The Good Food Foundation announced the winners of their 2024 awards program last night. Of the 8 finalists from Maine, three were named as award winners:
You can see the full list of award winners on the Good Food Foundation website.
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Mark and Renae Roy have leased the former Helm space on Thames Street where they plan to open a new restaurant called Thames Landing. They shared part of their vision for the restaurant,
Thames Landing brings you solidly good food in an airy and beautiful modern atmosphere. The restaurant will offer classic New England fare—satisfying portions centered around seafood, local meat, and seasonal vegetables—served with contemporary flair and warm hospitality. We aim to be your new go-to, for after work drinks with a co-worker, a meltdown-free lunch with the kids, a spontaneous date night, or a leisurely weekend brunch with friends.
Their plans included an expanded outdoor seating area and they hope to have the restaurant open this summer.
The Roys are the owners of Navis Cafe which they opened on August 14, 2020. Helm launched in early 2021 and went out of business just last month.
Knickerbocker Ice Company (website, facebook, instagram) co-owner Brian Hanson was interviewed on the Maine podcast Cocktails with Friends about the history of ice harvesting in Maine and the present day Portland company Knickerbocker Ice Co. that supplies specialty ice cubes to cocktail bars and for retail sales.
Maine Public reports that Coffee by Design has signed an agreement with a union of their baristas.
The contract signed this week secures a wage increase and establishes a labor-management committee between Coffee By Design and its workers. The mutual agreement is for one year, which Sheldman said will allow both parties to continue crafting a long-term agreement.
Monday – The Good Food Awards winners will be announced. Eight Maine food producers are finalists in the 2024 Good Food awards program.
Saturday – Author Eric Kim will be at Tandem Coffee for “The Eric Kim & Briana Holt Happy Hour“. Chaval will be holding their annual May the Fourth Star Wars dinner. Rigby Yard is holding a Kentucky Derby viewing party.
May 8 – Magnus on Water will be hosting a Small Dough pizza x Lorne collaboration pop-up in Bideford.
May 11 – CiderFeast, an “all-inclusive tasting event celebrates craft ciders from some of the top cider makers in New England and beyond” is taking place. Oak & Ember is holding a pig roast at their restaurant in Buxton as a benefit for the New England Breast Cancer Alliance.
Mother’s Day – restaurants are just starting to announce their Mother’s Day plan. We’ll ad to this list as businesses share their plans.
May 17 – The Five of Clubs (instagram) cocktail bar and Twinflower Cafe (instagram) will be opening in concert with the launch of The Longfellow Hotel. They are located at 754 Congress Street, across from Wayside Diner and next to Tandem Coffee.
May 18 – The Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.
May 19 – Fork Food Lab and Mayo Street Arts are collaborating to hold the Taste of Nations Food Festival.
June 10-16 – Portland Wine Week is taking place.
June 17 – The 3rd Annual ChopTails Competition will be taking place at Batson River.
June 22 – The Great Falls Brewfest is taking place in Lewiston.
June 26 – Secret Supper (instagram) is holding a dinner in the Portland area.
June 29 – The 3rd Annual Mast Landing Wavy Days Festival is taking place.
July 25/26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.
August 30 – September 1 – Maine Apple Camp is taking place.
September 20-22 – The Common Ground Fair will be taking place.
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about Atsuko Fujimoto and her business Norimoto Baking, a review of Mazzat in Morrill’s Corner and a look at how a restaurant closure announcement often makes an eatery insanely busy in their final days.
The owners of Thai Esaan, Ben Boonseng and Siwaporn Roberts, have announced they’re closing their Portland Street restaurant. Sunday will be their last day in business.
We want to thank all of our wonderful guests that have chosen us to be a part of their family through the years. We are extremely humbled that so many embraced our restaurant and that we were able to succeed as long as we had. Our goal was to serve good food and it showed through our recognition in various news outlets.
Thai Esaan was originally located on Forest Ave and reopened at 65 Portland Street in March of 2023.
New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:
Hannah Buoye and Billy Hager have announced their plans to launch a new bakery in Windham called Waxwing Bakery (instagram). Buoye is a former kitchen manager at Tandem Coffee and Hager had been the executive chef at Helm.
Buoye and Hager plan to offer a menu focused on laminated pastries and breads with a seasonal selection of sandwiches and salads. The counter service bakery will have some indoor seating and will serve Tandem coffee and have espresso-based beverages. Shown above is a zucchini cake with lemon icing that was on sale at their first pop-up back in August.
Waxwing will be located at 868 Roosevelt Trail (aka Route 302). An opening date is still TBD, but they hopes to launch the business later this year. In the meantime you can find them and their baked goods the second Saturday of every month at the Bumbleroot Farm Maker’s Market in Windham.
The name of the bakery is a reference to waxwing family of bird species. See the initial Waxwing instagram post for more info on these birds and their inspiration for the name of the bakery.
The Portland Food Map archive provides a chronicle of the past 16+ 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 fun to take a look back at what the hot topics were from 5, 10 and 15 years ago.
Here’s are highlights from April 2009, 2014 and 2019: