Saturday, April 27, 2019

Coming Soon to the East End: Cocktail Mary

The Future Home of Cocktail Mary


The head bartender at Izakaya Minato plans to open a cocktail lounge on Congress Street in Portland’s East End.
Isaac MacDougal has applied for a license to open Cocktail Mary at 229 Congress St., the former location of Ramen Suzukiya, a noodle shop that closed last fall after the owner died. In a letter accompanying his liquor license application, MacDougal noted that though some restaurants in the East End serve cocktails, that part of town does not yet have a cocktail bar.
MacDougal cited his experience working as a bartender or manager in Michelin-starred restaurants in New York City, and pointed out that his family ran the now-closed Vaughan Street Variety, a sandwich shop on Portland’s West End, since 1995.
MacDougal’s target opening date is June 1.


Isaac, he of the bright blue yes and perpetual charm, is our fave bartender at our current fave East End eatery. We're excited to support his new venture!

Sunday, April 14, 2019

The Maine Pottery Tour is just around the corner!

Possibly my favorite sign of spring! This year the pottery tour has 37 studios, from Kittery to Swanville to Phillips. The Maine Pottery Tour offers demonstrations and giveaways, a chance to meet the artists, shop for handmade pottery, and get a glimpse into life as a potter in Maine. You can even try the wheel yourself at some locations or paint a plate of your own.

What: The Maine Pottery Tour, a celebration of ceramic arts in Maine
When: Saturday May 4th, 10-5
            Sunday May 5th, 11 -4

Where: 37 Locations in Maine! 


In Central Maine, there are 13 tour destinations:

Fine Mess Pottery 131 Cony St, Augusta
Red Door Pottery, 14 North Pearl St, Augusta
Hallowell Clay Works 157 Water St, Hallowell
The Potters House 82 Stevenstown Rd, Litchfield
The Potter’s Shed 605 Hallowell-Litchfield Rd West Gardiner
d harwood Pottery 196D Main St, Winthrop
Maple Lane Pottery, 36 Greeley Rd, Windsor
Loken Pottery 26 Bowman St, Farmingdale
Whitefield Pottery 442 Howe Rd, Whitefield
Rob Sieminski Bog Pond Rd, Phillips
Martha Grover & Josh Rysted 630 West Bethel Rd, Bethel
Tim Fischer Pottery 394 Ridge Rd Lisbon
Barbara Walch Pottery 33 Knox Station Rd, Thorndike




On the Coastal leg of the Tour, there are 11 stops:

Chouinard Ceramics, 75 Main St, Wiscasset
Al Scovern/West Third Ceramics, 108 Congress St, Belfast
Van Der Ven Studios 257 Main St, Lincolnville
Fireside Pottery 1478 Camden Rd, Warren
Neighborhood Clay & Liz Proffetty Ceramics 590 Maine St, Damariscotta
Jody Johnstone Pottery, 135 Webster Rd, Swanville
Barbara Walch Pottery, 33 Knox Station Rd, Thorndike
Good Land Pottery, 487 Morese Rd, Montville
Pottery Farm 943 Belfast Rd, Knox
Everyday Pottery 103 Northport Rd, Belmont
Prescott Hill Pottery 261 Prescott Hill Rd, Liberty 




In Southern Maine, 13 studios are participating:


Zwellyn Pottery 20 Spencer Ln, Limington
Wendy Twitchell Porcelain 232 Beachwood Ave, Kennebunkport
Pottery Girl 1104 Pequawket Tr, Standish
Portland Pottery 118 Washington Ave, Portland
Homeport Pottery 131 Beachwood Ave, Kennebunkport
Peeper Pond Studios, 18 Mast Rd, Scarborough
Chris Davis Pottery 81 Seabury Rd, York
Shannon Wong Pottery 59 St George St, Portland
Delany Arts, 20 Center St, Yarmouth
Southern Maine Clay Guild, 22 Government Ave, Kittery
Ash Cove Pottery, 75 Ash Cove Rd, Harpswell
Ocean Fire Pottery, 23 Woodbridge Rd, York
Chase’s Garage, 16 Main St, York

Sunday, April 7, 2019

First Crocuses, 2019

Spring is late this year! I'm a little surprised, because we didn't have an especially hard winter, although notably absent were the random warm days in January or late February. It was consistently winter-cold, nothing approximating a brief thaw.

Maybe that's why my crocuses are slow out of the gate! The popped their little green heads up about 3 weeks ago, but have made little progress since.

Come on, guys! We're all rootin for ya.