Freedom’s Edge Cider (website, facebook, instagram) will be holding the grand opening of their new tasting room at 31 Diamond Street in East Bayside on Thursday, April 4th, noon to 8 pm.

The tasting room will serve eleven Freedom’s Edge ciders (see above) on draft as well as can and bottle pours. Also available will be cider cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks, and a draft beer.

The Freedom’s Edge food menu is expected to grow this spring to include cheese plates, charcuterie, olive bowls, mixed nuts and other light snacks. In a collaboration with their 31 Diamond building neighbors, customers will also be able to electronically order from the full Bite Into Maine menu to enjoy at the tasting room.

For the grand opening they will have a fondue option served with bread, apple slices, and brussels sprouts, and other items for dipping into a melted blend of Pineland Farms cheeses including an aged cheddar and a gruyere prepared with Freedom’s Edge cider.

Owners Andrew Kaplan and Ned Ervin have built out a 55-seat tasting room with space for barrel aging and bottle conditioning of their limited release ciders. An additional 35 seats of outdoor seating will be available as warmer weather arrives.

The regular hours for Freedom’s Edge will be Tuesday/Wednesday 2 – 8 pm, Thursday through Saturday noon – 8 pm, and Sunday noon – 6 pm.

31 Diamond Street is also home to Orange Bike Brewing and Bite Into Maine, and is next door to the Three of Strong distillery and tasting room, and Coffee by Design’s roastery and coffee shop.

The wall mural was painted by artists Pat Corrigan.

Don’s Lunch (facebook) opened today in Westbrook. They’re located at 616 Main Street in the space that had been the home of River’s Edge Deli.

Don’s will be open Monday through Friday 6 am – 3 pm and Saturday 7 am – 3 pm. The menu (see above) includes breakfast sandwiches, omelettes, pancakes, French toast, burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs and more. Shown here is the Full Breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries, and wheat toast with strawberry jelly.

Bom Dia Cafe (website, instagram) plans to open on Thursday. They’re located at 47 India Street in a space immediately adjacent to Dok Mali.

Owner Fletch Moffett and his team are serving a menu (see below) of acai bowls, coffee, smoothies, and bagels. Their signature Bom Dia Bowl will contain an acai blend with gluten free granola, topped with banana, strawberries, blueberries, peanut butter, and cacao nibs. Their coffee is being sourced from Frontside Coffee Roasters from North Conway in New Hampshire and the bagels from Union Bagel Company in Portland.

The 26-seat cafe has a short bar near the entrance and a long banquette of seating along the wall and a large booth in the back corner. Floral arrangements and plants by Lemon and Tullips decorate the shop. Their hours will initially be Thursday through Monday, 7 am – 2 pm.

The Good Table (website, facebook, instagram) in Cape Elizabeth is set to reopen on Thursday, March 28. They’ll initially be open Wednesday through Sunday, 5 – 9 pm.

Executive chef Matt Ginn and chef de cuisine Jim Stein are serving a menu (see below) that includes appetizers like brown bread, fish chowder and crab cakes. Entrees range from a halibut served over a white bean salsa verde, to roast chicken with farro and broccolini, and to a Pineland Farms strip steak. Cookies, a pudding pie and an ice cream sundae round out the menu with dessert. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options are available.

The beverage program (see drinks list below) includes house takes on classic cocktails, draft and packaged beer, and wines by the glass and by the bottle.

Tony and Lisa Kostopoulos opened The Good Table in 1986 and their niece Jessica Kostopoulos became a partner and the Good Table’s chef in 2018. They sold the restaurant to the Prentice Hospitality Group in October. Prentice also operates  Evo Kitchen + Bar, the Chebeague Island Inn, and Twelve.

The restaurant seats 100 across the bar area, a sunny enclosed porch and the main dining room. Reservations are available online and there will be seating available for walk-in customers as well. Lunch and weekend brunch hours will be added in the future.

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.