Opening Alert: Celebrate Noodles With Portland's The Honey Paw

It's official: The Honey Paw opened for lunch yesterday, completing the restaurant hat trick for co-owners Arlin Smith and James Beard Award nominated chefs Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor. The group also runs Eventide Oyster Co. (which received an expansion during The Honey Paw's buildout) and Hugo's in the same building. Chef de cuisine is Thomas Pisha-Duffly; his wife Mariah, with whom he ran the popular pop-up series Family Feast, is the manager.

Might & Main co-founder Sean Wilkinson recently promised more abstract design for this latest project. The bear referenced in the business name ("a delicacy" in China, according to Smith, particularly the left paw said to be used for scooping honey) is accompanied by what looks like long strings of noodles with a decidedly retro, subway map-feel.

The "globe-trotting menu" is available on the restaurant's fully realized website. Based on a soft opening held over the weekend, Portland Food Map recommends the Wok Fried Wide Rice Noodles with mussels, squid, Chinese sausage, and scallion for $13. The blog also suggests that the numerical sections of the menu (0001-0005) correlate roughly to "bar snacks, appetizers, noodle-based dishes, entrees and dessert." The $27+ items in section 0004 are only available after 6 p.m. Reservations are only available for parties of six or more. Take-out is also an option. What will you try first?

78 Middle Street, Portland, (207) 774-8538, website. Open Wednesday - Monday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.