Inside The Send Brewing Co., which opens in South Portland Friday. Courtesy of The Send Brewing Co.

The Send Brewing Co., which will specialize in Japanese-style beer and comfort food, is slated to launch Friday in Knightville.

The 50-seat venue at 15 Ocean St. — formerly home to Foulmouthed Brewing — will offer three American-style beers to start: a pale ale, IPA and stout. Owner Cole Corbin said he aims to introduce The Send’s Japanese-style lagers this spring.

The Send also serves Sapporo and a sour ale from Mast Landing, along with sake, wine, hard seltzer, cider and some non-alcoholic options.

The food menu spotlights Japanese comfort food that Corbin enjoyed while growing up in Japan, including cold and hot shareable plates like a daikon salad, karaage (Japanese fried chicken), tempura onion rings, onigiri rice balls and curry korroke, a croquette filled with potato and Japanese curry. The Send’s chef, Jayde Miller, lived and cooked for a period in Japan and cooked locally at The Continental and CBG.

The interior features a ceiling mural and neon installation, a collaboration between Portland designer Jill Perry of Third Bird Creative and neon artist David Johansen, aka Neon Dave.

Corbin was previously an aerospace engineer with NASA. After a stint working at a brewery in Virginia, he attended brewing school in Chicago and Germany. Corbin then worked for eight years at Maine Beer Co., eventually becoming its director of brewing operations. For the last two years, Corbin worked part-time in the kitchen at Nighthawk’s Kitchen in Freeport and as a bartender at Mast Landing, to gain experience in both front- and back-of-house operations.

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The Send will be open Thursday through Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., except Sundays, when it will close at 8:30 p.m.

HOT POT IN PORTLAND

The owner of Sichuan Kitchen plans to open a Sichuan-style hot pot restaurant in downtown Portland this winter.

Qi Shen, a native of China’s Sichuan province, aims to launch Tuan Yuan Hotpot by early March. The restaurant seats about 80 and will be located at 29 Forest Ave., formerly home of art gallery Able Baker Contemporary.

Before the pandemic, Shen featured hot pot as an occasional special at Portland restaurant Sichuan Kitchen — using portable induction burners at the dining room tables — and got good feedback from her customers. Shen said she expects people will find the concept especially appealing during Maine’s cold winters.

“The hot pot is a different dining style that we don’t have here. It’s very popular in Asian countries,” Shen said, noting how it’s similar to Japanese shabu-shabu and Korean jjigae.

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The concept centers around a simmering pot of broth set on built-in induction burners at tables in the dining room. Customers cook their selection of thinly sliced meats, seafood, plant-based proteins and vegetables by dipping them into the broth.

Shen said Tuan Yuan will offer different kinds of broth, including a Sichuan-style hot, spicy and numbing broth; a mild bone broth; a tomato-based broth; and a kimchi broth as well. The restaurant’s bar will serve beer, wine and sake.

Tuan Yuan will be open Monday through Friday for dinner from 4-11:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Portland on Tap will have plenty of beer and pretzels. Photo courtesy of Town Square Media

PORTLAND ON TAP RETURNS

Beer lovers can sample more than 50 craft beers, along with wine, cider, seltzer and more at Portland On Tap on Feb. 1.

More than 37 brewers are signed on to provide unlimited samples (within reason) to ticket holders. Held at the Cross Insurance Arena, the event takes place in two sessions. The first runs from 1-4 p.m. (though attendees can enter at noon for an additional fee), and the second runs from 5-8 p.m.

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The band Trifecta will perform during the first session, and the arena’s concession stands will serve food, including pizza, chowder and lobster rolls.

Tickets range from $28-$75 and are on sale now at portlandontap.com.

WEST END COMMUNITY DINNER

The Maine commUNITY dinner series holds its next event on Jan. 11 at Good Medicine Collective on York Street in Portland.

The five-course menu includes roasted cauliflower soup, chicken kebabs and pistachio-crusted salmon. The meal begins with mezze-like dips, spreads and roasted veggies, and ends with coffee, tea and truffles.

Felicia Dumont is the chef and host for the evening. The Maine commUNITY dinners are meant to build community by offering people a chance to share stories and savor thoughtfully prepared food in the company of others.

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The event runs from 6-8 p.m. Tickets are $75 and available through Eventbrite.

STORY-SHARING IN THE CITY

Community Plate, the nonprofit community-building organization, is hosting a story-sharing potluck at Mechanics’ Hall in January.

While Community Plate has held story-sharing potluck suppers in 12 Maine counties since launching in 2023, this is its first time hosting an event in Portland. The supper is set for Jan. 30 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Mechanics’ Hall on 519 Congress St.

Co-founded by Karl Schatz and Margaret Hathaway, who edit and publish the Maine Community Cookbooks, Community Plate seeks to battle the loneliness epidemic and build community through shared meals and stories.

The group’s free events bring people together for a traditional potluck supper with a twist: Each attendee brings a dish, a recipe and a story to share about what they brought. Over the course of the meal — led by Schatz as MC and structured around story prompts — participants are encouraged to share stories and make connections. In the weeks following the meal, each attendee receives a mini cookbook filled with recipes and stories for the dishes brought to the event.

The theme for the Portland supper is “Stews and Stories.” Event organizers note that, in addition to bringing stews and soups to the potluck, all kinds of warming, nourishing dishes are encouraged.

Tickets for the event are pay-what-you-can through Eventbrite, with a suggested donation of $20. For information about the supper, visit communityplate.me.

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