| We’ve begun building the 2026 Maine Thanksgiving List . It already includes 50+ options for Thanksgiving dinners, free community meals and food baskets, special takeout and take home options from restaurants, bakeries, butcher shops, and markets from all over the state. We’ll be adding to the list as businesses and organizations publish details on their plans for the holiday. Drop us a line if you know of any local resources that should be included. |
Toastie Takes Series at Mr. Tuna
Mr. Tuna is collaborating with 10 Maine bakeries and restaurants on Toastie Takes. November through March the Mr. Tuna menu will feature a special version of the popular Mr. Tuna dessert toastie—an ice cream filler hot pocket.
The series kicks off with Luncheonette’s toastie on November 1st. Also participating are Cherie, Taj, Onggi, Benny’s, Tandem, Lotso Tacos, Solo Pane, Bread & Friends and Norimoto.
Lobster Chef of the Year
Chefs from 10 Maine restaurants gathered last week to participate in the Lobster Chef of the Year competition.
Chef Cullen Stileski from Ugly Duckling at Rising Tide won the Judges’ Selection award with a Lobster Puff made with duck fat-poached Maine lobster in a black pepper gougère with crispy prosciutto, pickled onion, brown butter “béarnaise”.
Chef Sam Helmke from Sur Lie earned People’s Choice award with a dish of Lobster tacos made with Maine-style lobster salad, corn tortillas, sweet chili, avocado, breakfast radish, tobiko.
Wellfleet Shuck-Off Champion: Chad Egeland
Chad Egeland from Scales came in first place at the Shuck-Off competition at the Wellfleet OysterFest on Sunday. He has been participating in shucking competitions for the last nine years, and for the past two has come in first at the Maine Oyster Festival in Freeport.
This was Egeland’s first win at Wellfleet and shared that he plans to return to OysterFest in 2027 to defend his title.
Great American Beer Festival Awards
Beers from Bissell Brothers, Allagash and Orange Bike Brewing all won awards at the 2026 Great American Beer Festival.
Orange Bike took home a gold for the Pumpkin Ale and a silver for their Oktoberfest beer. Allagash won a gold award for their flagship Allagash White, and Bissell Brothers won a bronze award for their Precept pilsner style beer.
Plum Bakery in Gardiner
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Plum Bakery (facebook, instagram) has opened for business in Gardiner. It is located at 347 Water Street in the the space formerly occupied by Stone Broke Bread and Books.
At the soft opening over the weekend owner Kristen Lamontagne was selling breads, focaccia topped with potatoes, cheddar and poblanos, lemon meringue ice box pie, several types of cookies including a gluten-free almond buckwheat cookies (shown above), buttermilk blueberry scones, oatmeal cream pie sandwiches (above), vegan banana bread, and mandarin oranges. Drink options include hot and iced 44 North Coffee, tea and soft drinks.
Plum Bakery has several tables with seating for 10 and a small market selling a selection of pantry items, household goods, vinyl records, books, and crafts made by local artists.
Watch for Plum Bakery to be open Saturday and Sunday, 10 am – 2 pm this week, and expand to be open Friday through Sunday the following week.
US Shucking Champion: Andy Rogers
Andy Rogers is the 2026 US Oyster Shucking Champion. In the finals held on Sunday at the US Oyster Festival in Maryland he beat out the competition by shucking 24 oysters in 2 minutes and 16.93 seconds.
The was Rogers’s 6th time competing at the national level after winning at the regional Wellfleet OysterFest in 2021. Rogers shared, “I work hard to improve my craft every day, and it is very gratifying to celebrate that continuous improvement with milestones like this. The community around this sport is incredible, and the joy of coming together with people who are just as dedicated in this craft is worth all the travel regardless of the outcome.”
Rogers uses a prototype oyster shucking knife of his own design which he’s been developing since 2020 which he feels was instrumental to his success. He is currently looking to scale up production.
Rogers plans to represent the United States at the World Oyster Opening Championship taking place in Galway, Ireland in September. “I have a lot of time to prepare, and will need it. The oysters that we shuck for worlds are a completely different species called Ostrea edulis, aka European Flats or belons.”
Rogers and Ryan Jolie operate the Jolie Rogers raw bar in Wiscasset which they launched in 2023.
Upcoming Food & Dining Events
Wednesday – Chaval is serving a 4-course Burgundy wine dinner. Root Wild is teaching a fire cider workshop in collaboration with Seed Sound Herbal Apothecary.
Friday – Marquis is holding a Chamapagne and caviar event.
Saturday – The 21st Annual Veg Fest is taking place. Sawyer’s is teaching a sausage making class, “The class will give an in depth demonstration of our sausage making process from meat selection, grinding, mixing, stuffing and twisting.” McDougal’s Orchards in Springvale is holding their 6th Annual Apple Tasting.
Sunday – The Great Maine Apple Day is taking place in Unity.
October 27 – Isa is holding a dinner featuring wines from Cantina Flori in Piedmont.
October 28 – Coffee by Design owner Mary Allen Lindemann will be the guest speaker at an event organized by the Maine Trust for Local News.
November 5 – Twelve is holding their 3rd Annual Harvest Dinner.
November 16 – The 2026 Hospitality Maine Summit is taking place.
November 25 – The last day of the year for the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market.
Thanksgiving – See the Maine Thanksgiving List for a growing statewide list of community meals, restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinners and buffets, and where you can pre-order turkeys, sides, pies and other dishes to serve at your home meal.
November 30 – The deadline for the Open Call for the 2027 Beard Awards process.
December 5 – The first day of the 2026/27 Winter Farmers’ Market at Stevens Square Community Center at the corner of Stevens Avenue and Walton Street.
 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.
The 2026 Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now for sale in packs of 25 on our online store. |