Other Side Delicatessen has closed its store in Portland’s West End.

The deli, at 235 Vaughan St., was owned by Pete and Jessica Sueltenfuss, who also own the original deli in East Deering, at 164 Veranda St., and the Other Side Diner, at 500 Washington Ave.

“It has been a pleasure to serve all of you over the last five years and we could not be more grateful for your patronage,” the owners wrote on social media Sunday, which was the deli’s last day. “Unfortunately our lease negotiations just didn’t work out.”

Cong Tu Bot reopens, with changes

Cong Tu Bot, at 57 Washington Ave. in Portland, reopened over the weekend for the first time since it closed in May. The restaurant is now a daytime cafe; it will no longer offer dinner service.

The owners did not immediately return a call or email requesting comment, but the restaurant’s website says the new menu will include bánh tiêu, which are Vietnamese “doughnuts,” and pandan coffee cake.

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Hours over the weekend were 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Regular hours will be posted this week; check the restaurant’s Instagram for updates. The restaurant is not open for indoor dining, but has a covered patio for customers who want to eat onsite. Masks are required when entering the restaurant to pick up orders.

Belleville readies for reopening

The owners of Belleville, the popular bakery and pizzamaker at 1 North St. in Portland, have leased another spot in Portland for a larger baking facility, a step they say will help keep their business viable. No, they aren’t abandoning Munjoy Hill, but the retail bakery will remain closed the rest of the month for light renovations, including the addition of an espresso machine. Belleville closed in April but has opened intermittently since then for takeout orders.

Terlingua moves to hybrid counter service

Beginning Wednesday, Terlingua, at 40 Washington Ave. in Portland, will switch to counter service. The restaurant will be closed from noon to 5 p.m. to begin the transition.

Under the new system, which the owners explained on social media, customers will order at the restaurant’s market counter before being seated in the outdoor dining area. (Indoor dining is still closed, except for the bar.) Servers will bring the food to the table and assist with any orders after customers are seated. Full service will still be offered at the indoor and outdoor bars.

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The changes, the owners said, are in response to staff returning to school – Terlingua will be losing six employees this fall. Most Maine restaurants are struggling with staffing shortages.

In addition, we feel that this change will suit our outdoor space while emulating that of a more traditional Texas BBQ counter style model of service,” they said.

Coco Cones Closing

Coco Cones, a Portland Public Market House business that served chicken in waffle cones, is closing.

Owner Mohammad Jabrawi says he wants to “give full energies” to his other business, Paella Seafood at 849 Forest Ave. in Portland, which opened a year ago.

Maggie Knowles and chef Joshua Berry at a local farmers market. Spektacle Media

New local farm-to-table cooking show to air

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Chef Joshua Berry and his partner, Maggie Knowles, executive producer at Muse Media, are launching Plate the State, a cooking show. The show, which will air at 11 a.m. every Sunday on NewsCenter Maine (WCSH/WLBZ), will debut on Oct.3 with an episode about fly fishing and cooking trout over a campfire.

“This is what real Maine is like,” Berry said. “I’m so excited to share that. … It’s not just Portland, not just lobster.”

Berry said he and Knowles have been talking about working together “probably since our first date.” Berry ran the kitchen at Union Restaurant in The Press Hotel for six years before leaving in April, a parting of ways that he says was entirely amicable. He explains that he was just ready to move on.

“Working in a kitchen has been my dream, and I’ve done that,” he said. “I’m 45 years old, and the exit strategy for chefs isn’t really good. You either die behind the hot line, or you figure out another plan and you’re always working. I wanted to spend more time with my children and Maggie and to be able to enjoy summers with them, but still, I wanted to tell the stories of farmers and fishermen and all these growers and producers in Maine. Maggie and I were both born and raised in Maine, and it’s very important to us.”

The show, which has already started filming, will be produced by Muse Relations and shot by No Umbrella Media, both based in Portland. The program is airing on the station as a paid program.

“Plate the State” will be shot in the field and in the studio kitchen at Hancock Lumber in Kennebunk, Knowles said. The first season will have 11 half-hour episodes featuring small food producers such as The Honey Exchange in Portland, Slack Tide Sea Salt in York, and Mousam Valley Mushrooms in Springvale. Berry and Knowles will visit an orchard that claims to have Maine’s oldest apple tree, and talk with immigrant farmers about what they’re growing in Maine. For Thanksgiving, they’ll film two episodes – one at Greaney’s Turkey Farm in Mercer and one on local squash.

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“We have a really beautiful lineup of these small producers,” Knowles said. “A lot of people might have heard of them, but they don’t have the inner story.”

Each episode will include footage of Berry preparing two recipes, as well as a chef’s tip – perhaps sharing how to properly clean and season a cast iron pan – and a pantry tip.

“One of the things we’re most excited about is every show ends with what to do with the leftovers, feeding into zero waste, sustainability, stretching the dollar,” Knowles said. “Coming out of COVID, people are much more aware of making things last, so Josh will do a two-to-three minute ending segment on how to use the leftovers and how to turn them into something cool and new.”

To follow the show, go to platethestate.com or @platethestate on Instagram and Facebook.

Taste the nations

Going to the River Jam Festival in Biddeford Saturday? Stop by one of the Cultural Cuisine tents for a free taste of Morocco, Vietnam, Ukraine, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Iraq, Angola, Rwanda and other countries.

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The event, which runs from noon to 4 p.m. at Mechanics Park (at the corner of Main and Water streets), is sponsored by the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center. The sampling will likely include Vietnamese fried rice, Ukrainian perogies, West African fufu and Moroccan chicken pie.

For more information, contact Debbie Litalien at dlitalien622@gmail.com or (207) 468-0234.

New York chef promotes new memoir with dinner and book signings 

Photo courtesy of Peter Hoffman

New York chef Peter Hoffman will be offering a five-course menu at Nina June in Rockport on Friday.

Hoffman, a pioneer in the local foods movement (Slow Food NYC called him a “Snailblazer”) and owner of the renowned Savoy and Back Forty restaurants from 1990 until 2016, will be in Maine to promote his new memoir, “What’s Good? A Memoir in Fourteen Ingredients.”

The menu at Nina June will feature several recipes from the book, using local ingredients. The dinner costs $100 per person. For reservations, go to ninajunerestaurant.com.

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On Monday, Hoffman will sign books at Blue Hill Public Library, 5 Parker Point Road, at 7 p.m. The event includes a conversation between Hoffman and sustainable agriculture experts Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch, owners of Four Seasons Farm in Harborside. Masks are required.

Signed copies of Hoffman’s memoir will also be available at all Sherman’s Books locations (Portland, Freeport, Damariscotta and Rockland) at Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick.

Gather is for sale

Diners enjoy Sunday brunch at Gather in Yarmouth in September, 2019. Michele McDonald

Matt Chappell, the owner of Gather in Yarmouth, announced Sunday that the farm-to-table restaurant is for sale.

Chappell said in an email Monday that he had originally planned to list the restaurant for sale in 2019 or 2020, but when the pandemic hit “I felt compelled to carry on for both the staff and the restaurant itself.”

But now, he said, feels like the right time to put the restaurant on the market.

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When he opened Gather nine years ago in the old Masonic Hall on Main Street, Chappell wanted to provide a family-friendly spot for locals to enjoy brunch or an evening out with friends. A communal table added to the convivial atmosphere, and Chappell often brought in live music. During the pandemic, he added lawn and deck seating.

Chappell wrote on social media that he is looking for a buyer “that will lead Gather for the next 10 years.”

Gather will remain open during the transition to a new owner.

Day’s Crabmeat and Lobster to stay put

The Yarmouth property that is home to Day’s Crabmeat and Lobster, a popular Route 1 seasonal restaurant, is up for sale. The property, which includes a residence and a dock on the Cousins River Marsh, will be sold at a foreclosure auction Aug. 27. The nearly 100-year-old restaurant is a tenant and is not a part of the auction. It plans to operate with a new landlord.


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