MK Kitchen, a new restaurant, is open in the heart of downtown Gorham, and its owners are positioning it as a destination for diners in the Greater Portland area.

The restaurant, owned by the Gorham couple Mitchell and Lisa Kaldrovich, opened this past weekend at 2 School St. Their space in the brick building at the intersection of routes 25 and 114 previously housed Sierra’s Restaurant

Mitchell, who was born in the United States but grew up in Argentina, is chef, and he spent seven years as executive chef at Inn by The Sea in Cape Elizabeth. Having worked as a chef in several countries, he brings international experience to Gorham.

He created the Mediterranean-influenced menu at MK Kitchen.

“We’re calling it new American,” his wife, a Gorham native, said about their cuisine.

The new Gorham restaurant received accolades Tuesday from a town official. David Galbraith, Gorham’s zoning administrator, and his wife, Gretchen, dined there Saturday night.

“Business was booming and I saw a number of familiar faces,” Galbraith wrote Tuesday in an email to the American Journal. “The food was completely outstanding and we stuffed ourselves. The ambiance was also excellent.”

According to its website, www.mkkitchen.net, “The menu will change often, utilizing current, seasonal ingredients, using local foragers and fishermen as well as several neighborhood farms.”

Lisa Kaldrovich, general manager, said her husband makes the restaurant’s pasta, breads and desserts, including ice cream.

MK Kitchen will open seven nights a week for dinner. The bar opens at 4 p.m. and the dining room at 5 p.m., serving dinner until 10 p.m. She said there are 83 parallel parking spaces with two blocks of the restaurant, which also has a parking lot for staff.

A server, Michel Chouinard, expects the restaurant will attract customers to Gorham from Portland. “They know Mitch’s talent,” Chouinard said. “His plates are beautiful, a work of art.”

The restaurant has 25 full- and part-time employees with experienced wait staff and bartenders. Several Gorham High School students serve on the bus staff and as dishwashers.

The Kaldroviches have been married six years and have two daughters. The couple met at a California restaurant where she was the manager and he the chef. She has previously been a server at Fore Street Restaurant in Portland.

“We would strongly recommend MK and are certain to return,” Galbraith said. “I am sure they will do a great business.”

For reservations or for more information, call MK Kitchen at 222-2588.

Mitchell and Lisa Kaldrovich have opened a new restaurant, MK Kitchen, at 2 School St. in Gorham. Staff photo by Robert Lowell