According to a report in today’s Press Herald, the zoning variance sought for a restaurant on York Street was denied.
Potential investors vowed Thursday to keep pursuing their dream of opening a small upscale restaurant in the West End after the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals denied a request to waive off-street parking requirements.
Neighbors are opposing plans for a second restaurant development on York Street. The new restaurant would be adjacent to Outliers.
Residents are concerned that another restaurant/bar will be too much, too soon, for the neighborhood, which was once disturbed by unruly, late-night crowds at the former Popeye’s Ice House bar. That notorious tavern, which had the tail of an airplane sticking out of its roof, closed in 2008 after repeated clashes with neighbors.
A new magazine called Edible Coastal Maine is preparing to launch mid-year in 2013. Editor Heather Carroll tells me she’ll be pursuing stories all along coastal Maine from the New Hampshire border to Hancock County.
ECM is part of a family of 60+ regional food magazines from Edible Communities which works to “connect consumers with family farmers, growers, chefs, and food artisans of all kinds.”
In’finiti Fermentation and Distillation is the official name for Novare Res’ restaurant, brewery, distillery and retail shop that’s been under development for several months at 250 Commercial Street.
According to materials provided to the city with their liquor license application, they plan on serving lunch and dinner 7 days a week. The onsite brewery and distillery are primarily for on-premise consumption with some sales through their retail shop.
Based on floor plan (see below) it looks like there are plans for outdoor deck seating on the back side of the building. A draft food menu for In’finiti is online (page 57).
A new eatery and bar called the Little Tap House is under construction at 106 High Street in the space recently vacated by Plush West End. The owners are billing it as “a boutique craftbeer gastro-pub with local farm to table dining”. A draft menu is available online (page 70).
Lee Goyette is the owner/general manager of the Little Tap House, and Andrew Kadish will be serving as the executive chef. According to information from a regular PFM reader, Goyette and Kadish were both formerly at J.P. Thorntons in South Portland.
Chef Damian Sansonetti has joined up with a group of 3 partners that are launching a new cafe at 5 Dana Street in the old home of Big Mama’s Diner.
Sansonetti tells me they hope to fill a niche for the weekday lunch crowd and catering for nearby office workers. Just a stones throw from both Commercial and Wharf Streets they would seem to be well positioned to tap into late night weekend Wharf Street crowd as well as serve hungry tourists in the Summer. The menu is still under development but will be sandwich-centric with some interesting twists.
They hope to open the new, and as yet unnamed business, in February.
While working on the Dana Street project, Sansonetti is continuing to search for digs in Portland to open his own restaurant, Sonnet.
Maine Craft Distilling is a new distillery that’s under construction at 101 Fox Street in East Bayside. The company was founded by Luke Davidson and three IDEXX alumni Fred Farber, TJ Dupree and John Rogers. This weekend I had the chance to meet up with Luke to learn more about the operation and get a tour of the facility.
Maine Craft Distilling describes themselves as a farm-to-flask operation and listening to Luke it sounds like they have a strong experimental streak that could lead to some very interesting products. The company is developing relationships with Maine farmers to source grains and other ingredients. They’ve received their federal license to distill and are on track to get their state licenses as well. They plan to produce a carrot-based gin called Chesuncook, as well as a rum “Ration”, a single malt whiskey “Fifty Stone” and a vermouth. They hope to start production and sales in the coming year.
A year ago there wasn’t a single distiller in Portland. The launch of New England Distilling in 2012 and upcoming developments from Maine Craft Distilling and In’finiti (from Novare Res) are rapidly changing that. If the trend continues, we may soon have as many options for local spirits as we already do for local craft beer.
Photos: wall mural that runs along the Maine Craft Distilling malting floor (above), malting floor, stills and other equipments (below), tasting room and office, MCD exterior sign, hybrid bicycle that’s been retrofitted to run on methanol.
Deux Cochon, the short lived (April 11-August 3, 2011) but very popular shop in the Public Market House, has announced that they’re making a comeback.
Starting early next year Adam Alfter and friends will be serving their brand of “Southern Food Hooliganism” from the back of a Portland food truck.
In celebration of Portland, ME finally allowing food trucks to grace the city’s streets, I’m picking up a sweet old truck next week in Brooklyn, so that a couple friends and I can play along. Chicken & waffles, poutine, biscuit waffles & gravy and various breakfast-like creations will be our focus, but blackboard randomness will also be offered to all ye late-night Old Port revelers. Will be rolling out in about a month, but will start posting photos in the meantime soon.
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a feature story on 3 new restaurants under construction in Portland: Salvage BBQ & Smokehouse being developed by Jay Villani of Local 188, the re-imagined Food Factory Miyake and Harding Lee Smith’s as yet unnamed fourth Room restaurant on Custom House Wharf.
Villani says he gets his kicks these days being the “executive producer” of a restaurant. A former sculptor, he likes trying to create energy and flow in a space. “I’m really into this part — building them out, the flow — the whole project from beginning to end,” he said. “At this point in my life, that really excites me.”
Villani and the other restaurateurs planning new businesses say that today it’s essential to have a niche to fill in the city. Villani thinks there’s room here for more barbecue, and his new place will be just a block and a half from the ballpark at Hadlock Field.
For a complete list of all new restaurants under development in Portland see the PFM Under Construction List.
According to the Forecaster, a new Mexican restaurant called Bueno Loco Mexican Restaurante is under construction in Falmouth.
Bueno Loco will serve Mexican with a Mayan twist, which Starks said is different from the traditional Tex-Mex many restaurants serve. She says it will be a “healthier Mexican,” and Opalnyk will use a lot of local ingredients.