After months of permitting and buildout delays, Novel, a new book bar and cafe on Congress Street, is set to open this month.

Co-owner Nate Donovan said Novel – located at 643 Congress St., the former home of Bomb Diggity Arts – will launch “softly” on Dec. 20. He expects Novel to hold a grand opening on Jan. 5 or 6.

“We’re extremely excited to actually get to this stage,” Donovan said. “It’s been a long, drawn-out battle. We’ll use the time between the 20th and the grand opening to figure out what’s working and what isn’t, and fix it for the grand opening. We want people to come in and not judge us too hard until we can actually get a couple weeks underneath our belt.”

Donovan and his partner, Joshua Ames, started the buildout on the 4,000-square-foot, two-story space in February and originally had hoped to launch last summer. But the project ran into permitting delays, and because they’d been leasing the space since January, the budget grew tight.

“This is a large square-footage space, and the holding costs while we were waiting for the permitting essentially chewed into the money we had to pay for the buildout, so we ended up doing it mostly ourselves,” Donovan said. “Two guys can only go so quick.”

Novel’s ground floor bar area accommodates about 50 with seating options at the bar, cafe tables and various lounge chairs, loveseats and sofas. Donovan said Novel will open its downstairs “speakeasy” bar featuring live music and comedy as part of a “phase two” buildout sometime in 2024. The venue has about 6,000 books in stock, available for perusal or purchase, a collection curated by nearby Green Hand Bookstore.

Novel will open with a limited food menu ($6-$12) featuring pastries baked fresh daily, topped flatbreads and “tattie puff” handpies stuffed with fillings like chorizo and cheese or vegetarian options, as well as desserts and snacks.

Novel’s cafe roasts its own beans and the coffee menu will include drip coffee, nitro cold brew and specialty lattes. The bar program features literary-themed cocktails.

Donovan said Novel will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

COSTA MEDIA OPENING SOON

Costa Media, the sister restaurant to Cafe Louis in South Portland, is scheduled to open in Camden this month, according to chef-owner Evan Richardson.

Located at 50 Elm St., former home of Wolfpeach, Costa Media will have soft openings on Dec. 19 and 20, then hold its grand opening on Dec. 22. In contrast to Novel’s protracted project timeline, Costa Media came together in short order after Wolfpeach closed in August and Richardson bought the 1,900-square-foot venue.

“We executed our plans pretty quickly and a lot of things fell into place the right way, so we’re lucky,” Richardson said.

Like Cafe Louis, Costa Media also will offer upscale Costa Rican- and Caribbean-influenced food, sourcing ingredients from the Midcoast community as much as possible, Richardson said.

“We’re trying to utilize the local produce from up here the way we do in Portland and tie in as many local businesses when we can,” he said. “There’s some more livestock farming up here than down there. It’s a bit more likely to have someone knock on the door with half a pig if you want it, which is convenient and fun.

“I’d say we’re approaching our community the way that (Cafe) Louis has approached South Portland, and our menu will depict that.”

Costa Media will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Friday through Tuesday, Richardson said, adding that he hopes eventually to be open six days a week.

“This time of year is difficult for restaurants in general, and we’re kind of rolling the dice on adding some value to this part of Maine,” Richardson said. “Like always, we just want to be a positive experience and make sure people leave happier than when they got there.”

LUCKY THAI COMES TO WESTBROOK

Lucky Thai restaurant of Gorham is opening a second location in Westbrook at the start of 2024.

Lucky Thai bought the former Good Things Variety store at 113 Saco St. in Westbrook in November, according to restaurant manager Sin Phongvichith. He noted that the new location will be called Lucky Thai Variety and will be takeout-only, adding that the 1,300-square-foot space will continue to feature a convenience store component.

Phongvichith said Lucky Thai Variety will have a similar menu to the original location, though the dish lineup is still being finalized. The operation is awaiting licensing, and Phongvichith said they aim to open Jan. 1.

Lucky Thai Variety will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

BIG NEW BAR FOR BAYSIDE

The owners of Wilson County Barbecue and Ri Ra plan to open a bar with a “strong nightclub vibe” in Bayside next spring.

Spencer Brantley, one of the partner, said the new venue will be called Bar Publica, and is under construction at 82 Hanover St. – previously home to The Yard – adjacent to Wilson County Barbecue.

The expansive, 3,000-square-foot site can seat nearly 300, including outdoor seating and a rooftop patio where the owners are building a bar. Bar Publica will serve food, a rotating seasonal menu of pan-Latin American small plates, though Brantley said the venue will emphatically be “bar-first.”

“About 20 years ago, there was a really rich and vibrant bar culture in Portland,” Brantley said. “But it’s just sort of dwindled away. There are a handful left in town, but very few bar-first places. So this is a nod to old Portland (bar) culture, which we’d like to bring back.”

Publica’s bar program will feature well-crafted cocktails, a large mezcal collection and a variety of tequila-based cocktails. Brantley said the owners also are installing a high-quality sound system, noting that Bar Publica will have late-night DJs.

Brantley said the ownership team – which also includes David Kelley and Ciaran Sheenhan – submitted architectural drawings to the city on Monday, and hopes to open Bar Publica by April 1. “We have a lot of work to do, but I think we’ll be on track to hit that mark,” he said.

PROSPECTIVE NEW VINEYARD RESTAURANT HOLDS POP-UP

A pair of hospitality industry veterans who plan to open a fine-dining restaurant in New Vineyard in the spring will hold a pop-up this weekend at the Cork and Rind wine shop in Carrabassett Valley featuring complimentary samples of their food.

Lina Mamut said she and partner/chef Jared Rudnick – who has cooked at fine-dining venues in the Boston area, including Boston Harbor Hotel and Barbara Lynch’s No. 9 Park – have bought a former private residence in New Vineyard which they are in the process of converting into a 20-seat restaurant called The Chametz, offering a prix-fixe-only menu using ingredients sourced within a 100-mile radius. Mamut said they’ve already started a small biodynamic farm on the property.

“We were aiming for somewhere in the vicinity of 30 minutes from Sugarloaf, Saddleback and Rangeley for all the year-round recreation they offer there,” Mamut said, explaining why they chose to launch in New Vineyard.

The “miniature tasting” of The Chametz food at Cork and Rind is set for 4-8 p.m. Saturday. The food is free, wine pairings are available for purchase, and Mamut and Rudnick will be soliciting contributions for The Chametz.

“Everything we’ll be serving at this event will be from within 20 miles of our location. We’re partnering with local farms and also using more unusual ingredients,” Mamut said, noting that one dish they’ll serve is pork cracklings with goose liver mousse, Concord grape au jus and locally foraged herbs.

Mamut and Rudnick launched an online Kickstarter campaign to help fund The Chametz, which as of Tuesday had raised just over $35,000 of its $150,000 goal, though the campaign ends Dec. 30. Mamut said if they don’t meet their goal, they will likely launch another Kickstarter with a lower goal.

Ultimately, Mamut said she and Rudnick aim for The Chametz to be a 100% worker-owned collective.

CHOWDER RULES AT PORTLAND HARBOR HOTEL 

Chowder lovers of all ages are invited to a chowder tasting and reading of the kids’ book “Chowder Rules!” at the Portland Harbor Hotel this month.

The event, set for 4-6 p.m. Dec. 21, features local author Anna Crowley Redding reading her book, which includes a chowder recipe from Chef Trent Seib of the hotel’s on-site restaurant, Harbor Bistro + Terrace.

Guests can sample New England- and Manhattan-style chowders prepared by Seib and cast their votes in the Dueling Chowder tasting. The event also includes interactive games, holiday crafts and free hot chocolate, cider and snacks.

Tickets, available online, are $5 for adults, while children are free. All proceeds will be donated to No Kid Hungry, a national campaign run by Share Our Strength to address hunger and poverty worldwide.

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