Month: December 2024

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Tuesday/New Year’s Eve

January 1 – Woodford F & B is serving an island vibed New Year’s Day brunch, and Chaval is bringing back their well-loved brunch menu for New Year’s Day.

January 11 – Good Medicine Collective is hosting a dinner in collaboration with chef Felicia Dumont.

January 14-16 – The Maine Agricultural Trades Show is taking place in Augusta.

January 30 – Community Plate will be holding a potluck dinner at Maine Mechanics Hall.

February 1 – Portland on Tap is taking place.

February 2 – Rafael Zimmerman from Magnus on Water⁠ will be the guest chef at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

February 8 – Adrian Arvizu from Big Tree Hospitality⁠ will be the guest chef at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

February 13 – Devin Finigan from Aragosta⁠ will be the guest chef at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

March 2 – Sara Jenkins, Dustin Martin, and Lauren Radel from Nina June will be the guest chefs at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

May 17 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

May 30 – June 1 – The Maine Fungi Fest is taking place.

September 14 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

October 12 – The Maine Open Creamery Day is taking place.

Planning a wedding, holding a business event, or hosting visitors from away? Our printed guides are a great resource to help your guests explore the Maine restaurant scene.
25-packs of the Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now available on our online store.

Matt Ginn Departs Prentice

| Posted in People

Chef Matt Ginn announced Sunday that he’s departed the Prentice Hospitality Group. Ginn joined the company a decade ago and was initially the chef of Evo Kitchen + Bar.

Here’s Ginn’s statement on instagram,

After ten years it is time for a change. I have moved on from my work with the Prentice Hospitality Group (Evo, Chebeague Island Inn, The Good Table, Twelve). I am grateful to the group and ownership, and my colleagues + coworkers for all the opportunities these properties have given me. I am proud of what we have accomplished in the hospitality industry on many levels. Professionally we achieved a number of goals I had hoped to accomplish. I am so thankful for all of the support from guests and diners both near and far. Being part of the Portland restaurant community is a special thing and something I cherish. I feel very fortunate to have a job and occupation that I enjoy doing. I look forward to new challenges to come and a little break with my family. Thank you, Matt.

There’s no word yet on what the next step in his career will be. For more information on Ginn see this interview.

Review of Magissa

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Magissa.

Since then, they, along with co-head chef Dillon Houser (East Ender), have been preparing Greek (and slightly Greek-adjacent) dishes that are inspired by or taken from Klosteridis’ family recipes. With the exception of a few seasoning hiccups, dishes at Magissa are enjoyable. Don’t skip the ultra-garlicky htipiti mezze spread and the oddball, yet sublime fried kalamari, seasoned with just a few specks of Old Bay. If it’s cold outside (or you’re just really hungry), you can’t go wrong with a bowl of feta-fortified polenta topped with a ragu made with Magissa’s magical loukaniko, a lamb-and-pork sausage spiced with orange zest and toasted fennel seeds.

Maine Food & Dining News: Buxton, Camden, Wiscasset, Rockland, Ogunquit, Biddeford, Westbrook

| Posted in Maine

New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:

  • Rooted Heart Cafe (website, instagram) in Buxton is scheduled to open for business on January 1st. The cafe and apothecary will be serving a variety of coffee and tea beverages including ones prepared with farm-grown herbs. The cafe menu includes breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, grain bowls, quiche, soup and more.  Rooted Heart Cafe is located at 259 Narragansett Trail and will be open Wednesday through Friday, 7 am – 2 pm, Saturday/Sunday, 8 am – 3 pm.
  • The Place (website, instagram) in Camden (above) was featured in a New York Times article 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now. “At the Place, a tiny bakery in Camden, Maine, the ethereally flaky croissant dough (made with local flour and butter) appears in many forms and flavors — swirled into cinnamon buns, folded and sugared into kouign-amanns, layered into loaves”
  • The Lincoln County News reports that Charm Thai (website) has opened in Wiscasset. The 36-seat restaurant is located in the former Miss Wiscasset Diner on Bath Road. It will be open Monday through Saturday, 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 4 – 8 pm.
  • The Ruckus Donuts Kickstarter campaign was a success and raised $20k+ to help owner Todd Bross buy and build out a food trailer that can transport up to 50 dozen donuts to events.
  • Oarweed Restaurant in Ogunquit was extensively damaged in a fire earlier this week. They hope to reopen in time for the 2025 season.
  • Through the end of the year, Kobe in Biddeford is offering free hot meals to those in need.
  • Mainely Provisions just opened their third location. The new market is located at 110 New Gorham Road in Westbrook.
  • The Maine Calling radio program on Maine Public recently aired a show on Maine’s Winter Farmers’ Markets.

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

The Send Opens Friday

| Posted in Openings

The Send Brewing Company (instagram) will open on Friday, 11:30 am – 9:30 pm. The brewery and restaurant is located at 15 Ocean Street in the Knightville neighborhood of South Portland.

The beverage menu (see below) includes Knightville IPA, Thornton Heights Pale Ale and Ferry Stout on tap as well as Sapporo and Mast Landing All the Way Up. The Send also serves sake, wine, hard seltzer, cider, hot tea and other nonalcoholic options. The Send will start brewing some Japanese-style lagers next year.

Chef Jayde Miller is serving a menu of Japanese comfort food (see below) including onigiri, karaage, okonomiyaki, gyudon, salads, a matcha green tea ice cream. Shown above is the karaage, daikon salad and a glass of the Thornton Heights Pale Ale.

Owner Cole Corbin (linkedin) worked for 8 years at Maine Beer Company initially as a brewer and then as the director of brewing operations and the technical director for the Freeport-based brewery. Earlier in his career Corbin was an aerospace engineer at NASA. Miller is a graduate of Johnson & Wales and spent a year living in Japan.

They’ll be open Thursday through Monday 11:30 – 9:30 except Sunday night when they’ll close at 8:30 pm.

Restaurant Unstoppable in Maine

| Posted in People

Restaurant Unstoppable (website, instagram) host Eric Cacciatore has been in Maine and New Hampshire for the last few months interviewing restaurant owners.

The 1-2 hour sessions cover a lot of territory exploring career paths, business strategies, approaches to hospitality, technology use, and lessons learned from being a small business owners. For anyone in the industry, or who is a customer who wants to better understand it these are really interesting interviews.

Here’s a list of the recent Maine interviews:

Check back in at the Restaurant Unstoppable website in early January for an interview with Ilma Lopez from Chaval and Ugly Duckling.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in General

Tuesday – Via Vecchia is holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner. Regards is holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner.

Friday – Taco Trio will be holding a Mexican Spirits Tasting.

Saturday – Browne Trading is holding their annual free champagne and caviar tasting.

December 31 – We’ll be building a list of NYE special dinners and food/drink events. Send us a message if you know of one we may have missed.

January 1 – Woodford F & B is serving an island vibed New Year’s Day brunch, and Chaval is bringing back their well-loved brunch menu for New Year’s Day.

January 11 – Good Medicine Collective is hosting a dinner in collaboration with chef Felicia Dumont.

January 30 – Community Plate will be holding a potluck dinner at Maine Mechanics Hall.

February 1 – Portland on Tap is taking place.

February 2 – Rafael Zimmerman from Magnus on Water⁠ will be the guest chef at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

February 8 – Adrian Arvizu from Big Tree Hospitality⁠ will be the guest chef at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

February 13 – Devin Finigan from Aragosta⁠ will be the guest chef at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

March 2 – Sara Jenkins, Dustin Martin, and Lauren Radel from Nina June will be the guest chefs at a 2025 Flanagan’s Farm Supper Club dinner.

May 17 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

May 30 – June 1 – The Maine Fungi Fest is taking place.

Planning a wedding, holding a business event, or hosting visitors from away? Our printed guides are a great resource to help your guests explore the Maine restaurant scene.
25-packs of the Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now available on our online store.

4 Star Review of Off Track Pizza

| Posted in Reviews

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a 4 star review of Off Track Pizza.

Operated by a trio of Via Vecchia veterans – Mark Hibbard, Josh Miranda and chef Mitchell Ryan – this casual, retro-inspired restaurant serves exceedingly tasty, supersized 18-inch pies and individual slices with flavor profiles that range from classics like sausage and fiery cherry bomb peppers, pepperoni topped with oven-singed “crispy cups” that pool with spicy oil as the pizza bakes, and the Ur-pie: a classic red-sauced cheese pizza that’s not only fantastic tasting, it’s affordable ($4.50/slice and $25 for an enormous pie).

Maine Food & Dining News: Unity, Oakland, South Portland, Wiscasset, Bangor, Biddeford, Kennebunk

| Posted in Maine

New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:

  • The Bangor Daily News reports that Matthew Secich will be closing down his Unity business Charcuterie this spring and moving to Montana.
  • Sunrise Bagel has opened a new location in Oakland. The new shop is located at 50 Main Street and is open Monday through Friday 7 am – 1 pm, Saturday/Sunday 8 am – 1 pm. Sunrise has bagel shops in Waterville and Augusta. They closed their Winthrop shop in October.
  • Maine Public reports that a small research harvest of Maine Shrimp will be taking place early next year. The tasty local shrimp have been off the menu for a decade due to low stock levels.
  • Broadway Bowl, Fork Food Lab, and Red’s Dairy Freeze are recipients of the South Portland business awards in the Best New Business, Business of the Year, and Heart of South Portland categories.
  • The Bangor Daily News reports that a new ice cream shop called Mainely Scoops is under development in Wiscasset in the space formerly occupied by Jodie’s, and that the Bangor Wine & Cheese Company is changing hands.
  • Apéro (website, instagram) opened for business on Friday. Apéro is located at 20 Alfred Street and is open Wednesday/Thursday 4 – 9:30 pm, Friday/Saturday 4 – 11 pm, and Sundays 1 – 7 pm.
  • Via Sophia by the Sea has announced that December 22nd will be the last day in business for the Kennebunk restaurant and its downstairs bar the Rabbit Hole.

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

Free Christmas Meals

| Posted in Events

Maine restaurants are providing free meals to people in need this Christmas:

Taj will have meals available for pick-up on Christmas at their South Portland restaurant. Email tajholidaymeals@gmail.com to request a meal and for more information.

Crispy Gai in collaboration with Car Hop, The Honey Paw, Regards, Chaval, Mr Tuna, and Bar Futo are delivering meals in the Portland area on Christmas Eve. Fill out this form by 9am on December 22nd to request a meal.