Category: Under Construction

The Golden Dish has a report on the as-yet-unnamed new seafood restaurant being developed on the Portland waterfront by Dana Street and Sam Hayward.

It hasn’t been named yet, but Street described it to me as a classic New England seafood house reminiscent of the way fish houses were in the early part of the 20^th century as brasserie-style dining rooms. While he didn’t go into much detail about the menu, he offered this: It will resemble the simplicity of Fore Street’s straightforward approach, using the finest and freshest local ingredients. The focus will be on seafood but will also include steaks, chicken, lamb and pork done in the inimitable style of Hayward and his team of chefs. The food will be at once old-fashioned yet contemporary…

Mark Ohlson, Nathan Drinkwater and Stephen Briggs are launching Lincolns, a “cash only lounge for locals to escape the madness of the old port and see quality entertainment” at 36 Market Street. Lincolns will be in the basement level space that had been the home to Market Street Eats and many years back was the location a cocktail lounge called Maza. According to their letter of intent,

Lincolns will be a bar that functions on the premise of simplicity. We sell a short list of common, premium beers and alcohols all at $5. We will also offer chili and potato & pasta salad also at the $5 price point.

Ohlson is the owner of MJ’s Wine Bar, Drinkwater is a bartender at Gritty’s and Briggs works at Bull Feeney’s. They hope to open Lincolns in January.

Here’s a copy of the draft menu (page 95 of the City Council packet) as well as a floor plan.

As reported back in November, Small Axe co-owners Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy are in the process of buying the East Ender. The deal is expected to close in January and after completing some renovations they plan to re-open in February or March next year.

Deuben and Leavy have now applied for a liquor license giving us all our first look at the lunch and dinner menus (page 120 of the City Council packet). Here are excerpts from the menus:

The Forecaster reports that Rivalries is working on opening a new 11,400 square foot sports bar in Falmouth.

The proposed restaurant would be a two-story, 11,400-square-foot building with its entrance on Hat Trick Drive. It would seat 192 patrons on the two floors, with 16 bar seats and function spaces upstairs. Seasonal outdoor seating would allow for 32 more patrons.

The lot of almost half an acre is bordered by Clearwater Drive to the east, Farm Gate Road to the south, and the proposed Hat Trick Drive to the north. It is currently undeveloped.

Home Catering Company (website, instagram, facebook) owner Matt Chamberlain has leased the former Miyake Diner space at 129 Spring Street. According to his post on Instagram he’ll be selling prepared foods to go along with beer and wine as well as running his catering operation from that location.

Chamberlain hopes to be open by mid-February.

Urban Eye has posted an update on Unwined.

Inside the soon-to-open Unwined Lounge on Congress Street, hospitality veteran Jared Rice explains. “The idea is to create a relaxed atmosphere where people feel comfortable. There won’t be any riffraff or a rowdy bar scene here,” said Portland’s newest nightlife entrepreneur.

Two more restaurant industry crowdfunding campaigns are seeking support:

• Unwined is trying to raise $20,000  on Kickstarter to complete the wine bar they have under construction at 569 Congress Street.
• Catbird Creamery is trying to raise $60,000 on Indiegogo to support the relocation and expansion of their ice cream business which is currently located on Main Street in Westbrook.

Urban Eye has an update on the restaurant Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier are developing for the Press Hotel.

This we do know, Mark and Clark’s first Portland restaurant is an open kitchen, 65-seater with a bar. The entrance is directly across from City Hall. It won’t be an upscale Italian spot like M.C. Spiedo, which opened in Boston’s Seaport last Feb., or a seafood house like M.C. Perkins Cove, but “a combination of all of our experiences,” said Frasier. They will also be in charge of room service and stocking room mini bars with “cookies and things we love.”

According to the American Journal, On the Vine Marketplace  has bought Dunstan School in Scarborough with plans to turn the restaurant building into a grocery store. On the Vine has an existing store in Exeter NH.

[Co-owner Abel] Schultze said the On the Vine in Exeter employs about 50 people, including trained chefs and bakers, and about one-third of the staff will come to Maine in the spring to help get the Scarborough store up and running.

In addition, Schultze said that either he or Edwards would be on hand locally all week long because they want to “keep in direct touch with our customers.”

Update: for additional information read this article in the BDN.

Maine Craft Distilling (website, twitter, facebook, instagram) has leased the historic Mallet Building on Mill Street in Freeport where they plan to open a tasting room and mixology shop.

Distiller Luke Davidson tells me the new two-story space will increase exposure and retail sales of their spirits and enable MCD to expand into selling cocktail accessories, glassware, shakers, mixers, bitters, books and, of course, MCD-emblazoned merchandise. Davidson also plans to use the Freeport location to host events including ” educational events,evenings of music, book authors and joint events with other area businesses (e.g. spirits and cheese pairings farm to table/flask catered events etc)”.

MCD hopes to open their Freeport store by early January.