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Ugly Duckling

Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti opened Ugly Duckling on Valentine’s Day in 2023.

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Ugly DucklingThe Golden Dish (02/14/2023)

246 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, USA

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Battery Steele Brewing

About Portland Food Map

Portland Food Map launched in 2007 as a directory of the local food community. Other features have been added over the years including food event listings, the Under Construction page, guides to Maine apples and cider producers, the restaurant real estate listings, Year in Review reports, and the My Kitchen Their Table chef interview series.

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@thaiesaanportland opened today. Their hours are 1

@thaiesaanportland opened today. Their hours are 11am to 9 pm, Tuesday through Sunday and they are located in the former Back Bay Grill location at 65 Portland Street in West Bayside.
Shown her is a dish of Krah Pow Moo Grob (crispy pork, spicy Thai basil, green beans, onions, red pepper with rice). See the 4th and 5th photos in this series to see their full menu.
Thai Esaan is owned by Ben Boonseng and chef Siwaporn Roberts.
The restaurant is open for both takeout and counter-service dine-in. For the next couple weeks while they await their liquor license they’re BYOB. #portlandmaine #thaiesaan #isanthaifood #mainefood

Bissell Brothers Brewing (@bissellbrothers) is exp

Bissell Brothers Brewing (@bissellbrothers) is expanding their footprint on Thompson’s Point. They’ve leased the former Rosemont market and wine bar space and are renovating it to provide additional kitchen capacity and dining space for customers.
The larger kitchen will enable the launch of an in-house bakery program to support the breads needed for their existing menu and to expand their food offerings. Co-owner Peter Bissell shared they are excited to explore the common yeast-driven fermentation space bread and beer both occupy. The new space will also enable the launch of a full service bar with some differentiated options in addition to their existing menu. A brass Lukr tap system is being installed at the bar.
The former Rosemont Market and Bar on Thompson’s Point opened in August 2021 and closed in January of this year. #portlandmaine #mainebeer #bissellbrothers #thompsonspoint

Rebel Cheesesteaks (@rebel_cheesesteaks) owner Pet

Rebel Cheesesteaks (@rebel_cheesesteaks) owner Peter Murphy has leased the former Dos Naciones space at 649 Congress Street where he plans to open Rebel Munchies & Libations this fall.
Murphy will be expanding the menu and adding a full bar. He shared he’s excited to scale up the business from its start as a food cart, and looks forward to building out a team.
Renovations will be getting underway with the a master design theme of keeping it “rebellious as always.” #portlandmaine #rebelcheesesteaks #longfellowsquareportland #mainefood #comingsoon2023

Battery Steele Brewing (@batterysteelebrewing) is

Battery Steele Brewing (@batterysteelebrewing) is opening a second location. They’ve bought the former Varano’s Italian restaurant in Wells where they plan to open a 180-seat pub. The building is undergoing renovations and they hope to open to public as soon as May.
Owners Jake Condon, Meaghen Kenney, Scott Kenney, Lee Thibodeau and Shane Noble plan to serve a focused menu of elevated pub food along with wine, cocktails and, of course, Battery Steele beer. A wood-fired pizza oven and raw bar are being added to the downstairs bar.
Battery Steele launched their brewery and tasting room on Industrial Way in April 2017. It’s been a long term aspiration to add a restaurant outlet to their business, and in an increasingly crowded Maine brewery industry it has the added benefit of diversifying their revenue. In the last few years we’ve seen other breweries such as Maine Beer Co, Bissell Brothers, Goodfire, Banded Horn and Mast Landing adopt the same mixed business model.
Varano’s closed their doors in late December after 23 years in business. The building is located at 60 Mile Road, just off US Route 1, just around the corner from Congdon’s Donuts and almost across the street from Batson River. #wellsmaine #batterysteelebrewing #mainebeer

A new gluten-free brewery called Orange Bike Brewi

A new gluten-free brewery called Orange Bike Brewing (@orangebikebrewing) is under development at 31 Diamond Street in East Bayside. Construction of the brewery, tasting room and outdoor courtyard (see 3rd image for floor plan) recently got underway.
When Orange Bike launches it will be one of very few dedicated gluten-free breweries in America and the second gf brewery in Maine in addition to @luckypigeonbrewing in Biddeford. Brewmaster Alan Pugsley has joined the team as a consultant and is developing a set of gluten-free beer recipes. Orange Bike’s beer will be produced on a 10-barrel vintage Peter Austin brewery system.
Tom Ruff is the founder of Orange Bike Brewing and Neil Spilane—a co-founder of Fork Food Lab—is the COO for the business. Ruff’s plans to establish a gluten-free brewery originated when he became gluten intolerant himself.
In addition to brewing a beer that is both excellent and gluten-free, Ruff’s ambition for Orange Bike is to be a mission-oriented organization.
“Orange Bike is committed to raising the bar for gluten-free beer and intends to make OBB a center and symbol of positive change in Maine and beyond. With a focus on the triple bottom line – social, environmental, and financial – the OBB team is committed to setting a new standard within the craft beer industry. In addition to pioneering a new standard in sustainable brewing, OBB is defined by its commitment to making a positive impact on the local community, welcoming Maine’s rich diversity of people in a spirit of hospitality, inclusivity, dignity, and friendship, and expanding the potential for meaningful new jobs for Mainers.”
Ren Navarro from @beer_diversity has joined Orange Bike as their diversity consultant. As a part of her work on governance and DEI, Navarro will guide the brewery as they begin hiring staff and managers for the brewery as well as recruiting for the Orange Bike board of directors.
Orange Bike has begun the process to become a certified B Corporation which requires meeting “high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.”
Ruff and the team hope to launch Orange Bike Brewing by this fall.
#mainebeer #glutenfreebeer

Thai Esaan (@thaiesaanportland) has leased the for

Thai Esaan (@thaiesaanportland) has leased the former Back Bay Grill at 65 Portland Street where they plan to re-open their restaurant. The original Thai Esaan on Forest Ave location closed in late 2021 when a fire damaged the building they were located in.
Owners Ben Boonseng and Siwaporn Roberts plan to launch with their classic menu and then expand it over time with new dishes and specials. Additionally, beer and wine will also now be available. They’ll continue to offer takeout as well as dining on-site with counter service and seating for approximately 60 customers.
Some light renovations are underway, but the layout of the restaurant will remain generally the same. Roberts and Boonseng hope to launch Thai Esaan later this month. Their hours will be Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am – 9 pm. #portlandmaine #thaiesaan #thaiesaanfood #mainefood #backbaygrill #openingsoon2023

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