Category: Openings

A Nordic candy shop called Sodt (website, facebook, instagram) opened for business on Saturday. It’s located at 119 Cumberland Ave in the space formerly occupied by Sticky Sweet. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday,  noon – 8 pm (and until 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays).

Sisters Nikoline and Signe Ostergaard have been bringing candy back to Maine from trips to Denmark to share with friends. Sodt, which means sweet in Danish, is an effort to share the sweets they love with the people of Portland. The sisters are being joined in the business by their mother Liz Ostergaard.

The Ostergaards are selling treats from Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and England. Customers are able to put together a mixed bag from the wide range of sweet and sour candies, chocolate, caramels and black licorice available. Sodt also offers some house packaged mixed bags of candy plus jars of licorice and chocolate bars. Gluten-free and vegan options are available.

Here’s a look inside Benny’s (website, instagram) the new red sauce Italian restaurant and Philly sandwich shop that’s been under construction the last few months at 545 Congress Street in the Arts District.

The 32-seat Benny’s is being launched by Josh Sobel the chef/owner of Ramona’s. The dining room features an 11-seat bar opposite a row of 2-top banquet tables along with some counter seating in the front windows. The room is decked out with art and memorabilia evocative of Philadelphia like a portrait of Sylvester Stallone in his role of Rocky Balboa. Sobel worked with Mey & Co and the design of the restaurant.

As you can see below the menu includes Italian-American standards like chicken parmesan and spaghetti with meatballs. Shown above are Benny’s pretzel garlic knots. The bar menu includes a line-up of Italian wines representing regions from the Veneto to Sicily. The cocktail list has some house creations like a Margherita pizza inspired Margarita, and the Benny’s Handshake Spritz made with the locally produced Handshake bitters, as well as classic cocktails.

Benny’s official opening day is this Wednesday May 14th. They’ll initially be open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday, 4 pm – 9 pm (and until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday).

 

The North Deering Tavern opened for business on Tuesday. It’s located in the former Parker’s building at 1349 Washington Ave in Allen’s Corner. It will be open daily  11:30 am – 1:00 am with brunch available on the weekends starting at 8:00 am.

The new business was launched by brothers Sam and Rob Minervino along with Marcus Bailey and Anthony Peters. The Tavern serves a menu that includes burgers, pizza, wings, soups, salads and entrees like fish and chips and chicken parmesan (see the full menu below).

The Tavern is a backfill of sorts for Samuel’s Bar & Grill which Minervino closed earlier this year. He sold the building to Amanda and Matt Lebel who opened Mandy & Matt’s Cafe in its place last month.

Loco Taco (instagram) opened for business today. The “fusion taqueria” is located at 849 Forest Ave. The menu at Loco Taco includes tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos with a range of fillings/toppings like chicken tikka masala, Greek doner and falafel. Also available are enchiladas, fajita wraps, fajita bowls and a Southwest style salad as well as desserts like chocolate baklava, wedding cookies and churros cheesecake.

The restaurant has a couple tables indoors and a deck off the front side of the building with four picnic tables. Loco Taco will be open daily noon to 9 pm.

Mandy & Matt’s Cafe (facebook, instagram) opened for business on Monday. The cafe is located at 1160 Forest Ave in the building formerly occupied by Samuel’s. Mandy & Matt’s is open daily 6 am – 2 pm with lunch served 11 am – 2 pm.

Owners Amanda and Matt Lebel have made some renovations to dining room and its decorations. The overall layout with a bar on the right and table seating in the rest of the room remains the same. The menu includes a wide range of classic breakfast and lunch fare like pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, with cold and hot sandwiches for lunch. You can see all three pages of the menu on the Mandy & Matt’s Facebook page: page 1, page 2, and page 3. Shown here are blueberry pancakes with grilled ham and home fries, and a pastrami reuben on marble rye with fries.

Samuel’s owner Sam Minervino recently closed Samuel’s and is in the process of launching the North Deering Tavern at 1349 Washington Ave in the former Parker’s building in Allen’s Corner.

Za (website, facebook, instagram) opened for business late last week. The new pizzeria is located at 25 Preble Street. The interior design has been updated with a similar overall layout to when Slab occupied the space.

Owners Jessica and Brandon Tenney and their team are serving pizza by the slice and as whole pies as well as sandwiches, salads, and appetizers (see menu below). The bar menu offers wine, draft beers, cocktails, and non-alcoholic drinks. Shown here are the B-Sting pizza, Simple Greens salad and a Hibiscus Chili Mezcalita NA drink.

Za is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 am – 10 pm.

 

Za (website, facebook, instagram), the new pizzeria located in the space formerly occupied by Slab on Preble Street, is holding their grand opening on Friday. They’ll be open 11:30 am – 10 pm.

Owners Jessica and Brandon Tenney and their team will be serving pizza by the slice and as whole pies as well as sandwiches, salads, sides, appetizers and desserts. The bar menu will offer wine, local draft beers, cocktails, and house-made non-alcoholic cocktails.

The Tenneys are the owners of Truckin Pizza which they launched in 2022. In addition to providing catering for weddings and other events, Truckin Pizza also operates a food truck at Wild Bevy where they serve dishes like poutine, Tuscan artichoke salad and mac and cheese.

Franciska (website, instagram) opened for business Thursday night. The 20-seat wine bar is located at 111 Middle Street, and will be open Thursday through Sunday, 4 pm – midnight.

The wine list (see below) put together by owner Alex Marchesini highlights small producers from Argentina. The bottle list also includes Old World wines as well as some from California and the Pacific Northwest. Shown above is the La Cayetana Cabernet Franc from the Valle de Uco in Argentina.

The menu (see below) features Argentinian Bodegón-style cuisine with dishes like beef empanadas, beet or kale salads. cavatelli pasta, and breaded and pan fried eggplant. Smaller snacks like the Za’atar flavored Marcona almonds or house-smoked Spanish olives make a nice accompaniment if you dropping in for a glass of wine. If you go for more of a meal, don’t overlook the pan-seared Mi’kmaq Trout (shown above) topped with a salsa verde and served with grilled fennel. The fish is sourced from the Mi’kmaq trout farm in Aroostook County that raises native Maine trout.

Reservation for Franciska are available on OpenTable.

LB Kitchen (website, instagram) owners Lee Farrington and Bryna Gootkind are opening their new business at Rock Row Health Campus this morning. The 600-square-foot market will be selling grab-and-go versions of their salads, soups, sandwiches, breakfast items, and house-made bottled beverages (see the full menu below). It will have an espresso bar serving  coffee, functional lattes, tea, hot bone broth and house-made baked goods. The market also sells a wide selection of snacks, beverages, pantry staples and retail items from other producers.

The market is located alongside New England Cancer Specialists, the Dempsey Center and other medical care providers which together are intended to deliver a more holistic approach to patients.

Chef Farrington shared, “We are experts at creative workarounds and functional substitutions. We want all our customers, and the Rock Row Health Campus patients especially, who may feel limited by specific dietary needs or restrictions to feel hopeful and expansive when they choose LB. MINI-MART meals, snacks or treats. We’ve done the thinking to make alternative food options that taste and feel good.”

This is the first location for LB’s new Mini-Mart concept. Farrington and Gootkind are planning to launch additional outposts in the Greater Portland area—watch for details to be released later this year. The original LB Kitchen opened in 2017 and moved to the corner of Smith and Congress Streets in 2023.

Hours  for the market are Monday through Friday, 7 am – 5 pm. Access to 11 Rock Row is from the Westbrook Arterial road rather than from Brighton Ave side of the property.