Coffee and Corduroy

Decided to check out the Bard's Thursday Nite ThrowDown.  It's an all comers Barista, best looking Latte (everybody throw a little money in the pot winner takes all) competition.

And the winner is, the Bard's own Justin McEdward

If your an aspiring Barista, check the Bards website or the Portland Food Map's calendar for the next Throw Down.

Before the action got going I looking thru the various cards, along the back counter, advertising various events and spotted a Launch Party at Corduroy, 59 Market Street, for the summer collection of JAQK Apparel.  Corduroy bills itself as a combined lifestyle boutique, gallery & social scene, hosting monthly shows with openings on Portland's 1st Friday party. Details can be found on their website.

Not Quite Havana (South)

A lot of you have probably heard that the very popular Bar Harbor Restaurant,  Havana South is opening a 2nd spot on Wharf Street, in Portland.  The restaurant will take over the entirety of the large (7000sf) building at the end of Wharf Street at Union. Construction has progressed of the interior space for several months now and it is hoped that a soft opening will happen toward the end of June. Whenever that happens I'll be there! A look at their website, www.havanamaine.com finds this statement

LATIN FLAIR ||||

Havana is American fine dining with a Latin flair, great atmosphere, extensive wine list, knowledgeable staff and sophisticated menu. Seafood, vegetarian and meat dishes are flavored with intelligence and respect and change weekly, sometimes daily.

From the looks of their operation in Bar Harbor and if the food tastes as good as it looks on the website, given the sheer size of this space Havana South could create quite a splash in Portland food scene.

This looks to the main dining area from the main entry with the large bar at the far end of the building.

The main dining area will run across the middle of the space. The bar is to the right.

The far side of the dining area looking toward the kitchen

This space is directly ahead of the door and will be two smaller function rooms and overflow dining.

This space on the Union Street side of the building will be the last to open. Plans are for a retail meat locker/specialty store. It can be seen under the awnings at the right of the picture below.

EMPLOYMENT: Hiring for bar, servers, hosts etc. Now acception applications. ClickHERE for application - Please email resume to: info@havanamaine.com
SALES/ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Email inquiries - we welcome them, but prefer email. 

Havana South

http://www.havanamaine.com

Congress Street #3 Monument Square

As part of my occasional series Congress Street, I've looked thru my image library and picked out a few different uses of Portland's busiest meeting place. Originally called Market Square and home to Portland's 1st city hall, it is used today as a farmers market, a focus of several holidays, a place for public protest or a place to relax over lunch. The picture below is from the book Portland: Then & Now, which I previewed in a post last year.

The first is an 1879 view of Market Square which shows Portland's old market house.  Constructed in 1825 it was modified in 1832 into Portland's first city hall, by Charles Quincy Clapp.  Torn down in 1888 it made room for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in 1891, in todays Monument Square.

Protest

Learning

The Wednesday Farmers Market

Parades

Winter Fun

Home to the Yearly Christmas Tree

For those who haven't heard

As anyone who watches TV or reads the Forecaster or Portland Press Herald probably knows Red's Ice Cream in South Portland had a fire late sunday night. If you've stopped by looking for an ice cream at this landmark you've seen the smokey outside, the  sign and the dumpster. The good news is they plan on re-opening, the bad news is it's going to be awhile.