Portland Food Map

Peter and Jessica Sueltenfuss announced that they’ve sold the Other Side Diner. Their last day as owners of the business was Sunday.

Their statement reads in part, “The Diner has been such a huge part of our lives, and we are beyond grateful for every guest who walked through our doors, every staff member who worked alongside us, and every friendship and memory made over the years. Your support, loyalty, and kindness helped shape this restaurant into something truly special.”

The diner is being taken over by Danielle Dubois and Dan Washington. Dubois has been a member of the Other Side kitchen staff for the last year, and Washington has several years experience cooking at the Miss Portland Diner. They plan on maintaining continuity with the food and atmosphere at the Other Side Diner while bringing some of their own ideas to the menu. They hope to relaunch the Other Side Diner in July.

Other Side Diner opened 7 years ago in April 2019. The Sueltenfusses previously operated two locations of the Other Side Deli on Veranda and Vaughan Streets.

Belleville - Portland, Maine has announced plans to close their location on Munjoy Hill. They’ll continue to operate out of their Forest Avenue bakery. The last day of operations on Congress Street will be June 8th. Their statement reads in part,

“We understand this seems like strange timing with high season ready to begin in Portland, but we simply don’t have enough trained bakers to maintain our quality standards and produce enough pastries to continue operations as normal.”

“Additional factors that played into this tough decision include the financial strains of the overhead costs of maintaining two locations. We have also struggled with the logistics of supporting teams at two separate locations. We’re nearing the end of our 10 year lease at 1 North St and we were feeling ready to make changes. Lastly, Amy and I have hustled hard for many years and surprise, surprise, we have less energy. We’re older now too!”

The Forest Ave location opened in 2023 and is currently open on Saturdays and Sundays, 8 – 11 am. Owners Chris Deutsch and Amy Fuller expect to expand hours of operations there in the near future.

Deutsch and Fuller launched Belleville at the corner of North and Congress Streets in 2017.

This week's Maine Food & Dining Report includes word of several new openings: The Rumery cocktail bar🍸 in Eastport, Hug Sen Noodle Bar🍜in Brunswick, Maine Jamaican Kitchen in South Portland, The Flounder and Shorties in York, Swell Kitchen in Cape Neddick. It also has news about new restaurant developments in Kennebunk, Old Orchard Beach, and Rockland, the release of Aragosta chef Devin Finigan's new book📚, the sale of the Cellardoor Winery farmhouse and vineyard, details on farm dinners👨‍🌾 taking place all over the state, the rebranding of Standard Gastropub to The LAST CHAIR, the upcoming closure of Mulligan’s in Biddeford, the rhubarb festival taking place in Perry with the theme of “Rhubarb is Sexy”, a series of edible insect events taking place this year at the Maine Tasting Center, and additional news from Norway and South Portland as well as the addition of Suzuki, St. George Pizza, The Parlor, Perch Cafe and Bakery and Walkers Maine to the Maine Food Map.

You can read the full report here: https://www.portlandfoodmap.com/maine-food-dining-news-waldoboro-monson-deer-isle-nobleboro-eastport-brunswick-south-portland-old-orchard-beach-wells-bridgton-york-beach-kennebunk-rockland-lincolnville-biddeford-pe/

There's a lot going on! This week's Maine Food & Dining Report includes word of the launch of The Dooryard Pub in South Portland and the Barn at Smith Farm at Falmouth, of Good Wolf🐺 restaurant in the final stages of construction in Northeast Harbor, the upcoming sale of the Taste of Maine Restaurant🦞 in Woolwich, the closure of North Star in Wells, the decision to close Olive Pit Brewing in Lisbon Falls in September, a new deli/cocktail bar🥪🍸 called Scullery Made in Searsport and additional news from Oxford, Dover-foxcroft, Westbrook, Cape Elizabeth, Yarmouth, Pembroke, Solon, Buxton, Sanford, and Ellsworth.
You can read the full report here:

Maine Food & Dining News: South Portland, MDI, Falmouth, Oxford, Westbrook, Dover-Foxcroft, Cape Elizabeth, Yarmouth, Wells, Lisbon Falls, Woolwich, Pembroke, Solon, Buxton, Belfast, Sanford, Ellsworth - Portland Food Map New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know: The Dooryard (instagram) is scheduled to open on Thursday. The South Portland pub is being launched by Chris Beth and Lori Eschholz, the former owners of OhNo Cafe. It will initi...

Chefs Melody Medina and Quinn Williams are launching Chérie on Thursday. Chérie is located at 249 Congress Street in the space formerly occupied by Quanto Basta.

The menu (see below) includes dishes like steak frites, roast chicken, and halibut with tarbais beans as well as desserts like creme brulee and strawberry sorbet. Chérie also features a full bar program run by Lucie Anderson. The beverage menu includes wines by the glass🍷 and bottle, local beer and cider, appertifs and a cocktail program as well as non-alcoholic options. The Chérie Negroni as well as the asparagus and snap pea salad, and the leek vinaigrette are shown below as well as the steak frites and strawberry🍓 sorbet.

Williams and Medina have made some light renovations to the 20-seat dining room but otherwise retain the same general layout—including the Fiero Forni oven. Cherie also has a 20-seat enclosed patio located behind the building.

The couple moved to Portland from Brooklyn in 2024. They met when both were working at Frenchette New York City. Medina is a 2011 graduate of the French Culinary Institute and helped launch the bread program at Frenchette and open the Frenchette Bakery in Tribeca. Williams’ career began in his hometown of Pittsburgh and once in NYC worked at Le Rock and Lords. Since last fall they have been holding a series of Cherie pop-up events at Lambs, Hunt & Alpine and the Big Tree event space.

Chérie will initially be open Thursday through Monday, 5 – 10 pm with plans to expand hours this summer to offer lunch and brunch on the weekend.