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Log inHey, something smells good in Westbrook
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Hey, something smells good in Westbrook
by Outspoken on Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:31 pm
Hey, something smells good in Westbrook
With the malodorous pulp mill closed, the tantalizing aromas of bread baking and steaks sizzling are free to waft up and down the city's suddenly lively and diverse restaurant row.
By MEREDITH GOAD
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
WESTBROOK — Stephen Totman remembers when Westbrook was a drive-through town -- as in drive-thru fast food, and drive through on your way to someplace else.
"At night, we'd close all the windows to keep the smell out," recalled Totman, who lives three miles away in Portland, "but then when we'd put them up during the day, it would just smell so bad."
The paint-peeling odor that once seeped from Westbrook's pulp mill and oozed into homes all over Cumberland County may indeed have been the smell of money, as the locals used to say, but it wasn't exactly a great accompaniment to fine dining. Westbrook was restaurant-poor.
But now, the pulp mill is closed and people who don't work in the paper industry buy homes there. Businesses are migrating to the city too. Commuters who live in Gorham and Windham are looking for places to pick up some takeout on their way home.
Over the past couple of years, Westbrook has developed its own little restaurant row on Main Street. Older eateries such as Guidi's Diner and the Main Street Cafe have a lot of new neighbors serving everything from Sunday brunch to moo shu pork.
John Morgan, a 24-year-old Westbrook native who blogs as the "Westbrook Diarist," is startled to suddenly find himself with the luxury of choosing a place to eat based on his mood.
Mexican? Go to Fajita Grill. Latin? Try Burrito. Chinese? China Villa is new. Italian? There's that old reliable, Casa Novello. Burgers and steaks? The Frog and Turtle is the place. Pizza? It's your choice of Profenno's, Portland Pie Co. or Pizza Time.
"It used to be that if you had a certain mood, you had to go into Portland, but now there's pretty much a taste for most every palate," Morgan said.
Stephen Totman recently opened a bakery, the Baker's Bench, on Brackett Street, just off Route 25. He started with his own wholesale business on Portland's Congress Street, selling baked goods to local coffee houses. When it came time to move, he searched for a new location in Portland but couldn't find anything as affordable or convenient as Westbrook. An added bonus -- no more paper-mill stink to compete with the smell of his bread baking.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=172115&ac=Food
Photos by Doug Jones/Staff Photographer
With the malodorous pulp mill closed, the tantalizing aromas of bread baking and steaks sizzling are free to waft up and down the city's suddenly lively and diverse restaurant row.
By MEREDITH GOAD
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
WESTBROOK — Stephen Totman remembers when Westbrook was a drive-through town -- as in drive-thru fast food, and drive through on your way to someplace else.
"At night, we'd close all the windows to keep the smell out," recalled Totman, who lives three miles away in Portland, "but then when we'd put them up during the day, it would just smell so bad."
The paint-peeling odor that once seeped from Westbrook's pulp mill and oozed into homes all over Cumberland County may indeed have been the smell of money, as the locals used to say, but it wasn't exactly a great accompaniment to fine dining. Westbrook was restaurant-poor.
But now, the pulp mill is closed and people who don't work in the paper industry buy homes there. Businesses are migrating to the city too. Commuters who live in Gorham and Windham are looking for places to pick up some takeout on their way home.
Over the past couple of years, Westbrook has developed its own little restaurant row on Main Street. Older eateries such as Guidi's Diner and the Main Street Cafe have a lot of new neighbors serving everything from Sunday brunch to moo shu pork.
John Morgan, a 24-year-old Westbrook native who blogs as the "Westbrook Diarist," is startled to suddenly find himself with the luxury of choosing a place to eat based on his mood.
Mexican? Go to Fajita Grill. Latin? Try Burrito. Chinese? China Villa is new. Italian? There's that old reliable, Casa Novello. Burgers and steaks? The Frog and Turtle is the place. Pizza? It's your choice of Profenno's, Portland Pie Co. or Pizza Time.
"It used to be that if you had a certain mood, you had to go into Portland, but now there's pretty much a taste for most every palate," Morgan said.
Stephen Totman recently opened a bakery, the Baker's Bench, on Brackett Street, just off Route 25. He started with his own wholesale business on Portland's Congress Street, selling baked goods to local coffee houses. When it came time to move, he searched for a new location in Portland but couldn't find anything as affordable or convenient as Westbrook. An added bonus -- no more paper-mill stink to compete with the smell of his bread baking.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=172115&ac=Food
Photos by Doug Jones/Staff Photographer
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
