{"id":9698,"date":"2014-04-25T12:58:43","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T16:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=9698"},"modified":"2014-04-25T12:58:43","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T16:58:43","slug":"new-old-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/new-old-port\/","title":{"rendered":"New Old Port"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 2014 | View this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Take a tour through 2014\u2019s new summer attractions.<\/h3>\n

By Claire Z. Cramer<\/p>\n

\"new-old-port-may14\"<\/a>Have you hit the bricks lately in Portland\u2019s most densely packed retail and dining nexus? Here\u2019s a look at a few recent developments on the peninsula.<\/p>\n

WE\u2019RE HUNGRY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chris and Paige Gould opened Central Provisions in February after renovating two floors of the historic brick warehouse building they bought at 414 Fore Street at the primo intersection of Dana and Wharf streets. Bethel native Chris has devised a menu around native seafood and his skill with it (scallop carpaccio, fluke ceviche, clams orecchiette, lobster stew with miso and piquillo pepper) and with other small-plate temptations (ham and cheese croquette, porchetta board). He calls it \u201cfood from around the world with a newly evolving style.\u201d The spot\u2019s ultra-rustic Old Port brick-wall, wood-floor charm is showcased beautifully down to the barstools upholstered by Paige in burlap from coffee-bean sacks.<\/p>\n

The old-school Oriental Table restaurant at 106 Exchange Street closed last year, and a new restaurant is due to take its place within weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t really say too much,\u201d says Dan Talmatch who, with brother Noah, owns The North Point on Silver Street, \u201cbut you can say it\u2019s going to be the premier steakhouse in Portland.\u201d<\/p>\n

No small claim, when you\u2019re just steps from the Grill Room at 84 Exchange, which, last time we checked, was a premier steakhouse\u2013and a popular one. The Talmatches are optimists. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe in pretension. That\u2019s why we wanted to get out of New York,\u201d says Dan. \u201cOur quality of life has improved drastically. Everyone\u2019s fantastic here.\u201d The North Point [see this issue\u2019s front-cover photo] is a cozy favorite with locals, and visitors love to discover it as they explore the side streets. He promises that Timber\u2013the steakhouse\u2013will have the same \u201cwarm, friendly, and cozy\u201d atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Fans of bygone Bar Lola eagerly await the imminent debut of Lolita, the newest from Munjoy Hill restaurateurs Stella and Guy Hernandez. The Hernandezes\u2019 surprising decision to swap their hotspot Hilltop Coffee shop into Bar Lola\u2019s sunny and larger storefront and then to renovate the former Hilltop Coffee space (in the building it shared with Rosemont Market) into a sleek \u201cvinoteca and asador\u201d named Lolita has created no end of anticipation. Meanwhile, at 100 Congress Street, the roomier new Hilltop attracts throngs for coffee and homemade scones, eclairs, cookies, and brownies.<\/p>\n

New Old Friends<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always sold capes, shawls, and blankets,\u201d says Dory Waxman at her sunny new Old Port Wool and Textile factory and showroom at 52 Danforth Street on the western edge of the Old Port.<\/p>\n

Has she ever. Waxman founded Casco Bay Woolworks in 1992, which in its heday on Moulton Street stopped pedestrians in their tracks with glamorous mannequins swathed in bright, hooded capes posed outside on the cobblestones like Cathy awaiting Heathcliff on the moor. Back then, her tiny ads in the New Yorker<\/em>\u2013also featuring woollen capes\u2013created a mail-order market for the mood-evoking garments. Martha Stewart and Lily Tomlin were customers. Waxman, a former Portland city councillor, sold the business more than 10 years ago as Maine\u2019s woollen mills were closing. One day, she realized she missed working with wool, so she started all over again with Old Port Wool and Textile. \u201cI\u2019ve found a source for 100-percent merino\u2013it\u2019s the best\u2013spun from U.S. fleece. My hope is to bring back the wool industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reflects on the constant renewal of the Old Port: \u201cIt\u2019s funny, my neighbor here on Danforth is Rory Strunk [Global Studios, a media content producer], and years ago he was my neighbor on Moulton Street [Strunk\u2019s Resort Sports Network created sports content for distribution to resorts; RSN was sold to Outside TV in 2010].<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy to be in this neighborhood,\u201d says jeweller Holly Hamilton in her new shop at 97 Exchange Street. Though she\u2019s new to this location, she\u2019s not new to the Old Port, either. The MECA grad has been fashioning jewelry in the area for 29 years. \u201cThis space is really ideal,\u201d she says of her light-filled store with windows facing on Exchange and on Market Street, where she\u2019s situated her work space. \u201cI hand-pick the stones and build the settings based on what the stones ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherman\u2019s Books & Stationery opened at 49 Exchange Street on April Fool\u2019s Day. \u201cWe support Maine publishers and authors as much as we can, and we have a Maine writers section,\u201d says proprietor Tori Curtis. The store also sells \u201cstationery, gifts, notebooks\u2013a little bit of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

This summer, after you pick up a copy there of Jillian and Malcolm Bedell\u2019s Eating In Maine<\/em> (Tilbury House, $22.95), you can take it around the corner to Maps Euro Cafe, soon to open at 64 Market Street, which is actually underneath Sherman\u2019s Books. \u201cIt\u2019ll be a European-style cafe, a place people can stop by in the afternoon for a coffee or beer, open a book, and relax. We\u2019ll also bake cakes,\u201d says co-proprietor Vikki Walker.<\/p>\n

Walker and her husband Kyle Tzarinski found Portland when traveling. \u201cI\u2019m from England, and my husband\u2019s from Vermont. We came here and spent two nights at the Inn at St. John, and we just loved it.\u201d They decided to stay and create Maps Cafe. \u201cWe said, \u2018Just give us a basement.\u2019 We\u2019re striving for a living-room feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luxury Lace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aristelle, the fine lingerie and bra-fitting shop at 92 Exchange, opened just in time for Christmas in the space formerly occupied by Wyler\u2019s gifts, homewares, and garments. (Find Wyler\u2019s on Maine Street in Brunswick these days.) \u201cIt\u2019s all about fitting,\u201d says owner Andrea King. \u201cWe have 150 bra sizes.\u201d The store is full of them, as well as other lovely intimate apparel and luxury loungewear. \u201cWe do special orders, and maternity. Bra-size swimwear has been really big,\u201d which permits mixing tops and bottoms to fit individual body types. There\u2019s an Aristelle in Burlington, Vermont, too. \u201cDiana Krall came in and bought a nice set of pajamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fascinatingly, up at 646 Congress Street, another pretty lingerie shop has just come into bloom. \u00c9ta\u00edn Boutique promises \u201clovely underpinnings for every lady.\u201d Is Portland leading a new trend, like cupcakes or gelato?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. Maybe!\u201d says proprietor Mackenzie Morris. \u201cPeople tell me they love having the selection. Proper fitting is really catching on. People aren\u2019t satisfied with Victoria\u2019s Secret anymore.\u201d \u00c9ta\u00edn\u2013named for a mythological Irish \u201cgoddess of passion\u201d\u2013is bedecked with colorful, frilly little things on dainty wall racks. Toile wallpaper adorns the spacious fitting room area, which is furnished with an antique mirror and Victorian fainting couch. Like Aristelle, \u00c9ta\u00edn manages to project a very sweet naughtiness.<\/p>\n

Gathering No Moss<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Old Port\u2019s always in motion. Blink and you might miss something\u2013remember when Sebago Brewing scooted from the corner of Middle and Market to cushier digs a few blocks away in the Hampton Inn, making space for White Cap Grille? Sadly, the Pepperclub and Good Egg Cafe, beloved for local, healthy, and exuberantly international food for 25 years, will vacate the Old Port this fall to escape the rising rent in their now-very-hot corner of the Old Port. The city\u2019s loss may become Kennebunk\u2019s gain. We expect a feeding frenzy for Pepperclub\u2019s choice location at 78 Middle Street.<\/p>\n

Muse Paint Bar\u2013a retail chain concept for fine-art painting-class parties\u2013is taking over the Commercial Street spot recently vacated by Color Me Mine, a similar chain venture for pottery painting (that will soon reappear at Thompson\u2019s Point). Fancy women\u2019s clothier Carla\u2019s left Fore Street\u2013clearing the way for the arrival of Central Provisions there\u2013and turned up where Emerson\u2019s Books and Maps used to be on Exchange. A branch of Vincenza\u2019s Italian Bakery in Saco\u2019s Pepperell Square is said to be going in a few doors down from Carla\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Directly across Exchange, the Paper Patch moved up to more spacious quarters on the corner of Milk Street, where Club 21 used to be. The guys behind the counter at b. good\u2013the friendly, all-natural, totally ethical burger shop on that same block of Exchange\u2013recently shared unsubstantiated rumors about their neighbor storefronts. Such as, that the Paper Patch\u2019s former spot may become a ladies\u2019 boutique, and the now-empty Mornings in Paris coffee shop might soon be a retailer of gourmet jerky. Hey, why not, when Gourmutt Beastro is selling all-natural dog treats right across the street?<\/p>\n

Deana Lorenzo and Lindsey Grimes contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 2014
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