “Greek and Mediterranean and Tapas Bars” and hopes to be open this Spring. It is part of the Prentice Hospitality Group that runs Chebeague Island Inn and other businesses.
Portland Magazine has published an interview with Natalie DiBenedetto about Figgy’s(facebook, website), the takeout restaurant she has under construction on Walker Street, and that journey that brought her to Portland.
By May she plans to be cooking at Figgy’s, her forthcoming take-out restaurant, now under construction in back of Yordprom’s building, which she owns. Figgy’s will offer skillet-fried chicken and classic sides like mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, plus seasonal healthy vegetable choices and a daily dinner salad. Her other signature item will be Korean fried chicken wings.
This month’s issue of the magazine also includes a review of The Merry Table.
The owners of Boda and Green Elephant are launching a third restaurant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, according to a report in the Portsmouth Herald.
[General Manager Ben] Richards acknowledged “there’s a lot of restaurants in Portsmouth,” but said he believes what they will bring to the 2,800 square-foot-space on the first floor of Portwalk 3 is “something different.”
“It’s all vegetarian food and it’s a mixture of Chinese, Malaysian and Thai,” Richards said.
He also described the restaurant as “very high end” and upscale.”
Otto Pizza has opened several locations in Massachusetts, Zapoteca has opened a restaurant in New Hampshire and a number of Portland restaurant owners have explored opening new ventures in Biddeford. This initiative by Boda/Green Elephant is part of that emerging trend of exporting the Portland food culture to locales further south.