September 11 – Anjon’s Ristorante, a revival of the former Anjon’s on Route 1 in Scarborough, will open next Wednesday, September 18.
Chef-owner John DiSanto had hoped to open in early summer, but was delayed by permitting requirements. DiSanto explained that the restaurant is in a residential area, so the variance had to be extended because it had been closed for more than a year. Anjon’s closed in September 2019.
“I’m glad we had the extra time because we gave the place a facelift that it needed 10 years ago,” DiSanto said. “What I’ve created here is what I envisioned. If I had opened it three months ago, it just wouldn’t have turned out the way I wanted it to. I think my customers are in for a real treat.”
Anjon’s has been a local institution for decades. The restaurant was opened in 1954 by DiSanto’s grandparents in the same location. After Anjon’s closed in 2019, it was briefly home to another Italian restaurant, Amore on the Marsh.
Earlier this year, friends, family and other community benefactors donated more than $20,000 to help DiSanto cover the project’s start-up costs. “I was very humbled and it gave me the enthusiasm to do more,” he said.
DiSanto has streamlined Anjon’s menu. The restaurant no longer serves steaks and seafood, instead focusing on Italian specialties, including old Anjon favorites like chicken parmesan; bread stuffed with salami, pepperoni and provolone; and meatballs with sauce.
“The old menu read like a bible. It took forever to read and there was a lot of food waste,” DiSanto said.
Anjon’s Ristorante is open from Sunday to Thursday from 5pm to 9pm and on Friday and Saturday from 5pm to 10pm.
UNION BAGEL MOVES TO FALMOUTH
Union Bagel Co. has moved its operations from Portland to Falmouth, where it once again has a store.
Adam Shapiro, owner of the former Mister Bagel at 204 U.S. Route 1, said he partnered with Union Bagel owner and baker Paul Farrell earlier this year. Union Bagel has taken over the Mister Bagel Falmouth space.
Shapiro said the Falmouth store is Union’s first retail operation in about two years. Farrell had been doing wholesale business out of Union’s Cumberland Avenue location. That store has since closed, and Union’s wholesale business is now also located in the Falmouth location.
Union Bagel is open Monday through Friday from 7am to 2pm and Saturday and Sunday from 7am to 12pm.
OPENING OF ELDA IN PORTLAND POSTPONED
Elda, Biddeford’s former Michelin-starred restaurant, has postponed its Portland reopening until next spring.
When Elda chef and co-owner Bowman Brown announced the move last winter, he had hoped to be open by now in the new Bayside location at 34 Portland St. But in late spring, Brown and his wife, co-owner Anna Brown, decided to expand their addition with a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit above the restaurant.
“We decided to maximize the building. And that was a lot more than we originally planned to take on,” Brown said. “I think it’s going to be another six to eight months before we can have guests for dinner.”
The 1,200-square-foot restaurant will seat about 22 people. “There’s something really nice about keeping the scale really small,” Brown said. “It’s easy to plan and it feels very controllable.”
Brown said he expects Elda to reach more potential customers by opening in Portland. “I would imagine a lot of the people who came to Elda in Biddeford will continue to come to Portland,” he said. “We may have access to more people who are passing through (Portland).”
SILLY’S TO RESTART IN STANDISH
Popular restaurant Silly’s, which has been operating as a food truck in Standish for two years, plans to open a physical location in that city in early 2025.
Silly’s owner Colleen Kelley purchased a building at 131 Ossipee Trail West in Standish that Silly’s will share with a martial arts school, Ebb and Flow BJJ. The new location previously housed Grammy’s Bakehouse and Deli.
Silly’s operated in Portland for 31 years before closing in 2019 at 40 Washington Ave., in part due to family health issues. Another version of Silly’s opened just around the corner at 68 Washington Ave. in 2020, but closed in March 2022.
Kelley said afterward, “I lost my mind and bought a food truck, which was a total failure.” Kelley has had multiple problems with the truck, including its fire suppression system breaking down this past Memorial Day weekend. She said she will continue to operate the truck until the restaurant opens, but she may sell it after that.
A counter service with about 18 seats will open at Standish Silly’s. Kelley hopes to add some outdoor seating in the summer.
Kelley expects Silly’s to be open Friday through Tuesday, with tentative hours of 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., depending on staffing. “I plan on being open Monday and Tuesday because everything in Standish is closed,” she said.
“I’m going to take it easy and do my best,” Kelley added. “I’m out of practice. It’s been a long time. It’s late in my life to buy a building, but this is the last time I reincarnate Silly’s.”
FOOD & WINE TOAST KNIGHTVILLE
Food & Wine magazine this month named South Portland’s Knightville neighborhood “Maine’s next big dining destination.”
The story notes that while Knightville has long been a “locals’ haunt,” it “has eventually become a destination in its own right, drawing visitors who might otherwise head off without stopping for iconic Fort Williams Park and other beaches in Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough.”
The article mentions the following locations: Broadway Bowl, Cia, Dok Mali Noodle Bar, Lambs, Night Moves Bread, SoPo Seafood and Taco Trio.
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