Thanksgiving Dinner ... Thank You everyone!!

What a fantastic day! I want to thank all of our volunteers and Vendors for providing such a magnificent experience to our Guests and giving them the Thanksgiving they would not have had otherwise. It warms my heart that so many of you came out to help and be a part of this First Annual Thanksgiving for the Less Fortunate with us. Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!! TSE

James Beard....?

Our Chef, Jacob Jasinski is in the preliminary Nominees for the James Beard Rising Star Award...Please cast your votes so that he can be in the final list of Nominees in March!! http://jamesbeard.starchefs.com/awards/vote/index_2.php

Change in This weeks Wine Series.....

WEDNESDAY SERIES: Instead of WINES this week we will be hosting a Bourbon Tasting! $5 pp affords the tasting and Canapes to match! 5:00-6:30... and next week, join us for the best wines to serve with Thanksgiving's traditional Recipes!

Wednesday Wine & Cocktail Hours!

WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES: November 5th: Come experience 5 Varietals of California's Sustainable Vineyard Kunde(5:00-6:30- Rep leaves at 6:45)! $5 pp includes tasting, discussion and canapes! Follow the link for more info on Sustainable Winemakinghttp://www.kunde.com/sustainable_winegrowing/index.asp

Fall Menu & wine tasting....

WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES: October 28th: Warm up and take a tasting trip to the Southern Hemisphere as we taste and discuss Malbecs! Primarily Argentinian and Chilean wines will be tasted with Canapes to match...$5 pp, no reservations req'd

Also, We now feature a Business Express Lunch- $14 for 1/2 sandwich, soup and coffee, tea or Maine Root soda! Please refer to our website for updated menus....items rotate frequently!

TSE

Oh What a Night!

Another BEAUTIFUL night at The Salt Exchange. We saw 5 people who didn't know each other become friends at the wine tasting and eat dinner together...we saw our Manager Cory go behind the line! And some Regulars come in which is ALWAYS awesome. It was so much fun and it reminds me why I do this. Thanks to everyone.... TSE

I Love Lamb.

So, For those of you who are lovers of the Lamb & Sweetbreads dish, we are sad to say that as of Monday we will no longer have it on he menu (although we will probably bring it back next summer). Its on for Friday and Saturday- get it while you can!

R.I.P. Lamb Dish

TSE

WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES 9/23

"Everything You Didn't Know About KJ"- Kendall Jackson Representative, Bill Papa, will be here to discuss the brand's Premium Artisinal Wines! $5 Will include the tasting, education and canapes designed to match the selections. No reservations necessary.
We look forward to seeing you there!
TSE

Harvest on the Harbor

The Salt Exchange has the pleasure of being part of Harvest on the Harbor 's Grand Tasting! Please join us and 19 other restaurants as we serve the delights Maine has to offer...

(Follow the line for detailed information)

We hope to see you there!

TSE

A CLOSING... FYI!

FYI: We will be closed the whole day Tuesday the 29th!! Sorry for any inconvenience.... TSE

Newest news

We are happy to announce that we have joined Open Table ! We hope this adds a convenience to making reservations with us for those who are not in our back yard!

We are privilaged to have been chosen as one of the restaurants featured in the newest Magazine Maine has to offer, "Maine." We hope to continue our relationship with this beautiful new magazine for the long haul.

Another bit of news: We will be Hosting a Craft Brewer's Beer and Cheese Event this coming Tuesday the 15th! Cheese and beer will be expertly paired and you have the opportunity to learn about both! Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. We look forward to seeing you there! Read about it at Blog About Beer.

Take Care and have a great end to Summer!

TSE

WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES! September 09, 2009

WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES tonight: Try US West Coast Versus Italian Wines- Try try and compare, Varietal for Varietal... who will come out on top?? $5 gets the tasting and canapes.... no reservations required

FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK... Featuring Thomas Cook and David Costa

We will close the restaurant for seating Friday, September 4th to host First Friday for these two artists! We will have passed Canapes, but the bar will be available and there will be an abbreviated menu available as well. We hope you'll come have a drink, a little bite and Support your local Arts!

The Salt Exchange Presents: "The Hours"....and more!

We are proud to Roll Out a lovely little tid-bit of "Me-Time". After a long day at the office, a scorching hot afternoon at the beach, or just because, come join us for The Hours...

Every Monday through Friday from 5:00pm until 7:00pm, come enjoy a selection of discounted Beers and House Sangria served alongside that evening's discounted appetizers/amuse.

p.s.... That also means that the lounge no longer opens at 4...but its been replaced with something SO much better... :)

Also......

Look for Draft beers with in the next 2 weeks~!

TSE

WEDNESDAY WINE TASTING- August 19th- CHANGES!!!

Hi there...

So This weeks wine tasting will be moving on down the street to Our Friend Jacque's Wine shop, Old Port Wine Merchants at 223 Commercial Street in Portland! Introducing new distributor "Crush" Wines! Hours are from 4-7:30, with canapes provided by The Salt Exchange restaurant. No Reservations Required.

AUGUST 12th Wednesday Wine Tasting!

Come try 8 Sparkling Wines from various regions this Wednesday! $5 will afford you the tasting and complimentary Canapes. No reservations Required.

New menu!

The People have spoken, and we have listened: Our newly enhanced menu features both new items, and Entree size for current offerings. Next week we will also be offering an Artisinal Cheese plate!

Come enjoy the new Scallop tartare, or the Seared Tuna Steak while sipping on one of our newest wine selections in the new Outdoor seating area. We look forward to seeing you there!

TSE

In the Words of Etta James..."At Laaaaast"... Plus this week's Wine Series

We now have OUTDOOR SEATING! We have 3 deuces outside for the rest of the summer! We look forward to seeing your faces out there!

ALSO:

AUGUST 5TH's Wednesday's Wine Series: Come Sample 3 Red and 3 White CHILEAN wines! $5 for the wine and canapes! If you are so inclined, join us for dinner in our New OUTDOOR seating area!

A few new notes....

Although we are still waiting for the "door" guy to come back and change the wording, I am happy to announce that the Bar is now going to be open at 4:00- feel free to drop in after work for a cocktail or nice cold beer before you move on to the next thing!

Also, we will soon be carrying Portland's own "Homegrown" teas! Along with some basic traditional blends, we will have some new and exciting herbal teas chosen specifically to compliment the cuisine and desserts. We are also in talks with Sarah, owner of "Homegrown" to create a custom proprietory blend that you will only find here!

The Salt Exchange looks forward to this fall when there will be another slew of events:

*We will be participating in Portland's Harvest On The Harbor's Grand Tasting!

* We will be one of the restaurants featured in Maine Home And Design's 1st issue since their merge with Port City Life in September

* We will be featuring a new Artist and will participate in September's First Friday Art Walk!

*We take delivery of some of our Outdoor Seating this Sunday August 2nd!

We look forward to seeing your faces at The Salt Exchange! Its going to be a great segue into fall...

TSE

Wednesday, JULY29th- 5:00-6:30

THIS WEEKS WINE SERIES: Wednesday, July 29th: sample 4 Reds, and 4 whites from various regions...., 2 Varietals! mmmmm, delicious. $5 Will get you some delicious sampling and complimentary Canapes! Stay after, if you like, and have a bite at the bar, or some dinner under the beautiful Greek photography collection by local artist, Jeremy hartford. We'll see you there!

WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES-5-630pm JULY 22

This week's Wines will be from Spain- 5 different labels, various varietals! Come sample some canapes with your wine and if you would like, join us for dinner after!

We look forward to seeing you, TSE

* Reservations not required

Wednesday Wine Series- JULY 15th

This week we will be featuring wine from the Pacific Northwest. The label will be "Skylark".

For $5, come sample 3 varietals and enjoy some complimentary Canapes!

....and if you're up for it, stay and try some of the food off of the NEWly expanded Menu!

Wednesday Wine Series- July 8th

WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES- June 8th- Come join us for Wines from Loire, France! $5 includes the tasting and complimentary canapes! 5:00-6:30- no reservations Required...

Wednesday Wine Series: July 1st

This week's WEDNESDAY WINE SERIES: This week, a $5 cover gets you canapes and a sampling of Italian wines by TERRADORA... no reservations required! Look forward to seeing you there!

Things to Come....

So, into our 3rd week, things become clearer.... Service is honed, the kitchen works out kinks and is finding their groove, we continue to see many familiar faces come in the door. As we smooth over the surfaces and crevices, we look ahead to some great things! Some new and exciting parts to the "machine" that we are excited to share with you are:

*Outdoor seating (In the next month or two)- we will have 4 deuces out on the sidewalk

*Chef's Table- 6 seats at the Kitchen where you can watch your food being prepared and ask Chef Jasinski (and his colleagues) questions about preparation or ingredients

*Continuation of Wednesday Wine Series- Sample wines with complimentary canapes

*An Exclusive Taittinger special (Stay posted for dates and details)

*Our Website , designed by Theodora Medouris, will be up and running in a month or so- still tweaking some little details, but the address will be posted as soon as it is up!

*We will be one of the restaurants Featured in Maine Home Design's (Formerly Port City Life) first Issue in September! Look for it in your local Grocery store.

Also see Today's Switch article... http://themaineswitch.com/story/small-plate-style

We look forward to seeing your faces in for Lunch, Dinner, or just to poke around or chat about the concept, food or Spirits! Take care! The Salt Exchange Crew

New Wednesday Wine Series.....

Please come join us for the first of our Wednesday Wine Series: June 24^th, from 5:00 until 6:30, come sample wines from Agentinian maker Luigi Bosca. $5 per person for this week’s event includes the wine tasting and complimentary canapés. We look forward to seeing you!

Hours...and Updates!

(Click on the each menu to enlarge)
Well, with a few days and evenings under our belt, the machine begins to become well oiled. This afternoon for lunch, we had quite a few more guests than in previous days, and the staff continues to hone their (amazing) skills in line with an evolving understanding of both the guest's expectations as well as our own! Its looking very bright and exciting, and I a thrilled to share this experience with everyone.

Now for business. The hours of operation are as follows (and may be subject to change due to business flow):

(For reservations call 347.5687)

Monday: Lunch 11:00-2:30, dinner 5:00-9:00 (bar until 11:00)

Tuesday: Lunch 11:00-2:30, dinner 5:00-9:00 (bar until 11:00)

Wednesday:Lunch 11:00-2:30, dinner 5:00-9:00 (bar until 11:00)

Thursday: Lunch 11:00-2:30, dinner 5:00-9:00 (bar until 11:00)

Friday:Lunch 11:00-2:30, dinner 5:00-10:00 (bar until 12:00)

Saturday: Lunch 11:00-2:30, dinner 5:00-10:00 (bar until 12:00)

Sunday: Closed!

I look forward to seeing your faces and hearing some input/feedback. As always, feel free to ask myself, my husband, Chef Jacob or our staff any questions, and we do our best to provide you with answers!

Opening for First Friday!

Come enjoy some food, wine, people and some beautiful Photography by local artist Jeremy Hartford beginning at 6pm until 10, and then come on in for Lunch the following Monday!  

Getting Closer...

As we move out of May and into June, things begin to take formation more quickly and recognizably.  The top of Jamie Johnston's cherry bar-top is on, and looks absolutely beautiful!  The sign has gone up, outside the entrance- completed by NH sign Maker Chuck McLean of Timberline Signs.  We are still waiting on Laura Fuller's Stained glass pieces, but trust me, they will  be worth the wait!    The facade has been re-painted and should compliment our outdoor seating quite beautifully!  (FYI- outdoor seating probably will not be instituted until July....).  Each piece of equipment has begun to make its way to it's permanent home in the kitchen, bar, and dish area, and as we speak, the bathrooms are getting a few fresh coats of paint!  We will have our soft opening for a private attendance on June 2nd and will be open (barring any major catastrophes) June 3rd for lunch.  Its all culminating before our eyes.  We are so excited to be here and to be in this arena of the Portland Community.  Thank you to EVERYONE who has helped make this possible!

Update on The Salt Exchange

So, we spent last weekend a crew of friends, family and contractors we already had working on the restaurant space all got together and painted the interior.  Today the Floors went in and later in the week the furniture begins to roll in!  The stain glass we have commissioned from local artist Laura Fuller is under way and organization of my photos showing the progress of the space from inception to realization is also in en route to our newly painted walls.  Our beautiful Cherry bar designed and built by local Artist Jamie Johnston is almost at completion too!  It is all happening so fast...

Chef Jasinski has been working nonstop to get the best possible Kitchen crew to work under his lead, and Charlie and myself have selected out of the many many many applicants some of the greatest personalities and the finest talents we could ask for in Waitstaff and Bartenders.  Please feel free to drop by and take a peek!  245 Commercial street, Portland Maine- Telephone number, Opening date and Website will be posted once they are available!

New Restaurant in Portland Maine!

Hello to the Foodies out there!  I want to be the first to announce the arrival of our newest bundle of Joy : The Salt Exchange.  This is our 1st major endeavor as a husband and wife team and what better place to do this than the Beautiful Portland Maine.  Here is the rundown:  The Salt Exchange is a small-plates (appetizer size) concept. A lot of people have made the assumption that by "Small-Plates" we mean tapas: this is not the case.  We will be focusing on Regional New American Cuisine.  This includes all types of fare with all of the cultural influences that we see every day in fine cuisine.  The idea is that because some of the food is "New American" and may not have made it to the mainstream, a patron (yourselves) may want to try several things without breaking their bank.  Here's the scenario:  You and I and 2 of our friends go to eat at TSE.  We each find 2 or 3 dishes that look interesting to us.  In talking to one another about the menu we find that some of us want to try the same thing, some of us do not.  So what do we do?  We order 8 or 9 things off of the menu and sample away.  We will also have an extensive wine menu (It will start out with about 50 bottles but we will be ever expanding once our doors are opened), full wine service as well as a finer, upscale feel, with a detail for family friendliness.  We also think that it is important for us to mention that one of our main mission statements is that we want to be immersed in, housed by, inclusive of and contributers to our Community of Portland Maine.  Please feel free to take a peek if you find yourselves down along 245 Commercial street.  We are right next to Three Dollar Deweys.  Thank you for aking the time to read this and we hope to see your faces there when we open (Mid May!)