Carpe Diem opens in Yarmouth
Photo courtesy of Carpe Diem Wine Room/Facebook.
Yarmouth residents looking for a new place to meet over a drink have a another option in Carpe Diem Wine Room, tucked back just off Main Street at 18 Yarmouth Crossing Dr. (where The Royal Bean used to be). The wine bar, which opened quietly on New Year’s Eve, has a full liquor license but its focus is wine and beer, with an emphasis on flights. According to the website, the menu includes “special cheeses, meats, olives and breads to name a few.” Carpe Diem is open daily at 4:30 p.m. and closes between 9:30 and 11 p.m.
Home Catering relocating
Photo courtesy of Home Catering/Facebook.
After months of looking forlorn and empty, the tiny corner storefront on Spring Street that housed Miyake Diner for 6 months last year (and previously was the original Miyake location) will have a new tenant. According to its Facebook page, Home Catering, whose current address is listed as 180 Danforth St., will be operating out of the space. The catering business is owned by chef Matt Chamberlain, who, as an interesting aside, was named Eater Maine’s Hottest Chef of the Year in 2013.
Vena’s Fizz House gets liquor license
Johanna and Steve Corman at the bar at Vena’s. Photo by Ted Axelrod
At Monday night’s Portland City Council meeting, Vena’s Fizz House owners Steve and Johanna Corman got the good news they had been anticipating: “For those who need to know: THE PROCESS CONTINUES POSITIVELY! Watch for late January postings!!!!!!!!!” they announced on Vena’s Facebook page. Since it opened in July 2013, the “mixology shop and natural soda bar” at 345 Fore St. has served distinctive mocktails and “fizzes,” counting among its fans Alton Brown, who named it one of 8 “Top Stores and Snacks from AB Road Eats 2014.” Last summer, the Corman’s floated the idea of adding actual cocktails to the mix in the evening, keeping the bar booze-free during the day. According to the liquor license application, the Cormans plan to offer cocktails from 7 to 11 p.m., along with a small food menu of throwback-ish snacks, including: Artichoke-amole; The Cheesy Nut Ball; Open-Face Shrimp Roll Bites and Pecorino and Date Flatbreads.
For more, see Vena’s Fizz House in Portland: Mixing mocktails and celebrating cocktail culture (MaineToday.com) and Vena’s Fizz House may punch up drinks (Portland Press Herald).
Gorgeous Gelato serving spirits
Photo courtesy of Broadreach PR.
The Italian ice cream shop at 434 Fore Street, which celebrated its fourth anniversary last month, now offers a little something extra with your gelato, panini, or dessert. Owners and Milan natives Donato Giovine and Mariagrazia Zanardi have been granted a Spiritous License, allowing them to serve alcoholic spirits only (no wine or beer). According to a press release, “the spirits are served in quantities of only a few ounces,” with food. On the new drink menu: Amaretto di Saronno, Sambuca Molinari; Amaro Montenegro; Fernet Branca; limoncello; grappa di Barbera; Crown Royal Canadian whisky and Woodford Reserve Kentucky bourbon.
The Cafe at Pat’s becoming The Treehouse
Photo by John Golden
In more news from Monday’s Portland City Council meeting: Chef Gregory Gilman, who has run The Cafe above Pat’s Meat Market on Stevens Avenue since 2011, is taking over ownership of the restaurant from Pat’s owner Jaime Vacchiano and relaunching it as The Treehouse. “It is a full service dinner time restaurant open six days a week, looking to create a warm, inviting space to eat, drink and listen to music,” Gilman wrote in his liquor license application. The menu will be “Mediterranean American, farm to table, with real whole ingredients in a scratch kitchen.” Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the restaurant is the two-level deck, out back, which in the warm months does give you a feeling of being in a treehouse.
A place for classics and cocktails
Shutterstock photo
You have to be pretty confident you’re not going to cause any to name your bar “Trouble.” That’s what 20-year-old Joshua Soley has decided to call his “old-fashioned theater bar” at 10 Exchange St., the former home of Movies on Exchange, a 145-seat theater which closed in 2008. In his liquor license application to the council, heard on Monday night, Soley said he plans more of a lounge atmosphere with tables, pool tables and a bar instead of a traditional theater set-up. He hopes to attract a “mature clientele.” The drink menu includes movie-inspired cocktails such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s – orange marmalade, orange bitters and Ciroc vodka – and the James Bond martini.
For more, see “Movie-themed bar planned for Portland’s Old Port” (Portland Press Herald).
Closed for vacation
Shutterstock photo
If you frequent any of the following, you’ll want to take note of these winter breaks:
Boda in Portland will be closed from 9:30 p.m. on Sunday Jan. 11, until 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan 26. The restaurant owners are taking their staff to Thailand.
50 Local in Kennebunk is closed until Friday, Jan. 9
Hoss & Mary’s in Old Orchard Beach is closed until Friday, Jan. 9
Little Bigs Bakery in South Portland is closed until Wednesday, Jan. 14
Infiniti Distillation & Fermentation is closed until Monday, Jan. 19, but brewing will continue – you can find their beers on tap at other bars and restaurants.
Tao Yuan in Brunswick is closed until Wednesday, Feb. 4.