The Press Herald has explored why so many restaurants are closing.
A surge of restaurant closures in Greater Portland that started in early September accelerated in recent weeks when a popular Bayside pizzeria, a recently opened Old Port gastropub and a longtime Yarmouth landmark all announced they were shutting down. With food and labor costs rising as the industry’s slowest season approaches, more could be coming.
For some further discussion see these three threads on Reddit.
New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:
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.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Winona’s (instagram) has opened for business. The ~20-seat restaurant is located at 31 Elm Street in Camden in the space formerly occupied by Goods. It’s being launched by Hannah Adams and chef Devin Dearden.
They’re serving a menu of six dishes (see menu below) along with beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Shown above are the Egg Custard which is plated with shaved cabbage and topped with a sunflower chili crisp(top left), Sumac Cured Salmon with carrots and seasoned yogurt (mid left), and a Cod en Papillotte prepared with mushrooms and tomato butter and plated with shaved and whole radishes.
Prior to Winona’s Dearden had been the chef at The Alna Store since the acclaimed restaurant launched in late 2022. He’s previously worked in Cambridge, New York, and in Portland where he was on the staff at Scales and Evo. Adams had also been on staff at The Alna Store and previously worked front of house in Portland at Little Giant, The Honey Paw, and Evo.
Winona’s will be open Thursday through Saturday, 4 – 8 pm. Reservations can be made online.
In a statement on his facebook account chef and business owner Christian Hayes shared that he’s shut down three of his four business and will be redirecting his energy into Dandelion Catering Company (website, facebook, instagram). The statement reads in part,
We pushed as long as we could. What started as a company that was able to properly communicate it’s appreciation and love for the people who supported it very thoughtfully and consistently, grew into a multi-armed, multi-headed beast that took us away from what made it all so special and successful to begin with: each other.
Here we are, now. In a display of serendipitous regression, we as a family find ourselves back to where it literally all started 16 years ago, at Dandelion Catering Co. One business. One spot. One staff. We are picking the pieces up slowly, and working towards repairing it all. The beautiful dining space that was The Garrison will be for rent for our private events and popups, and we are focused on simplifying and streamlining the catering company to be as thoughtful and fulfilling as it should be. The clarity that is gained from this forceful downsizing is allowing us to focus on repairing everything around us, and finding focus in each day forward.
Hayes had closed The Garrison in July. This announcement extends that to include his cafe and store on Main Street in Yarmouth: Thoroughfare and Dandy’s Handy Store. Thoroughfare launched as a takeout pop-up operating out of The Garrison in June 2020 and moved into its own space on Main Street in 2021. Dandy’s Handy Store opened in May 2023.
As in past years, the James Beard Foundation has posted an open call for recommendations from industry professionals and the general public for the awards committee to consider when building the list of semifinalists for 2025.
The entry and recommendation period for the 2025 James Beard Awards…is officially open! We’re looking for chefs, beverage experts, creators, and culinary and food system leaders who could be the next James Beard Award winners…Whether you published a cookbook in the last year, own a restaurant, or advocate for food system change, we encourage you to submit your entries and recommend your talented colleagues.
A notable change from last year is the addition of three new awards categories: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. These are in addition to the existing categories of Outstanding Bar and Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program.
The deadline to submit recommendations is Friday, November 29th and if the process follows the pattern from 2023 and 2024 then we can expect to see the semifinalist list come out in late January.
Reference these PDFs for guidelines on the chef and restaurant awards categories, and for insight into the overall awards process. Also check out this list we maintain on Portland Food Map for a list of past award winners, nominees and semifinalists from Maine.
To create an account and submit your recommendations visit: jamesbeardawards.awardsplatform.com
Monday – The Bitter Ball Negroni Contest is taking place at Via Vecchia, and Anoche is holding their next Paella Night.
Thursday – Wayside Food Programs is holding their annual fundraising event Inside Wayside. Winona’s (instagram) is opening for business in Camden—you can make reservations online. The restaurant is being launched by Hannah Adams and chef Devin Dearden who were part of the team at the highly regarded Alna Store.
Saturday – Oxbow is holding their annual Good from the Woods event in Newcastle. Leisure Time Cocktail Company is holding a Barbeque Party in collaboration with Moonrock BBQ.
Sunday – Dandelion Spring Farm in Bowdoinham is hold their annual Fermentation Fair.
October 10 – Apres is holding their annual Apple Tasting.
October 13 – The 16th Annual Open Creamery Day is taking place. Dandelion Spring Farm is holding a Harvest Dinner. Salt Wharf is holding the 2nd Annual Camden Oyster Festival.
October 18 – Author Corrie Locke-Hardy will be at the Equality Community Center for a reading from their new cookbook The Revolution Will be Well Fed and herbal tea workshop.
October 19 – McDougal Orchards in Springvale is holding their 5th Annual Apple Tasting.
October 20 – Great Maine Apple Day is taking place in Unity.
October 23 – Mrs. Gee Free Living and Sur Lie are collaborating on a gluten-free dinner.
October 24 – The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs is holding the biennial Maine Food Producer Showcase & Golden Fork Awards at Brick South on Thompson’s Point.
October 24-26 – Harvest on the Harbor is taking place.
October 29 – The annual HospitalityMaine summit is taking place at Sugarloaf.
November 5 – Gross Confection Bar is holding a (sold out) pastry baking class.
 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. |
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a 4 star review of Bread & Friends.
Standout dishes include executive chef Jeremy Broucek’s wood-grilled Broad Arrow Farm pork chop with miso-like rye cream, pickled mustard seeds and lacto-fermented cherries; and a remarkably meaty, braised sunflower blossom plated up with brothy local cranberry beans and capers. Head baker Tanner Rubin gets a turn in the spotlight, too. His dark-and-crusty mini country loaf with homemade cultured dulse butter is a winner, just like his brunch-meets-dessert riff on custardy, house-baked brioche French toast that arrives sticky with Dunn Family Maple syrup and a scoop of smoked rosemary ice cream. Pricey perhaps, but completely worth it.
Coals Pizza (website, instagram) owner Billy Etzel has announced plans to close the Bayside restaurant which has been in operation since 2019.
Sorry folks but after this weekend we’ll be putting Coals Bayside to rest. We’ll be open for regular hours while supplies last. Thanks for the memories!
Coals is well loved for their wings and pizza. The Maine Sunday Telegram gave them 3½ stars and New York Times gave their Bronxville location a rating of Very Good.
Coals is located at 114 Preble Street in the building that had formerly been the home of Portland & Rochester. Coals currently operates a 2nd location in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Thistle & Grouse (website, facebook, instagram) has permanently closed. Their last day in business was this past weekend. A statement from owners Kimberly Kraus and chef Bobby Will reads in part,
Unfortunately not all things in life are meant to be and this is one of those moments. We set out to Portland from Bar Harbor with a dream of opening a neighborhood gastropub that brought creative comfort food into a warm inviting environment for friends to share libations, laughs and memories.
But a difficult path of remodel met with multiple delays and permitting hurdles, a terrible first winter full of flooded downtowns and snow, combined with a crippling inflation that made it nearly impossible to keep it together, painted a different picture for us.
Will, Kraus and key members of the staff had previously worked together at Kraus’ and Will’s former restaurant Salt and Steel in Bar Harbor.
Thistle & Grouse opened at 10 Cotton Street on December 1, 2023. The restaurant received 3½ stars in a review published by the Maine Sunday Telegram in March. The business is now for sale.
 |
 |
 |
 |
New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:
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.