Category: Under Construction

A new business called Queenie’s Castle is under construction in Deeering Oaks Park. It will have indoor seating and tables outside on the front and side decks.

Owner Victoria Queenie Thayer is launching a deli and soft serve ice shop in the historic building and has applied for a wine and beer license.

The draft menu supplied with the liquor license application (see pages 146-148) include items like lobster rolls, grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers and kid’s lunch boxes. The ice cream menu includes soft serve dish and cones plus sundaes, parfaits, frappes and a banana boat supreme.

Big Tree Hospitality (website) is the new owner of Town Landing Market (website, facebook, instagram) on Route 88 in Falmouth. Big Tree closed on the purchase Wednesday. They don’t expect to make any major changes to the operation of the market.

In operating the Town Landing Market, Big Tree will be taking the baton from previous owner MaryBeth Bachman and generations of proprietors who have operated the market since the late 1800’s and established it as one of the pillars of the Falmouth community. Big Tree intends to do no more or less than carry on in their footsteps, keeping the market in its current form and striving to make it the best version of itself. “We have always loved the Town Landing Market and the rich history it holds as a building and community institution and hope we can be as good stewards to the market as those who have operated it for over a century now. We look forward to bringing our love for food and local markets to Falmouth” says Co-owner Kira Butera.

In 2021 Big Tree Hospitality became the owners of the Higgins Beach Market in Scarborough. They also operate Eventide Oyster Co and Eventide Fenway, The Honey Paw, Big Tree Catering, and Big Tree Grocery.

This week’s Portland Phoenix takes a look at neighborhood bars with an update on The Continental which is under construction on Brighton Ave, and interview with owners from Samuel’s and Howie’s.

“The neighborhood decides if you’re the neighborhood bar,” he said. “You try to provide a great product, you have to want to be there every night and find good people to work for you. And the neighborhood decides, they have to show up. You’re the fortunate one if they do.”

He said there is something about knowing all the regulars’ names that sets a neighborhood bar apart. He said it makes you feel accepted, where if you see the regulars out walking around or at the store, you wave and say hello, and they do the same.

“There’s something about knowing the community is happy to know you’re there,” Barbuto said. “When that finally clicks, it’s like the business is breathing on its own.”

Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti have leased 246 Danforth Street in the West End where they plan to open a new daytime bakeshop and cafe called The Ugly Duckling (instagram). They hope to have The Ugly Duckling open by the end of July.

Our focus will be Buttermilk English Muffins with a range of flavors, freshly made tarts, Our Famous Trocaderos, Custards, Mousses and more. (There will be some Gluten free and vegan options also). It’s a Bakery/Patisserie Our way. We will serve espresso (and espresso drinks) and drip coffee from Speckled Ax beans. There will be house made preserves, spreads, jams and more for the muffins (that will also be available retail). And we will serve some breakfast style items in the morning also. Then come lunch the menu will shift and wine and cocktails will be available to pair with your charcuterie & cheese, or tinned fish, or sandwich. We will also expand on the Custom-Made Cakes or any occasion and tailor it to your tastes. And we will be open for Brunch on the weekends also. All in a great place to hang out in all day to eat and meet with friends.

Their aim is to create an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome,

This is a place where all the misfits find themselves, be you and proud. Because at the end of the day we are what we see in the mirror, and to my eyes we are all just perfect. It is our self-reflection and perception that matters, how we see ourselves that matters, we need to show up for us, we need to love us.

Lopez and Sansonetti will introduce a pay-forward system at The Ugly Duckling that will enable their customers to donate funds to feed members of the community. Funds that don’t get used by the end of the month will be donated to Maine-based nonprofits.

As you can see from the floor plan the space features a 15-seat horseshoe coffee bar as well as additional table seating in the front windows of the former PrintCraft shop. The Ugly Duckling will be available in the evening as an event space and to host private parties.

Lopez and Sansonetti also own and operate Chaval, and previously operated the now closed Piccolo.

The Bangor Daily News has the scoop on some interesting restaurant developments in Castine and Stonington.

Max Katzenberg, who worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant and owned two highly praised restaurants in Brooklyn, recently took over the Harbor Cafe in downtown Stonington and plans to reopen Dennett’s Wharf on the Castine waterfront next month.

While Katzenberg, who had previously spent summers in Maine and moved to Deer Isle during the pandemic, brings big-city credentials and acclaimed chefs to the two projects, he promised he and his team are focused on upgrading what already made the two local favorites great.

The article explains that Max Katzenberg worked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and was a co-owner of Olmsted (a Beard Best New Restaurant nominee in 2017) and Maison Yaki, both in Brooklyn.

The Harbor Cafe (instagram) project is in collaboration “with friend and Deer Isle dining veteran Matt Spector” which they bought “to prevent the town losing the Main Street fixture.”

For the relaunch of Dennett’s Wharf (instagram) in Castine is Katzenberg is working with Ingrid Paronich and Taylor Hester. Paronich has degrees from Johnson & Wales in Food Marketing and Hospitality and in Italian Gastronomy and Tourism from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Parma. Her recent work has been in restaurant operations and management in the Northeast.

Taylor Hestor will be the executive chef at Dennett’s Wharf. He was part of the original team at Sean Brock’s launch of Husk in Nashville. In 2017 he joined the team at Olmsted which that year was on the Bon Appetit list of the 50 Best New Restaurants in America and which was the Food & Wine 2017 Restaurant of the Year.

SweetCream Dairy (website, instagram) is moving into a new storefront in Biddeford. The new ice cream parlor will be located in the Polakewich building at 128 Main Street—not far from the location of their original spot in the mill building.

The 1,500 square (nearly 5 times the size of their starter spot) will enable owners Jon Denton and Jacqui DeFranca to serve an expanded menu. Ice cream will still be at the heart of what they do but the menu will also include house sodas on tap, ice cream floats, espresso drinks and ice pops (dairy free and some dairy options). Denton and DeFranca hope to have the new SweetCream open by July.

Rover’s new business Swell has moved into the former SweetCream space in the mill.

Mainebiz and the Press Herald have published reports on a new food pantry under development in the former Greyhound bus terminal on Saint John Street.

A former Greyhound bus station in Portland — purchased in 2020 by MaineHealth for $1.4 million — will become a food pantry, the health care system announced Wednesday.

Renovations on the terminal, at 950 Congress St., will begin in June, according to a news release. MaineHealth expects to open the food pantry by early fall, in collaboration with Good Shepherd Food Bank.