Maine Food & Dining News: South Portland, Swanville, Falmouth, Skowhegan, Auburn

| 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:

  • A new food truck called Sandwiches (instagram) recently launched in South Portland. Owner Henry Sauve is serving a menu of breakfast sandwich variations (sausage, bacon, spam or avocado), hash browns and coffee from Lay Day Roasters. Sandwiches is open weekdays 7 am – 11 am, and is located in the parking lot of A&C Soda Shop at 501 Cottage Road.
  • The Midcoast Villager reports that Niweskok (website, facebook, instagram), a Wabanaki food sovereignty organization, is soon to purchase a 245 acre farm in Swanville “with the intention of establishing a permanent base for continuing its mission of ‘restoring the Penobscot Bay region as a Wabanaki food hub’ “
  • As reported back in August, Sapporo is moving from their longtime home on Commercial Street to Falmouth. The new restaurant is under construction in a new mixed use building at 267 Us Route 1 called The Wyeth.
  • Mainebiz reports that Maine Grains has received a $700k grant for a $1.3M planned expansion in Skowhegan.
  • Side by Each Brewing in Auburn has announced they’re closing. Their last day in business will be December 31st. Their announcements reads in part, “We want to express our deepest appreciation to the amazing staff here, past and present, who have dealt with the ups and downs of a small business in trying times more gracefully than we could have asked. And to our customers, whether occasional or regular, whether you’ve been coming in since 2019 or made your first visit last week, we also extend our heartfelt thanks.”
  • Taco Trio is moving back to their original location at 119 Ocean Street in the Knightville neighborhood of South Portland.

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.

Mainebiz Leadership Awards

| Posted in People

Mainebiz has put out a call for nominations for their 2025 leadership awards program. Reading through the categories, each and every one brings to mind people in the food, beverage, farming, fisheries and dining industries in Maine that could be a nominee.

If you have a moment visit the Mainebiz nominations page and submit the name of a Maine business leader who’s work inspires you.

The nine categories are and descriptions of each can be found on the nominations page:

  • CEO of the Year
  • Entrepreneur of the Year
  • Volunteer of the Year
  • Industry Leader of the Year
  • Innovator of the Year
  • Nonprofit Leader of the Year
  • Sustainability Leader of the Year
  • Breaking Barriers Award
  • Lifetime Achievement Award

For reference, here’s a list of the 2024 award winners.

Taco Trio Returning Home

| Posted in Under Construction

Taco Trio is returning to their original location at 119 Ocean Street (right). The building is currently under renovation and owner Karen Rasmussen hopes to open the new Taco Trio by the end of January.

Rasmussen’s late husband and co-founder of Taco Trio Manuel Peña passed away in October after a long battle with cancer. Peña and Rasmussen had been discussing a return to their original spot for the last few years. They had been able to start on a redesign and the renovations in 2024 with the help of their friends Carlos Guzman and Alejandra Herrera who are the owners of Quiero Cafe. Guzman was a former chef and manager at Taco Trio before opening Quiero Cafe.

One of the original goals of the move to their current larger quarters was to add a bar program and Rasmussen plans to retain that come January. The redesigned space has an open kitchen (left), a 9-seat bar as well as counter and table seating totaling ~27 seats overall. There will also be room for 30+ people in their outdoor seating area during the warmer months. Taco Trio will continue to serve the menu they currently have available.

Taco Trio originally opened in 2011, and moved to 60 Ocean Street in 2021 into the building that had formerly housed Big Babe’s Tavern. Taco Trio had also operated a second location on Forest Ave at one time. The restaurant space at 60 Ocean Street is now available for lease.

Eat Drink Lucky Tea Towel Subscription

| Posted in General News

Eat Drink Lucky is once again offering a Maine artist tea towel subscription for the coming year. Each month subscribers will receive a tea towel designed by a different Maine artists—see the EDL website for a list of partners.

Subscriptions are available in 3-month increments for the full year. The New York Times has included the Eat Drink Lucky subscription in their 2024 Gift Guide.

The photo above shows an assortment of towels from the 2024 subscription.

Looking Back at December 2009, 2014, and 2019

| Posted in History

The Portland Food Map archive  provides a chronicle of the past 17 years of the Portland restaurant scene. While a lot of the reporting here is about what’s happening now and coming next, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back each month at the news from 5, 10 and 15 years ago.

Here’s some notable news from December 2009, 2014 and 2019:

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Wednesday – Fork Food Lab is holding a food and craft fair at their headquarters in South Portland.

Thursday – BiddoBanh and Round Turn Distilling are collaborating on a Pho pop-up in Biddeford. Both pork-based and vegetable-based soups will be available.

Friday – Sisters Sophia Normantas and Marie Grasser have announced they’ll be opening their new Biddeford cocktail bar Apero (website, instagram). Apero is located at 20 Alfred Street and will be open 4 – 11 pm on Friday. Hanukkah Mexicana is taking place in Bath. The event will include food inspired by the Mexican Jewish cookbook, Sabor Judio, and a talk by authors Ilan Stavans and Margaret Boyle.

Saturday – Natalie’s at the Camden Harbor Inn will be holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner  in collaboration with Browne Trading Company and Barton Seaver. Lambs in South Portland is holding a sake seminar.

Sunday – A gingerbread house decoration event is taking place at the Hilton Garden Inn. The event is a fundraiser for Portland Firefighters Children’s Burn Foundation.

December 16 – Bissell Brothers will be holding a (sold out) Feast of the Seven Fishes.

December 17 – Camp Pennant is serving a 4-course porchetta dinner.

December 18 – The Maine Real Estate & Development Association is hosting a panel discussion to discuss the recent restaurant closings and the challenges facing the hospitality industry. Josh Miranda (Blyth & Borroughs, Via Vecchia, etc), Jay Villani (Local 188, Salvage, Black Cow) and Richard Pfeffer (Gritty’s) will be members of the panel moderated by Josh Soley. Sacred Profane will be holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes at their location in Biddeford.

December 18 – The Causeway in Spruce Head is holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner.

December 20 – Chaval is holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner.

December 24 – Via Vecchia is holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner. Regards is holding a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner.

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 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.

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.

Maine Food & Dining News: Ellsworth, Brunswick, Damariscotta, Westbrook, Sanford, Biddeford, Windham, Bath

| 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:

  • Chloe’s Cafe is under construction at 30 Water Street in Ellsworth. The Bangor Daily News reports that owner Gabrielle Conners hopes to open the bakery cafe in January serving breakfast and lunch.
  • Brunswick’s Great Impasta is moving down the street to the space formerly occupied by Maiz at 11 Pleasant Street (right). They expect to reopen by the end of the year. Maiz opened their Brunswick restaurant in 2022 and closed it in August of 2024. The Great Impasta has been in business since 1984 and it was previously located at 42 Maine Street.
  • A new business called Barco Provisions (instagram) recently opened in Damariscotta. Owners Jamie and Penn Way have stocked the shelves with specialty foods from around the globe like Vietnamese fish sauce and panettone from Italy. For more information see this article from The Lincoln County News.
  • Pine Tree Bakery in Westbrook has permanently closed (left). Baker/owner Lesa Beck opened the business earlier this year in April. A message posted on facebook explained that “difficulty in finding staff and rising costs” made it “no longer feasible to continue operating the bakery.” The property is now for sale for $470,000.
  • Owner Billy Nichols has announced he’s searching for a new home for his company Downhill Bagel Company (instagram). Nichols opened his cafe in March and launched weekend wine bar hours later in August. Downhill will be open at their current location through the end of the year.
  • Dizzy Bird Rotisserie has announced they’re closing their Biddeford restaurant at the end of this month. Owner Tom Peacock plans to take some time in the new year to consider how he might restructure the business and space with hopes there might be a way to reopen Dizzy Bird in the future. Dizzy Bird opened for business in March 2019.
  • Waxwing Bakery (website, facebook, instagram) in Windham is set to open this morning at 7 am. Waxwing is being launched by baker Hannah Buoye and chef Billy Hager. Buoye is the former kitchen manager at Tandem Coffee and Hager had been the executive chef at Helm.
  • Down East has published an article about Linden + Front, a restaurant that opened earlier this year in Bath.

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.

Fizz Interview with Sean Turley

| Posted in Farming

Margo Mazur interviewed author and apple expert Sean Turley for a recent edition of The Fizz. They talked about the history of apples, the importance of teaching apple identification, and his new book Practical Pomology.

Three years later, they’re publishing a book I’m very excited to tell you about. Practical Pomology is a field guide for  the apple-curious, whether you’re a seasoned forager and cidermaker or someone who just loves that big apple tree in your neighbor’s yard. It’ll teach you how to recognize the difference between seedling and grafted trees, identify the apples you come across, and ultimately understand their traits. What you do with that long lost fruit is up to you.

Oxbow to Acquire Rising Tide

| Posted in Beer

Oxbow Brewing has announced plans to acquire Rising Tide Brewing. The deal is expected to be wrapped up by the end of 2024. When it does, both brands will remain independent and Nathan Sanborn will continue on as the brewer at Rising Tide.

The announcement reads in part,

We are honored to be taking the torch and excited for the future of this beloved brand.” said Oxbow’s founder and President, Tim Adams. “Their team does an amazing job and their brewing values are in line with our own. They take their time and make decisions with a quality-above-all-else mentality.”

The two breweries share similar brewing philosophies, but their beer portfolios are markedly different. Rising Tide excels at making traditional American and European beer styles, while Oxbow specializes in farmhouse ales and lagers.

Tim continues, “I love the classic styles and can’t wait to help bring more of them to the people. The pendulum is swinging back to traditional beers, and between Oxbow and Rising Tide we’ve now got those bases fully covered.

Rising Tide launched in 2010 and was initially located on Industrial Way. Founders Nathan and Heather Sanborn moved the business to its current location on Fox Street in 2012. Oxbow was founded in Newcastle and they opened their tasting room and brewery on Washington Ave in November 2014.

Luncheonette on Cumberland Ave

| Posted in Under Construction

Angela Lee and Alex LeBlanc have leased 147 Cumberland Ave where they plan to open Luncheonette (website, instagram). Luncheonette will be a counter service cafe and take-out spot serving a salad-centric menu along with sandwiches and a daily selection of house-made breads and pastries. Luncheonette will have draft beer, wine, house-made sodas, drip coffee and tea.

A sample menu on the Luncheonette website includes a Shredded Beetroot Salad plated with yogurt, dill and pistachio as well as an Eggplant Sandwich made with golden fried eggplant, baba ganoush and cabbage slaw. The daily selection of six salads can be ordered as described but customers can also choose to add on proteins like smoked salmon or roast chicken.

LeBlanc and Lee are just starting to plan out the renovation for 147 Cumberland Ave. They anticipate some additional indoor seating and making use of the back patio during warmer months, and hope to launch Luncheonette in late spring.

They have moved to Portland from New York. For LeBlanc who grew up in South Portland it’s a return home. Lee’s culinary career started in NYC baking at Petee’s Pie Co from there she went on to work as a whole animal butcher at Meat Hook and as a fish butcher at Osakana. LeBlanc’s most recent position was as the sous chef at Sailor in Brooklyn, and previously was the chef de cuisine at Gus’s. When he last lived in Portland, LeBlanc had worked for Abby Harmon at Caiola’s and for Matt Ginn at Evo Kitchen + Bar.

147 Cumberland Ave has most recently been the home of Union Bagel which is now located in Falmouth. Looking further back in the past it was also been a launchpad for Katie Made and Silly’s, and was the location of Peddleman’s/Falafel Underground. Here’s a look at what it looked like a century ago. The photo above is from September 2018.