Jason Loring has announced details of his latest project, Rhum, “a refined take on Tiki with a distinctly Portland, Maine flavor”.
Rhum will serve an “Elegant, modern translations of classic Tiki dishes…bolstered with an impressive raw bar featuring local seafood.” The bar program will include classic and contemporary Tiki drinks and the intriguing promise of a “large format program for team tippling.”
The kitchen and bar will be led by the talented team of Frank Warren Anderson and Rebecca Ambrosi. You’ll recall Frank and Rebecca moved to Maine last year and launched The Hunter’s Bend, an underground supper club and catering company. They met when working at Animal and Son of a Gun in Los Angeles, where Frank was the chef de cuisine. Rebecca has worked in the kitchens of both Thomas Keller and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Rhum is located on Cross Street on the ground floor facing Spring Street of the JB Brown-owned building that also contains Arabica Coffee and Pinecone+Chickadee. Construction began in early August.
Rhum is a Fifth Food Group project. The Group is a collaboration between “Jason Loring, owner of Nosh and Slab; Mike Fraser, owner of Bramhall Pub; Nat Towl, builder and designer.” They hope to open Rhum this winter.
Loring describes Rhum as “a subterranean escape that welcomes guests, encourages them to revel in groups, and presents a series of elegant surprises throughout each visit.” It sounds like a lot of fun and I look forward to the experience.
Update: the Press Herald’s Meredith Goad caught up with Loring on Friday and has published some additional details on Rhum.
Is this the Styxx (formerly The Underground) space? Because that’s the only front door I know of that opens onto Cross St.
Mark,
This is a (as far as I know) previous utilized space on the backside of the building that Arabica is in. The door faces the parking lot on the Spring Street side of the building.
Back in the 60’s there was a tiki bar in the Eastland called the Hawaiian Hut. I seem to remember a newspaper article about it last year.
Anonymous,
Here’s a link to some memorabilia about the Hawaiian Hut:
Hawaiian Hut.
It’s the spaces in the building below where Arabica is according one of the Arabica staff.
The spaces were developed twenty years as shops but they were never leased out. No idea why. The only use they’ve had has been storage.