Mainebiz

V O L . X X I X N O. I I JA N UA R Y 2 3 , 2 0 2 3 16 S O U T H E R N M A I N E Mr. Tuna and the new Bar Futo Elsewhere in the Old Port, Jordan Rubin and Marisa Lewiecki are expanding their footprint via various business ventures. ey started small in 2017, with a Mr. Tuna sushi food cart — the first on the East Coast, according to the couple. ey later added three food trucks, one based in Brunswick, one on Portland's Eastern Promenade and one devoted to catering. ey also landed a spot for Mr. Tuna inside Portland's Public Market House that opened in 2018 and was expanded twice. In December, the couple opened Bar Futo, a restau- rant and cocktail bar featuring Japanese-inspired char- coal cookery. "Futo" is Japanese for "large" or "grand" — and a fitting description of the couple's largest business venture so far. Skewered dishes range from grilled cabbage with miso glaze and shiitake mushrooms to a beef dish called the "Big Mac" served with special sauce, "shrettuce" and sesame. e cocktail menu includes three Highballs on draft, using a machine designed to produce the perfect calibration of carbonated bubbles. "It's great because there are three different taps, so you can get just the bubbles out, too," Lewiecki says. "We do a lot of mocktails." While she oversees the running of the restaurants, Rubin is in charge of the kitchen. "I love the passion that Japanese culture has for their food and their dedication to the craft," he says. "I also love the simplicity of it, and the attention to detail." is summer, Mr. Tuna will move from the Public Market House to a home of its own in the Old Port at 83 Middle St., in a leased space for- merly occupied by fast-food chain Five Guys. Rubin and Lewiecki also co-own Crispy Gai, a res- taurant at 90 Exchange St., with Cyle Reynolds, who is also the chef, and co-owner Sasha Brouillard. "Eventually, we want to do something more," Rubin says. "Everything we've done has been pretty strategic and really kind of like baby steps. We started really small and slowly expanded one thing at a time." His advice to the next generation of restaurateurs: "Don't be scared. You have to get outside of your com- fort level, and you have to take calculated chances." He also recommends not taking on too much, "try to start small and grow the business." Lewiecki says that applies to financing as well, like when they started out with the food cart. "We didn't take any loans, and it was a good way to start," she says. "at ties into not taking on too much at once." While Rubin would like to see more culinary diver- sity in Portland, he's optimistic that will eventually hap- pen and optimistic about the sector as a whole. "I think the sky is the limit here. We're just scratch- ing the surface," he says. "ere's a lot of big things still happening in this town." Dining doorbusters Keith Luke, an Augusta resident and that city's eco- nomic development director, can attest to that, as a frequent restaurant diner with his longtime girlfriend, Barbara Furey of Falmouth. Along with Luke's son they were Bar Futo's doorbusters on a recent Saturday at 5 p.m., queuing with more than a dozen others also without reservations for that evening. "Barbara and I eat out virtually every meal, and Jordan and Marisa are certainly restaurateurs of the moment," Luke says. "It is really remarkable how we have a whole cast of characters managing multiple restaurants." at evening's bill for the trio came to $180, plus a $40 tip. As fast as new restaurants are opening in Portland, they don't appear to be detracting from mainstays like DiMillo's on the Water, a floating restaurant that laid anchor in 1982. "Whenever I have company come to town, I always go to DiMillo's," says HospitalityMaine's Lewis, who lives in Saco. "It's just a fun place to take people." Meanwhile at Twelve, Executive Chef Wyatt is featuring Maine scallops and lots of winter veg- etables on the current menu. is season's dishes include a sunchoke hash appetizer with trout roe and lardo, and a warm buttered lobster touted by Esquire magazine in its September write-up for "turning the volume of the old Maine banger up to twelve." When parental duties don't intervene, Wyatt says he likes eating out with his wife on his days off to check out other restaurants. ey're cer- tainly spoiled for choice. Renee Cordes, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E There's a lot of big things still happening in this town. — Jordan Rubin Mr. Tuna, Bar Futo, Crispy Gai Marisa Lewiecki and Jordan Rubin at Bar Futo, their Japanese-inspired restaurant and cocktail bar at 425 Fore St. They also own Mr. Tuna and are co-owners of Crispy Gai. F O C U S P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R

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