The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a feature story on 3 new restaurants under construction in Portland: Salvage BBQ & Smokehouse being developed by Jay Villani of Local 188, the re-imagined Food Factory Miyake and Harding Lee Smith’s as yet unnamed fourth Room restaurant on Custom House Wharf.
Villani says he gets his kicks these days being the “executive producer” of a restaurant. A former sculptor, he likes trying to create energy and flow in a space. “I’m really into this part — building them out, the flow — the whole project from beginning to end,” he said. “At this point in my life, that really excites me.”
Villani and the other restaurateurs planning new businesses say that today it’s essential to have a niche to fill in the city. Villani thinks there’s room here for more barbecue, and his new place will be just a block and a half from the ballpark at Hadlock Field.
For a complete list of all new restaurants under development in Portland see the PFM Under Construction List.
The real challenge in Portland isn’t the amount if restaurants but the labor pool of good cooks/chefs to fill these jobs. The more restaurants the smaller the pool. Good help is hard to find.
Nothing a decent training program and a decent wage can’t fix