High praise for Mr. Tuna from the New York Times. Courtesy of Mr. Tuna

Three Portland restaurants – Mr. Tuna, Ocotillo and Oun Lido’s – have been recognized for their excellence in recent national media roundup reports.

The New York Times on Tuesday named the Tuna de Tigre at Mr. Tuna and the Mushroom Breakfast Taco at Ocotillo on their list of  “The 26 Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024.”

“At Mr. Tuna sushi bar, you’ll find the impeccable, sustainable sushi and handrolls that made Jordan Rubin and Marisa Lewiecki’s food truck such a fixture of Portland,” Melissa Clark wrote in the in Times. “But their new, full-service restaurant offers many more delights, and one of the best is Tuna de Tigre. Listed on the menu under ‘Dressed Up Sashimi,’ the cubes of ruby fish are decked out in a tangy-sweet sauce of puréed coconut, lime juice, fish sauce and chiles, and crowned with a tangle of crunchy, golden shallots.”

In her write-up on Ocotillo’s dish, Clark said the flour tortilla taco’s seeming simplicity belies its many-faceted appeal. “The local shimeji mixed with maitake mushrooms are meaty and chewy, and perfumed with cumin, garlic and black pepper,” she wrote. “The soft scrambled eggs provide a fluffy textural counterpoint to the crisp potatoes. But then the real whammy is the housemade salsa macha, a brick-red drizzle exploding with toasted chiles, nuts and seeds, and sweetened with roasted garlic — the kind of haunting sauce you’ll want to slather on everything.”

The Loc Lac at Oun Lido’s. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Mr. Tuna also made Food & Wine magazine’s list this month of “11 Best Dishes from 2024” for its tuna sashimi tasting. Critic Raphael Brion wrote that “the regularly appearing but off-menu special that is the tuna sashimi tasting will knock your socks right off into Portland’s Back Cove.”

Also this month, Oun Lido’s was named among the 35 venues on Esquire magazine’s Best New Restaurants of 2024. “Using Maine’s rightfully lauded ingredients, cooking in a space that’s still in the process of being built out, and tapping into hazy, precious memories of childhood, Bones (Chef-Owner Bounahcree “Bones” Kim) turns out plates that brilliantly synthesize Cambodian and Cantonese flavors,” according to Esquire.

River Bar in Westerly, Rhode Island, was the only other New England restaurant to make Esquire’s list.

VIA SOPHIA BY THE SEA CLOSING IN KENNEBUNK

Italian seafood restaurant Via Sophia by the Sea, a spinoff of the Washington D.C.-based upscale osteria Via Sophia, announced Monday that the last night of service for the venue and its downstairs bar, Rabbit Hole, will be Sunday, Dec. 22.

“We’ve been honored to be a part of the Kennebunk food scene and community,” the restaurant’s social media post reads in part. “We are committed to taking care of our amazing staff. We can’t express enough how much we value and appreciate their hard work and dedication to Via Sophia.”

Via Sophia by the Sea opened in June 2022 at 27 Western Ave., a space formerly occupied by Grissini Italian Bistro. Restaurant spokespeople could not be reached immediately to explain the reasons behind the closure.

Via Sophia by the Sea is part of the Kennebunkport Resort Collection, which owns and manages boutique hotels and restaurants in Kennebunkport and Kennebunk. Via Sophia by the Sea was the group’s first stand-alone restaurant property.

COCKTAIL BAR APERO LAUNCHES IN BIDDEFORD

The cocktail bar Apéro launched recently in the former home of the Drift & Wander boutique in Biddeford.

Located at 20 Alfred St., the roughly 1,000-square-foot bar opened Friday. The venue seats 35, including 10 seats at the bar.

Co-owners Sophia Normantas and Marie Grasser – who are sisters and Biddeford natives – named the bar after a French term referring to drinks and snacks before dinner. Apéro offers a full array of cocktails, mocktails, wine and local beer, including the I’m Just a Traveller cocktail, featuring Buffalo Trace Traveller Whiskey, and Sheila Likes Tequila, a spicy dragon fruit margarita named for the owners’ mother.

The new Apero in Biddeford. Courtesy of Katie Gardner Photography

Apéro’s food offerings include three sizes of charcuterie platters ($14-$42) and a crudités platter ($24). Grasser also owns the 4-year-old Charcutemarie in Saco, which offers custom charcuterie boards for weddings and other events. Normantas was previously a general manager for a Massachusetts-based restaurant group.

“We’re very excited to be part of the Biddeford community,” Normantas said. “We both grew up in Biddeford, and we feel like it’s so wonderful that we’re able to create this gathering space in our hometown, and to be able to do it together has been the most amazing experience.”

Apéro is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 9:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 11 p.m., and Sundays from 1 to 7 p.m.

SIDE BY EACH BREWING IN AUBURN TO CLOSE

Side By Each Brewing Co. in Auburn has announced that Dec. 31 will be its last day in business, citing financial challenges since the pandemic.

The Minot Avenue brewery’s Dec. 11 social media post thanked staff and customers for service and support during its six years in operation.

“We want to express our deepest appreciation to the amazing staff here, past and present, who have dealt with the ups and downs of a small business in trying times more gracefully than we could have asked,” the post reads in part. “And to our customers, whether occasional or regular, whether you’ve been coming in since 2019 or made your first visit last week, we also extend our heartfelt thanks.”

“We’ve been playing from behind ever since COVID,” Side By Each owner Ben Low said Tuesday, noting that the pandemic hit one year after the brewery launched, just when they were starting to break even as a business. At the same time, Side By Each didn’t qualify for most federal emergency aid because they hadn’t been open long enough.

“Our whole business model from the beginning was based on bringing people into the brewery,” Low said. “We weren’t doing any packaging initially, so (the pandemic) obviously made things very tough.”

Low also noted factors like the downturn in brewery business in general over the past few years and how people are going out less often than they did pre-pandemic. He said the 2023 Lewiston mass shootings have had an inhibiting effect on customers in their area, particularly bar patrons. And like many other venues, Side By Each has had a hard time finding and paying for good staff since 2020.

“You put all those things together, and it was just time (to close),” Low said.

The brewery’s Instagram post explains that Side By Each will be open for its regular hours until the end of the month, and all scheduled events will go on as planned.

CHAMPAGNE AND CAVIAR TASTING (NUFF SAID)

Browne Trading Market is holding its annual Champagne and caviar tasting event on Saturday, Dec. 28.

Slated for 4-7 p.m. at the Commercial Street market, the free event features Champagne and caviar samples along with hors d’oeuvres from Browne Trading’s chefs. Some of Maine’s top wine vendors will also be on hand to answer questions.

Event organizers urge attendees to arrive early as the event draws an eager crowd.

COOKBOOK TALK AND SIGNING IN CAMDEN

Author and Maine food historian Sandy Oliver will talk about her new cookbook, “Down East Delicious,” at a book-signing event in Camden on Saturday.

Chef Sam Richman of Sammy’s Deluxe in Rockland will join Oliver at First Fig in Camden at 1 p.m. to discuss her new cookbook in the broader context of Maine food. Copies will be available for to buy and Oliver will be happy to sign them. Espresso, wine and snacks will also be available.

Oliver started the Bangor Daily News column Taste Buds in 2005. She retired as a columnist in 2023, after publishing more than 900 recipes contributed by Maine readers. “Down East Delicious” features 175 recipes, about half from readers.

To RSVP for the event, which is free, email firstfigmaine@gmail.com.