RUMFORD — Employees of the River Valley Grill restaurant on Route 2 were greeted Monday morning with a sign on the door that read: “This restaurant is now closed! Had enough of the bull—-!! (sorry)”. Owners Bob and Kathi Knowles declined to comment on the reason for the abrupt closing. “An employee who was supposed […]
restaurants
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
The Boston restaurant where robots have replaced the chefs
The debate about whether cooking is more art or science is a never-ending one. But at Spyce, the latest culinary experiment in automation, that debate feels pretty well settled. Started by a group of 20-something robotics engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who partnered with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud, the new restaurant in downtown Boston […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills
Fusion cuisine restaurant aiming to come to Norway
NORWAY — A local man is seeking permission to open a restaurant at the former C&C Meats building at 495 Main St., Planning Board Chairman Dennis Gray said. Deivid Miranda Da Silva told the board at last week’s meeting that he wants to offer “fusion cuisine,” which combines elements of different culinary traditions. “He laid out […]
Posted inBusiness
Subway plans to close 500 U.S. stores but grow internationally
Subway Restaurants, the world’s most ubiquitous dining chain, will continue closing U.S. stores as it expands internationally. After peppering the nation with thousands of locations, closely held Subway is retrenching. This year, the sandwich purveyor is planning to shut about 500 more of its U.S. shops. Last year, more than 800 stores went dark, with […]
Posted inBusiness
A look at claims of racial bias in U.S. restaurants
Starbucks is only the latest U.S. food chain to come under scrutiny because of the way black people were treated at one of its locations. Some companies have been accused of systemic racism; others have faced complaints about isolated occurrences. Allegations of discrimination against minorities go back decades and include: IHOP IHOP, run by International […]
Posted inLocal & State
What are the odds of getting a seat at The Lost Kitchen?
If 10,000 phone calls sounds like a lot, try sorting through more than 10,000 note cards. The Lost Kitchen – the secluded, seasonal restaurant in a refurbished old mill in Freedom that was inundated with 10,000 phone calls in 24 hours for reservations last year – is now being swamped with snail-mail requests for one of its […]
Posted inBusiness
Restaurant kid menus try to appeal to younger tastes and parental approval
The first thing 9-year-old Peter Ericson did after settling into his chair at Yosaku in Portland was ask about the chopsticks. He’d never used them before, so a lesson in how to hold them followed. Ever had sushi, Peter? “I’ve already tried it, I think,” he replied. His mother laughed. “You have not,” she said. […]
Posted inLocal & State
Former Portland restaurant owner pleads not guilty to writing bad checks
A well-known Maine chef told a judge Tuesday she is not guilty of charges that she wrote more than $8,800 in bad checks. Shannon Bard, who was the chef and co-owner of Zapoteca in Portland and Toroso in Kennebunk, was released on personal recognizance after making her initial appearance. She was told to return Cumberland […]
Posted inBusiness
Big J’s Chicken Shack at Thompson’s Point is closing
Big J’s Chicken Shack, a casual restaurant at Thompson’s Point that serves chicken and waffles and Nashville hot chicken, is closing at the end of the month, according to Jason Loring, who is one of the owners. Loring, whose restaurant group owns Big J’s, said he and his partners were approached by their business partners at […]
Posted inBusiness
Spending bill could bar restaurant owners from taking servers’ tips
Tucked into Congress’s 2,200-plus-page omnibus spending bill are a few paragraphs that would prohibit employers from sharing server tips with others in a restaurant — including the employers themselves. Worker advocates label the provision a bipartisan rebuke to a proposed Department of Labor rule last year that could have legalized a practice now considered wage […]