ANOTHER Classy Beer “Cafe” Coming to Portland!

First, thanks to reader “Shel” for the lead on this story! It appears that yet another classy beer “cafe” is coming to Portland (it was never my intent to make blogaboutbeer.com all about Maine but with the huge influx of Maine-beer-news over the past few weeks, it’s tough not to). A company calling themselves Novare Res, LLC went before the Portland City Council early this week with the letter of intent to open an up-scale beer “cafe” in the space at 4 Canal Plaza (188 Middle St. in Portland’s Old Port) which was recently vacated by the Black Tie Bistro. According to the City Council minutes from that evening, the letter read like this:

Novare Res, meaning “to start a revolution” in Latin, will be a European-influenced beer “cafe” located in the Old Port area of Portland, Maine. The idea is to create a drinking establishment that is more like a European “pub” rather than an American sports “bar”.

With a draught selection of 25 beers and over 100 bottled beers, the focus will be on the beer. We will not offer any of the large, commercial breweries’ products, but rather will focus on small, craft-brewed American and European beer of the highest quality and character. Examples of such beers would be Dogfish Head from Delaware, De Ranke from Belgium, Mahr’s from Germany, and Ridgeway from U.K.

Customers will enjoy a more human atmosphere as there will be no wide-screen TV’s projecting the current sports game, pin-ball or video-gambling machines, or eye-sore flashing neon lights promoting a bland, watered-down, mass-produced product. The physical space will be warm and comfortable, featuring wood and exposed brick. We will offer a small tapas menu including various cheeses, cold meats and salads.

With Portland’s diverse population and influx of tourists, I feel Novare Res will be a welcome alternative to the Old Port’s dining and drinking scene…

The owner is hoping to open Novare Res by April 1st and made numerous mention in his application to the City Council that the new establishment would include the outdoor deck & seating area which made the Black Tie such a great place. He has also requested an entertainment license but said that live entertainment will be limited to only a few nights and would be mostly local & acoustic performances. A public hearing on the creation of the cafe is set for January 28th at &;00pm in the City Council chambers.

Best of luck Novare Res; I sure am excited! With all that’s happening here, Portland is getting better & better with each passing day.

[tags]Novare Res, Portland, Maine, Beer, craft beer[/tags]