The Portland Hunt + Alpine Club in Old Port has submitted the first application for an outdoor dining “parklet” on a Portland street.

Andrew Volk, who owns the restaurant at 75 Market St. with his wife, Brianna, said he tried to offer al fresco dining several years ago, but the narrow sidewalk facing Post Office Park was a problem. “… Because of the location of lamp posts and signs, it has been a headache,” he said.

Volk hopes to install a small platform on the street, the size of one parking space, with room for 10-15 customers. City departments already have marked the parking spot. Jessica Hanscombe, the city’s licensing and registration coordinator, said all the necessary departments, including health, parking and planning, have signed off on Volk’s application.

Food with a view

Island Lobster Co., a new seasonal restaurant on Peaks Island with expansive views of Casco Bay and the Portland skyline, is scheduled to open for business June 12.

Proprietors Catie Werner, a Peaks Island native, and her husband lobsterman Thom Werner, will serve mostly fried seafood caught and trapped on their boat, including fish, calamari, crab, scallops, shrimp and clams. Also on the menu: chicken wings, fries, nachos, salads, and burgers and veggie burgers.

The restaurant is located at 20 Island Ave.

LB Kitchen opens in West End

Avocado toast fans, rejoice.

LB Kitchen opened its second location Monday in Portland’s West End, in the same building as Good Medicine Collective on the corner of Brackett and York streets. The restaurant, which started on the East End, is known for its healthy menu of açaí bowls, salads, sandwiches and most famously, avocado toast.

LB, which stands for lunch and breakfast, will offer a limited menu in its first few weeks at the new location. The hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays.

Upgrade your slice, Maine-style

The Lobster Mash is on special all month at Otto to celebrate the pizza chain’s tenth anniversary. Photo courtesy of Otto Pizza

To celebrate its 10 year/10 towns milestone, Otto Pizza is offering the luxe Lobster Mash as its “Pie of the Month” this June. Maine locations will also offer the OTTO X, a beer created for the occasion by Rising Tide Brewing Co. Opened in Portland in June 2009, Otto has expanded to 13 restaurants in 10 cities in Maine and Massachusetts.

The Lobster Mash features is topped with potatoes, bacon and Maine lobster meat and comes with a small container of warm, drawn butter. Slices sell for $3.50, small pies for $14.50 and large pies for $22.75. In a news release, co-owners Anthony Allen and Mike Keon said they “did the math, call them crazy, they will lose money on this anniversary special – but that’s more than OK with them. It’s all about thanking the customer.”

On June 17, find Allen and Keon behind the counter at the shop’s original location, 576 Congress St., from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. It’s where they stood 10 years ago when they sold their very first slice.

Yardie Ting brings Jamaican flavor to the market

The Portland Public Market House, 28 Monument Square, is about to get spicier with the launch of Yardie Ting – a Jamaican food stand scheduled to open Saturday at 11 a.m. It will take the spot of Maiz, a Colombian street food restaurant that moved out to Forest Avenue.

You may already know Yardie Ting from its catering gigs in the Greater Portland area (recently at the Old Port Fest), where it has shared its jerk chicken and homemade rubs and spices.

For its launch Saturday, it will offer a special, limited menu.

Smoothie bowl expansion

Blake Orchard, the popular smoothie bowl shop and juicery on Exchange Street in Portland, is set to open a second location on Forest Avenue on Wednesday.

Cider house opens (and does it rule, too?)

Perennial Cider Bar and Farm Kitchen is now open in Belfast. The bar has about 30 hard ciders on tap, which come from as close as Winthrop and as far as Spain. Perennial also offers small plates made from food that is 100 percent locally sourced, a news release said.

“Chef and curator” Khris Hogg’s menu encompasses cheese boards, poached carrots, pine shoots, deviled eggs, and unusual soups such as Nettle and Beech Leaf. The ciders range from dry to off-dry.

Perennial, at 84 Main St., is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. Hogg opened the bar in April.

Brunch at Burleigh 

The Burleigh, the restaurant inside the Kennebunkport Inn at 1 Dock Square, will start offering daily brunch on June 20. Its menu of traditional items with a Maine twist, as a news release describes it, includes Maine lobster benedict, Maine blueberry pancakes, and chicken and waffles with Maine maple syrup. Cocktails are also on offer. Brunch starts at 8 a.m. and runs to 2 p.m.

The restaurant also has redesigned its patio. According to a news release, the Burleigh hopes these changes will help bring a new “hip and vibrant scene” to the Burleigh.

Breaking (chocolate) news

Chocolates from Black Dinah are coming to Portland soon. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Westbrook-based Black Dinah Chocolatiers plans to open a shop inside the Westin Hotel in Portland. The new shop is tentatively set to open in early July. 

The Forecaster contributed to this column. 

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