CAPE ELIZABETH — Less than a year after a doctor, a lawyer and an advertising executive started working together, their restaurant called the Local Buzz will be officially open for business on June 17.

The three owners are Jamie Wagner, an attorney with a solo law practice in Portland; Dr. Samir Haydar, who practices emergency medicine at Maine Medical Center in Portland, and David Leopold, regional vice president of marketing and sales at Time Warner Cable.

The restaurant is in the Pond Cove Shopping Center, next to CVS at 327 Ocean House Road. The hours of operation will be Monday and Tuesday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Wagner said the restaurant is nearly complete, and a soft opening over Memorial Day weekend attracted about 300 people. 

He said he and his business partners wanted a place in town where they could get a decent cup of coffee and a bagel in the morning and a beer after 9 p.m. They wanted a place for families and friends to gather and a place where children are welcome. 

The partners are married with three children each, so creating a place for parents to gather and let children play while they unwind is important to them, Wagner said. In the future, he said they hope to include a children’s play area and story hour.

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“We wanted to create a spot that supports local products, a place where people feel comfortable, and a place that promotes local businesses,” Wagner said.

The menu will feature products from Jordan’s farm and strawberries from Maxwell’s. Beers will be from breweries such as Allagash, Shipyard, and Geary’s. Baked goods will come from  Standard Baking Co. and breads will be from Big Sky. And Coffee By Design created a Local Buzz coffee blend for the restaurant.

Wagner said there will be no stove, so no cooked items will be offered, but there will be cured meats and local cheeses, hummus, nuts and tapenades to enjoy.

Even the website design, decor and management team is local, he said. Lynette Kirk helped with the colors of the restaurant and the art, Megan McConagha helped design the logo and website, and manager Dawn LaPointe has about 15 years prior restaurant experience at the Black Point Inn.

“Having as many items as possible come from local sources is very important to us,” Wagner said. “It has been a lot of fun meeting people, having neighbors stop in, and watching it all come together. We are excited.”

Amy Anderson can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net

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The Local Buzz will officially open for business on June 17. The operators include David Leopold, left, Jamie Wagner, restaurant manager Dawn LaPointe and Samir Haydar. The restaurant will serve baked goods and coffee, wine, beer and local cheeses, meats, cured fish and produce seven days a week.


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