Zu Bakery Wins Beard Award

| Posted in Reviews

Congratulations to ZU Bakery and its owner Barak Olins on being named a 2024 James Beard Awards winner in the Outstanding Bakery category. Zu Bakery was a nominee in the category along with bakeries from California, Oregon and New York. Olins initially launched Zu Bakery in 2000 and opened its present day West End location in November 2022.

For more information: Watch this instagram story for a look at Zu Bakery and the work Olins and his team do, and read this interview with Olins from earlier this year.

There were four nominees from Maine this year which were selected from 10 chef and restaurant semifinalist in the 2024 James Beard Foundation Awards season. For more information on Maine’s Beard Awards history, see this complete list of award winners, nominees and semifinalists.

Fujimoto Wins Beard Award

| Posted in Reviews

Congratulations to Atsuko Fujimoto from Norimoto Bakery on being named a 2024 James Beard Awards winner in the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker category. Fujimoto was a nominee in the category along with bakers and pastry chefs from Washington DC, Illinois, Arizona and Florida. Fujimoto has been a baker in Portland for 20 years. She launched Norimoto in 2019 and opened her bakery on Stevens Ave in October 2021.

For more information: Read this interview with Fujimoto from 2020 and see this instagram story from her South Portland bakery.

There were four nominees from Maine this year which were selected from 10 chef and restaurant semifinalist in the 2024 James Beard Foundation Awards season. For more information on Maine’s Beard Awards history, see this complete list of award winners, nominees and semifinalists.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

All This Week – Portland Wine Week is taking place.

Monday – The James Beard Awards Gala is taking place in Chicago tonight. Four Maine chefs and restaurants are nominees. Check back tonight for further news on the event and how our nominees fared. You can also watch the livestream of the event on Youtube this evening starting at 6:30 pm.

June 17 – The 3rd Annual ChopTails Competition will be taking place at Batson River.

June 18 – Room for Improvement will be hosting a Pulutan Filipino pop-up by chef Amadeus Florendo.

June 19 – Mrs. Gee Free Living and Catface Cafe are holding a gluten-free dinner in Biddeford.

June 20 – Dandelion Spring Farm in Bowdoinham will be holding the first of their summer Taco Night series (taking place the 3rd Thursday of each month). See their event calendar for more details.

June 20-22 – The 40th Annual Greek Festival is taking place.

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

June 24-30 – The 2nd Annual Wurst Week Ever is taking place at Highroller, Hunt & Alpine, Room for Improvement and Bar Futo.

June 27 – Nina June in Rockport is hosting Naama Shefi for a multi-course prix-fixe dinner in celebration of Shefi’s new book The Jewish Holiday Table.

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

June 29/30 – The Maine Oyster Festival is taking place in Freeport.

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

August 3/4 – The Maine Wild Blueberry Weekend is taking place.

August 30 – September 1 – The Maine Apple Camp is taking place.

September 8 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

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

October 13 – The 16th Annual Open Creamery Day is taking place.

Maine Food & Dining News: Sherman, Brunswick, Camden, Biddeford, Monson, Swanville, Bristol, Scarborough

| Posted in Maine

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

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

 

Jennifer Lakari, 50

| Posted in People

Sommelier Jennifer Lakari passed away recently after a long battle with cancer.

Jen graduated from the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson and Wales University In 1997, and in 2008, Jen became a certified sommelier. Food and wine became one of her passions, and among the many food venues she worked in were Fore Street, Grace, Purpoodock Club, Browne Trading, and Bow Street Beverage. When she opened Flock and Vine Bike and Beverage in Cape Elizabeth and, later, in South Portland, Jen taught others about wine, often hosting lively wine tastings and seminars.

A celebration of her life is scheduled to take place June 19th, 6 – 8 pm at Grace, 15 Chestnut St, Portland.

DelivCo Food Delivery

| Posted in Openings

A new food delivery service called DelivCo (website, facebook) launched over the past weekend. DelivCo will be serving Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, Falmouth, and Westbrook.

Owner Doug Clark has experience working for other national and local delivery companies and has decided to start his own company. DelivCo has launched with delivery for Brickyard Hollow, and Clark anticipates adding more restaurants to his roster in the coming weeks.

Hours of operation are 11 am – 9 pm.

Low Stakes Lodge on Exchange Street

| Posted in Openings

Andy Gerry, Baxter Key, and Peter Bissell—the owners of The Highroller Lobster Company—plan to open their new restaurant Low Stakes Lodge (instagram) later this month.

The new steakhouse is located at 106 Exchange Street in the space adjacent to Highroller that was most recently occupied by Timber.  The dining room includes a 13-seat bar, booth seating along the wall and upper seating area with a capacity of about 70 overall.

The menu will include prime Rib Eye, Filet Mignon, New York Strip and other steak cuts as well as some other entrees. A Bloomin’ Onion, Wedge Salad and French Onion Soup are among the appetizers. The beverage program will include classic and house cocktails, draft beer and wines by the glass and bottle.

Low Stakes draws inspiration from traditional steakhouse design and blends it with Maine history and some twists from the owners’ memories of the Bugaboo Creek chain. An animatronic moose head (named Moosifer) is mounted in the dining room. It has glowing red eyes, looks from side to side while twitching its ears and occasionally blows steam out its nose.

The mural that stretches the full length of the bar was painted by Spenser MacLeod (aka Leonardo Devinci) and the large format Maine historical photos were sourced by Timothy Goldkin from Ramble More Design. David Johansen (aka Neon Dave) has produced a piece for the restaurant as well.

Low Stakes Lodge will be open Thursday through Sunday, 5– 10 pm.

For a information on all the new businesses under development in Portland see our Under Construction list.

New Onggi Cafe Opens Friday

| Posted in Under Construction

Onggi (website, instagram) will be launching a new cafe on Friday which will be open Wednesday through Sunday, 9 am – 4 pm.

The counter service cafe will be located in the back room of their storefront at 131 Washington Ave and be accessible through door on the right side of the building.

The menu (see below) includes coffee featuring 44 North Coffee, teas, refreshers, a variety of  house specialty drinks and food. Several matcha drinks are on the menu including matcha and hojicha lattes, strawberry milk matcha and a lychee matcha soda. The cafe will serve the baked goods Onggi and pastry chef Amy Ng have become known for, like the sourdough chocolate chip cookies and miso scallion scones. A yogurt parfait and a savory overnight oats dish will be joining the menu.

Amy Ng, Erin Zobitz, and Marcus Im launched Onggi in 2021 and moved the store to its current location in April 2022.

Salvage Reopening Tuesday

| Posted in Openings

Salvage BBQ (website, facebook, instagram) is set to reopen on Tuesday with a renovated dining room and new menu.

The new menu (see below) features a wider range of sandwiches as well as a rice and bean bowl and a salad bowl. There are vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options on the menu. The overall layout of the dining room remains the same, but vintage dining sets have replaced the green painted picnic table.

The hours for Salvage will be Tuesday through Thursday 11:30 am – 10 pm, Friday/Saturday 11:30 am – 11 pm, and Sundays 11:30 am – 9 pm. The kitchen service will wrap-up an hour prior to close each evening.

Salvage launched in 2013. It had temporarily closed in late 2023.