Portland and Rochester Chef Paul Lively Plans Decadent Dessert Shop

Chef Paul Olaf Lively, who enjoyed a brief stint last year running the kitchen at ill-fated Portland and Rochester, is opening his own spot at 54 Washington Avenue. The building is owned by Pliny Reynolds, whose new barbecue restaurant Terlingua is set to launch soon next door. Lively applied to the city for outdoor seating and a wine and beer license (beginning on page 168) for a business he's calling Lively. His wife, Jeanine, is listed as co-owner and assistant manager. The cafe and retail shop will operate Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., serving lunch items like sandwiches and salads until 4 p.m. followed by "desserts and light fare" until close.

Prior to his move to Maine, Lively ran a truffle shop in Cape Cod called Chef Paul's, and he has won the Best Truffle award at the Chocolate Lover's Fling the last two years running. See the menu included with his application for a taste of his fascination with "The Sweet Savory Experience" and his penchant for a dramatic flourish, as in the description of his award winning truffle from 2014, Migration of the Whimbrel: "Take flight with a birds-eye view of bittersweet chocolate ganache. Embrace yourself in feathers of raspberry-laced white peaches. Soar above a strawberry passion fruit sunset on the horizon of the Maine coast." Expect your tastebuds to soar by June.