Category: Maine

Maine Food & Dining News

| Posted in Maine

Here are some recent food and dining highlights from around the state:

  • The Morning Sentinel reports that Main Street Skowhegan is working on a $1M+ project to launch a shared commercial kitchen and food hall in downtown Skowhegan.
  • A new business called Main Street Provisions (instagram) recently opened in Waterville. The shops stock beer, wine, and specialty foods sourced from local/regional producers.
  • Miller’s Market (website, instagram) is under construction at 29 School Street in Gorham center. Miller’s will be a butcher and seafood shop, sandwich shop and caterer. Owner Sam Smith hopes to be open on November 1st.
  • A coffee shop specializing in nitro cold brew coffee called Swell (instagram) is under construction in Saco (right photo). The shop will be located at 200 Main Street. In addition to nitro cold brew, Swell will serve teas and seasonal drinks as well as a small selection of baked goods. They will be sourcing their beans from Carrabassett Coffee Company. Swell is being launched by Kelsey and Peter Vacca along with business partners Chrissy and Taylor Archambault.
  • The Midcoast pop-up kitchen Albatross (instagram) has leased the former Gypsy Rose in Camden (left photo) where owners Maggie and Jeffrey Harris plan to transform their business into a brick and mortar restaurant. Albatross plans to serve a menu of globally-inspired small plates plus some sandwiches.

Tao Yuan Has Re-Opened

| Posted in Openings, Maine

Tao Yuan (website, facebook, instagram) in Brunswick quietly re-opened Thursday night. It’s been closed since 2020. Tao Yuan will be open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 – 9 pm. Reservations can be made on the Tao Yuan website.

The menu (see below) features a variety of small plates and dim sum—the restaurant recommends 3-4 dishes from the main menu per person. Shown below are the Celery Cloud Ear Salad (top left), Coho Salmon Tataki (top right), Soy Marinated Lamb Loin (middle right), and from the dessert menu a banana and chocolate dessert (middle left) prepared with miso, sesame and dulce de leche.

The Tao Yuan website speaks to the overall approach guiding their menu,

The cuisine of Tao Yuan is guided by fresh ingredients that are available locally, infused with Asian flavors and a mixture of modern cooking techniques, to produce food that is unique and delicious.  Flavors vary from upscale versions of Asian street food, to some of the chef’s more sophisticated signature dishes. All dishes are served on small plates to allow each diner to sample several courses in a single meal.

Tao Yuan was founded by Cara Stadler and her mother Cecile in 2012. Chef Leon Vuong has joined the Stadlers in the re-launch of Tao Yuan.

Cara Stadler is a James Beard Awards nominee and was a 2014 Food & Wine magazine Best New Chef honoree. After opening Tao Yuan the Stadlers launched Bao Bao in 2014, and the now closed Lio in 2018 (both in Portland) and Zao Ze Cafe in Brunswick in 2020. Their aquaponics greenhouse (bottom left photo) is located in Brunswick immediately behind Tao Yuan.

 

Maine Food & Dining News

| Posted in Maine

Here are some recent food and dining highlights from around the state:

  • Travel and Leisure recently declared the Blue Hill peninsula “One of the Best Places to Eat in the U.S. Right Now“. The article mentions Aragosta, Blue Hill Wine Shop, Tinder Hearth, Fin & Fern, Stonington Ice Cream Company, 44 North, Milkweed & Monarch, El El Frijoles, Barncastle, and more.
  • The September issue of Down East includes an article about The Rooting Pig in Bristol.
  • The Bangor Daily News reports that restaurateurs from Bar Harbor have bought the Stonington building that originally housed Aragosta with plans to open a new establishment called 27 Fathoms Waterfront Grille.

Midcoast Openings: Yonder & Alsace

| Posted in Openings, Maine

A pair of new restaurants opened this past week in the Midcoast.

Yonder (website, instagram) opened Wednesday in Wiscasset. The sandwich shop is located  just across Middle Street from Treats. The menu includes a selection of sandwiches as well as daily soup and salad specials. The sandwiches are available in three sizes (small/large/big) and served on focaccia bread.

Yonder is owned by Kelsey and Jonathan Turcotte. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am – 4 pm.

Alsace (website, facebook, instagram) opened Wednesday night in Union. As the name suggests the menu features dishes from the Alsace region of France like choucoute garnie and tarte flambé. They also serve some traditional German dishes like jaeger schnitzel and ones whose origins are closer to home like the seafood chowder and grilled lobster. The wine list is weighted to Old World wines with most originating from France.

Chef Fabrice Roux (linkedin) and sommelier Jennifer Roux are new to Maine but not to the industry. They previously operated three restaurants in the Monterey region of California.

Alsace is open for dinner Wednesday/Thursday, 4:30 – 8 pm, Friday 4:30 – 9 pm and Saturday/Sunday 10 am – 2 pm.

Review of In a Silent Way

| Posted in Reviews, Maine

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a four star review of In a Silent Way in Wiscasset.

Co-owners Chandler Sowden and Zack Goodwin have put together a masterful selection of wines served in some of the best glassware you’ll ever encounter, as well as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-length menu of exquisitely prepared, vegetable-focused small plates. Sip a glass of tart, pale Guy Breton Régnié and order food with abandon. Everything I ate at In a Small Way was a delight, most especially a watermelon salad with peppers, tomato, feta and cilantro, and an exquisitely roasted eggplant in a nearly raw passata of Sungold tomatoes.

There have been a number of changes in the Wiscasset restaurant scene over the last year or so:

  • In late 2022 owners of the now closed Ruby’s West End in Portland opened Back River Bistro at the former location of Little Village Bistro.
  • Longtime mainstay Sarah’s closed earlier this year with the retirement of its namesake owner Sarah Heald. In its place Jodie Roquemore is opening a new rendition of her restaurant Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery.
  • A new raw bar named Jolie Rogers opened earlier this summer. They’re located on the water-facing side of the same building as In a Silent Way.
  • Treats and Water Street Kitchen + Bar remain established favorites in Wiscasset as are Sprague’s and Red’s.
  • Just a short drive away is The Alna Store, a restaurant and market in the small town of Alna.

Oak & Ember Opens Friday

| Posted in Openings, Maine

Oak & Ember (website, instagram), the new farm-to-table gastropub in Buxton, is scheduled to open on Friday. Owner Shannon Keefe and her team have lightly renovated the former Buxton Common building. It includes an outdoor deck that seats 38, and a variety of rooms and seating areas inside the building that overall seats 60.

Chef Kirby Sholl is the executive chef at Oak & Ember. Sholl was formerly the chef de cuisine at Chaval. The menu (see below) includes a mix of small bites, apps, pasta and mains. Shown above are the Grilled Shrimp and the Grilled Iberian Pork.

The beverage program includes wines (mostly old world) by the glass, draft and packaged beer/cider/seltzer and a short list of house-designed cocktails. In addition to the restaurant there’s also a on-site wine shop that will sell all the wines of the by-the-glass and bottle list offered at Oak & Ember.

Oak & Ember will initially be open Wednesday through Sunday for dinner. Reservations are available online on Resy.com.

Maine Food & Dining News

| Posted in Maine

Here are some recent food and dining highlights from around the state:

Maine Food and Dining News

| Posted in Maine

Here are some recent food and dining highlights from around the state:

Maine Food & Dining News

| Posted in Maine

Here are some recent food and dining highlights from around the state: