AUBURN — The Twin Cities small airport is on the hunt for a new restaurant again.

Airport Manager Rick Lanman said the airport’s board of directors is scheduled to discuss how to fill the space vacated by CAVU Cafe at Thursday’s regular meeting. The restaurant officially shut down on Dec. 31, but had closed its doors a few days earlier.

“We have everything there, ready to go,” Lanman said. “It’s a turnkey operation. We have all the equipment in place. They just need to have enough money to buy food and hire a staff.”

CAVU Cafe was opened a year ago by Richard “Rick” Bennett, former president of the Maine State Senate and current chairman of the Maine Republican Party. CAVU is an acronym for the aeronautical phrase “ceiling and visibility unlimited.”

The space was expanded in 2012 along with the rest of the terminal at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport. The dining area still overlooks the airport taxiway. It replaced the Landing Strip Cafe after that operation and the airport could not settle on a contract.

“First-time restaurant owners can make it, but that just didn’t happen this time,” Lanman said.

Lanman said the restaurant operators need to be just as comfortable making gourmet meals as they are typical grill fare and comfort food. They provide on-demand luncheon service to pilots who fly in as well as people who work near the airport. They’re also expected to offer catering to pilots flying in, and those can be pricier and more demanding. He said he knows that CAVU Cafe catered at least one $2,400 meal for a fly-in customer.

“They’ll be in the position that they may be grilling a hamburger at the same time they are preparing lobster thermidore,” he said. “They need to be equally comfortable with both.”

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