ROCKPORT – After a year of renovations to the former Hoboken Garden’s building at 310 Commercial Street, in Rockport, Maine Street Meats and Provisions has opened its doors in their new location with the addition of a café serving breakfast and lunch.

Owner Sarah Greer said it is exciting and she wants the new store and cafe to be a gift to the community.

“Basically, we brought the market we had at our old location to the schoolhouse,” she said. “And we’ve added a whole, all-day café component with breakfast and lunch. The café hours to start with are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday though Saturday. Banh Mi though will still be every Monday.”

Banh mi is Vietnamese in origin and consists of a single serving baguette which is split lengthwise and filled with meats, vegetables and condiments.

The regular store hours for Maine Street Meats and Provisions will be Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Greer said they will probably extend their hours after Memorial Day.

“Most of the additional products we’ve added is in the café area,” said Greer. “Both breakfast and lunch you can sit down and eat and as soon as the weather warms we have an outside deck people can enjoy, as well. Inside seating is limited to about 10 seats.”

Greer said they have added three to their current staff and are looking to fill other positions, as well.

Greer said the staff deserves a lot of credit, too.

“They have been working very hard,” she said. “They’ve been very supportive and they are very excited to finally be opening up.”

Greer said the space is their gift to the community.

“The community has done so much for us,” she said. “This is our way of not only saying thank you, by not only providing a space, but supporting local farms and giving them a way to showcase their wonderful products. And the café is specifically designed to showcase some of our house-made products.”

Greer said so many items were available in the old market, but you never got a chance to enjoy them presented to you on a plate.

“Our executive chef Derek Linker is so incredibly talented,” she said. “And for years now he has been quietly producing exceptional products. He’s been under the radar because we haven’t had the space or location to bring him out and now we have the room to do that. Now, not only can you buy it, but you can try it in the café. Everything is made right here and an important thing to bring out is that the meat is from local farms. All small family ran operations. And we want to support those people.”

“We have a beautiful space here,” Linker said. “And we even have a dishwasher that, in itself, is amazing. We are going to do our best and make delicious food.”

Amy Sabaka, front of the house manager, said it will be exciting that people can now sit and enjoy the café.

“Everything we offer is so different because it all features housemade ingredients,” she said. “The rice porridge with bacon and the six minute egg is excellent. And coffee is a new addition. We didn’t get to offer that in our old location, so that’s exciting. It will be a great place for people to sit and enjoy all we have to offer.”

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