Luke’s Lobster at Fenway

Mainebiz reports that Luke’s Lobster will be opening a pair of concession stands at Fenway Park this season.

The deal, announced on the MLB website, gives the seafood wholesaler and restaurant group two locations at Fenway, one situated inside the first-base concourse and the other on Jersey Street near one of the entry gates.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Boston Red Sox and bring our lobster rolls to Boston’s beloved ballpark, Fenway Park,” said Luke Holden, CEO and founder of Luke’s Lobster.

Vintage Dogs

A new food truck called Vintage Dogs (instagram) is set to launch later this month. Owners Zac and Emily Eklund will be serving a menu (see below) of specialty hot dogs popular in different regions of the US along with a variety of styles of fries and some dessert options too.

The debut of Vintage Dogs will take place at Argenta Brewing in Bayside on Friday/Saturday March 29th and 30th.

Looking Back at March 2009, 2014, and 2019

The Portland Food Map archive  provides a chronicle of the past 16+ years of the Portland restaurant scene. While a lot of the reporting here is about what’s happening now and coming next, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at what the hot topics were from 5, 10 and 15 years ago.

Here’s are highlights from March 2009, 2014 and 2019:

  • Silly’s won the 2009 WMPG Cajun Cookin’ Challenge with a vegan dish.
  • Word was out about El Rayo and the construction of their first restaurant which was located at the corner of High and York Streets. Cheryl Lewis and Norine Kotts headlined the launch of El Rayo.
  • Chef Jeff Landry opened his new restaurant The Farmer’s Table. It was located in the Commercial Street building now home to Elevation Burger. Type A Diversions opined, “For those seeking simply prepared, well-executed comfort food, The Farmer’s Table fits the bill; it is a great new addition to Portland’s food scene.”
  • Micucci’s started work on a line of bottled pasta sauced developed by their then chef/baker Stephen Lanzalotta.
  • Construction of The Corner Room got underway.
  • Freaky Bean closed their remaining two coffee shops.
  • The Maine 2009 Beard Awards nominees for 2009 were Fore Street for Outstanding Restaurant, and Rob Evans, and Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier for the Best Chef: Northeast category.
  • The Washington Post published an article about Munjoy Hill in 2009 that highlighted: North Star, Hilltop Coffee Shop, Rosemont, The Front Room, Duckfat, Colucci’s and Homegrown Herb & Tea.
  • Joe Ricchio launched his food blog Portland Food Coma in March 2009. One of the very first posts was a list of “Ten Things to Eat in Portland…[when you] have no time or patience for being disappointed”. The list includes dishes at Thanh Thanh 2, Haggarty’s, Tu Casa, Bresca, La Bodega Latina, Huong’s, Hugo’s, Hot Suppa and One Fifty Ate. Joe has since gone on to run a wide variety of media initiatives and is currently operating the Food Coma Private Dinners series.
  • Construction began at 442 Fore Street on Pearl, a bar and lounge. The building is now occupied by Venus and Mars, one of Portland’s many cannabis shops.
  • The Hella Good Taco food cart purchased Steve & Renee’s Diner in 2014 where for a time they served a hybrid Hella Good/Diner menu.
  • Coffee By Design opened their new coffee shop and roastery in East Bayside on March 4, 2014.
  • The Portland police made a recommendation to the City Council not to renew Sangillo’s liquor license, which then led to a campaign to save Sangillo’s.
  • Maine Craft Distilling released the first batch of their single malt whiskey, 50 Stone.
  • In 2014, the coffee industry insider publication Sprudge published an article about the coffee service at Hugo’s and the restaurant’s partnership with Tandem Coffee Roasters. “Hugo’s has transformed the finale of an already transformative dining experience.”
  • Details emerged about the development of Slab, and of The Jewel Box.
  • Tandem announced plans to open a second location at 742 Congress Street.
  • Justin Velgos, Mark Woollard and Billy Flaherty launched unofficial Uprising iPhone app for people who have taken on the challenge of drinking their way through The Uprising beer list at Novare Res.
  • Red Sea open on Washington Ave in the space that was formerly occupied by Safari.
  • The Maine College of Art is offered a set of Culinary Arts classes as part of their continuing education program in the summer of 2014.
  • Word was out in 2019 that a wine bar and wine shop called Lorne was under construction in Biddeford. Lorne will be permanently closing this summer.
  • Ten Ten Pié went out of business. They were located on Cumberland Ave in the space that’s now home to Banh Appetit. Ten Ten’s baker, Atsuko Fujimoto, has since gone on to open her own business Norimoto Bakery.
  • Bird & Co. opened on March 12, 2019 in Woodfords Corner.
  • Natalie DiBenedetto, chef/owner of Figgy’s, become the latest Chopped Champion from Maine.
  • Rob Tod from Allagash Brewing Co. was a 2019 Beard Awards nominee in the Outstanding Wine Beer or Spirits Professional category.

See the entries published in February and January for more memories from Portland’s recent food history.

Upcoming Events

WednesdayLa Gallera is holding a pop-up at Root Wild.

Saturday/SundayMaine Maple Weekend is taking place. See the Maine Maple Producers Association website to find a sugar house near you to visit.

March 25 – The 3rd Annual ChopTails Competition will be taking place at Batson River.

March 26 – There will be a 5-course sake dinner at Miyake, The Honey Paw will be featuring  Brooklyn Kura Sake with specials on the menu to pair with with 3 Brooklyn Kura sakes, and Chaval is holding a 5-course sake dinner.

March 27Chaval will be holding a Spanish vegan wine dinner.

March 28The Good Table (reservations) is reopening. Ballast will be hosting a murder mystery dinner. Author Lidey Heuck will be at Viand Mercantile for a signing of her new book Cooking in Real Life.

March 29 – Oxbow Brewing is hosting a launch party for Handshake Persian Digestif Bitters (website, instagram), a Portland-based company founded by Shahin Khojastehzad.

April 3 – The Beard Foundation will release the 2024 list of restaurant and chef awards nominees. There are 10 semifinalists from Maine this year.

April 28 – The Casco Bay Chef’s Association is holding their 2024 annual dinner.

April 29 – The Good Food Awards winners will be announced. Eight Maine food producers are finalists in the 2024 Good Food awards program.

May 11CiderFeast, an “all-inclusive tasting event celebrates craft ciders from some of the top cider makers in New England and beyond” is taking place.

May 18 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

June 10-16Portland Wine Week is taking place.

June 22 – The Great Falls Brewfest is taking place in Lewiston.

June 26 – Secret Supper (instagram) is holding a dinner in the Portland area.

June 29 – The 3rd Annual Mast Landing Wavy Days Festival is taking place.

July 25/26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.

August 30September 1Maine Apple Camp is taking place.

September 20-22 – The Common Ground Fair will be taking place.

Review of Thistle & Grouse

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Thistle & Grouse.

The duo’s menu is not Scottish pub food, as the name might imply, but New American, with a farm-to-table bent. Highlights include chicken-fried mushrooms on a golden brown Maine Grains cornmeal waffle, nutty ube cheesecake with lime curd, and a terrific lobster carbonara featuring homemade gnocchetti sardi pasta.

Today’s paper also includes an article about Maine native Justin Terry who runs a Japanese restaurant in Paris, and an article about teenager Pi Crosby and the community potluck event he launched on Peaks Island.

The Garden at Bissell Brothers

Bissell Brothers is launching a second restaurant on Thompson’s Point. Called The Garden, the new 58-seat restaurant will operate out of the adjacent space that had been the home of the Rosemont wine bar. The restaurant will be a complementary experience/concept to the existing Bissell Brothers Kitchen pub menu and brewery tasting room.

Chef David Rinaldi and his team will be serving a pan-Adriatic menu which will include dishes like charred caraflex cabbage and taleggio, cavatelli with braise lamb neck and cherry pastissada, a porchetta sandwich, bavette steak with grilled cauliflower in saor and a crema rosada with rum raisins and almonds for dessert.

Bissell is finishing up some renovations to the space and hiring additional staff for the restaurant. An opening date is still TBD.

Onggi in Bon Appetit

Onggi has been highlighted in a new Bon Appetit article entitled “American Baking Is More Creative Than Ever. These 9 Bakeries Are Proof”.

…Co-owners Marcus Im, Amy Ng, and Erin Zobitz, who opened the shop in April 2021, offer a tight rotating roster of baked goods that highlight fermentation, including chocolate chip cookies bearing an unmistakable sourdough twang and savory kimchi-cheddar-corn soufflés reminiscent of Korean American corn cheese. A heavy dose of miso in a scallion-flecked scone offers a punch of pungent soy and an almost caramellike nuttiness. Each umami-packed bite is a triumphant reminder that fermentation in baking is the domain of so much more than bread.

Maine Food & Dining News: Union and Camden

New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:

  • Bagel Cafe (website, facebook, instagram) has taken over the former Boynton-McKay space on Main Street in Camden. Owners Mark Senders and his family expect to move Bagel Cafe to 30 Main Street this spring. On a parallel track, Bagel Cafe will be moving the cafe’s production bakery to 5 Colcord Street near the intersection of Limerock Street and Virginia Avenue. Bagel Cafe hopes to also operate a second cafe out of the bakery during peak season with 12 seats inside and picnic table seating outdoors.
  • After The Pour Farm (website, facebook, instagram) closed last year its future was uncertain. However, word is out now that the brewery in Union will be reopening on March 29th. Brad Frost and Anna Frost who formerly worked at Waterman’s Beach Brewery are joining the team at The Pour Farm as the head brewer and general manager. The tap list is will include a mix of established TPF beers and ones developed by Brad Frost.

Edible Maine: Spring 2024

The Spring 2024 edition of Edible Maine is now available.

This issue includes articles about:

Upcoming Events

Through Sunday – Biddeford & Saco Restaurant Week is taking place.

WednesdayTap & Taste, a gluten-free tasting event, will be taking place at Orange Bike Brewing in collaboration with Mrs. Gee Free Living and 2Gether.

March 20La Gallera is holding a pop-up at Root Wild.

March 23/24Maine Maple Weekend is taking place. See the Maine Maple Producers Association website to find a sugar house near you to visit.

March 25 – The 3rd Annual ChopTails Competition will be taking place at Batson River.

March 26 – there will be a 5-course sake dinner at Miyake, The Honey Paw will be featuring  Brooklyn Kura Sake with specials on the menu to pair with with 3 Brooklyn Kura sakes, and Chaval is holding a 5-course sake dinner.

March 27Chaval will be holding a Spanish vegan wine dinner.

March 28Ballast will be hosting a murder mystery dinner. Author Lidey Heuck will be at Viand Mercantile for a signing of her new book Cooking in Real Life.

April 3 – The Beard Foundation will release the 2024 list of restaurant and chef awards nominees. There are 10 semifinalists from Maine this year.

April 28 – The Casco Bay Chef’s Association is holding their 2024 annual dinner.

April 29 – The Good Food Awards winners will be announced. Eight Maine food producers are finalists in the 2024 Good Food awards program.

May 11CiderFeast, an “all-inclusive tasting event celebrates craft ciders from some of the top cider makers in New England and beyond” is taking place.

May 18 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

June 10-16Portland Wine Week is taking place.

June 22 – The Great Falls Brewfest is taking place in Lewiston.

June 26 – Secret Supper (instagram) is holding a dinner in the Portland area.

June 29 – The 3rd Annual Mast Landing Wavy Days Festival is taking place.

July 25/26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.

August 30September 1Maine Apple Camp is taking place.

September 20-22 – The Common Ground Fair will be taking place.