America’s Best Bakery Town

| Posted in Reviews

Afar magazine has published an article about Portland’s bakery scene entitled “Portland, Maine, Is America’s Best Bakery Town”.

Portland has long been synonymous with seafood. The compact peninsula on Casco Bay is anchored by a functional waterfront and a density of raw bars and lobster shacks, drawing tourists who roll in like the tide each summer. But more recently, the city has become a year-round food destination—one now defined by what comes out of the oven as much as what comes out of the ocean.

The article highlights Bread & Friends, Night Moves, Norimoto, Onggi, Standard Baking, Tandem, and Zu Bakery.

Interview with Dan Zarin

| Posted in People

The Press Herald has published an interview with Dan Zarin, the longtime restaurant critic who’s been writing The Breakfast Serial series for The Bollard for two decades.

How has Greater Portland’s breakfast scene evolved over the last two decades?
What has changed is its volume and variety. There are certainly dozens more places now, and a lot more variety of approaches to breakfast. You’re always going to have your diners and your standard hotel brunch places, but then you get places that show up doing something unexpected like (Balkan-inspired) Nom Café. Nobody’s doing that. Wakie Wakie’s (Thai fusion) in Westbrook is fun, and something I haven’t had before.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Monday – The Modern Butcher from Danvers will be at Central Provisions for a pop-up.

Wednesday – Anoche is hosting Madonna Rosa for a pizza pop-up.

Thursday – Douro is holding a dinner featuring wines from the Azores.

Friday-Saturday – The 2nd Annual Organic Grain & Seed Summit is taking place.

Saturday – It’s the first day of the outdoor Portland Farmers’ Market in Deering Oaks Park.

Saturday-Sunday – The Maine Culinary Festival is taking place in Augusta.

Sunday – Marquis is hold a negroni and caviar po-up with Natasha Bahrami.

April 21 – A Cherie pop-up is taking place at Regards, and Blyth & Burrows is holding a Ginworld cocktail party.

April 22 – Fermin Nunez from Austin, Texas will be the guest chef at an upcoming Tuna & Friends dinner.

April 24 – This week’s Family Meal at Local 188 will be a Southern Fish Fry prepared by Eventide chef Donny Carrasco.

April 24 – May 3 – Maine Seaweed Week is taking place.

April 27 – The Native Maine food show is taking place.

May 2 – SeaFest is taking place.

May 3 – CiderFeast is taking place.

May 4 – Chaval is holding the annual May the Fourth Star Wars themed dinner.

May 9 – The premiere screening of the movie Lunchroom Revolution is taking place.

May 9-10 – The 2026 A Taste of Nations Food Festival is taking place at Mayo Street Arts.

May 16 – The Maine Wine Wine Fest (tickets) is taking place in Freeport.

May 17 – Cafe Mugen is holding a pop-up at at Izakaya Minato.

June 15 – The James Beard Foundation will be announcing the 2026 award winners. Thomas Takashi Cooke from Izakaya Minato and Dana Street from Fore Street, Scales, Standard Baking, and Street & Company are this year’s nominees from Maine.

July 24-26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.

September 25-27 – The Common Ground Fair is taking place in Unity.

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 Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now for sale in packs of 25 on our online store.

Broadway Bowl Closing

| Posted in Closings

Broadway Bowl (website, facebook, instagram) is closing. Their last day in business will be May 17th.

Owner Charlie Mitchell published a statement that reads in part,

After a great deal of thought, we’ve made the difficult decision to close Broadway Bowl at the end of this year’s bowling season. Our final day of operation will be May 17th.

Running a business is a lot like bowling—there are fist-pumping strikes, stubborn splits, and yes, the occasional gutterball. The past few years have brought a little bit of everything. Like many small businesses we’ve been navigating a challenging and unpredictable economic moment, and not every roll has landed where we hoped.

Photos: from November 2023 when Broadway Bowl opened for business.

Maine Food & Dining News: Waldoboro, Augusta, York, Scarborough, South Portland, Bethel, Columbia Falls, North Berwick, Camden, Wells, Skowhegan

| 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:

  • Daniel Vannah and Jennifer Powers have taken over the former Movie Pizza Shoppe building (above) at 258 Jefferson Street in Waldoboro where they plan to open the Waldoughboro Pizza Shoppe (facebook). Powers and Vannah hope to be open by early winter.
  • Oak Table & Bar in Augusta has leased space at 146 Mt Vernon Ave where they plan to open a restaurant for their side business Taco Rico (website, facebook).
  • The owners of the Sand Dollar Bar & Grille (instagram) in York Beach are launching a pair of new eateries in the same building as their restaurant. Shorties Beach Cafe (instagram) will be a coffee and bagel shop with full line of brewed and espresso coffee drinks plus breakfast sandwiches and burritos. The Flounder (instagram) will be a counter service cafe serving sushi, poke, lobster rolls, chowder, and offering a raw bar. They hope to launch both prior to Memorial Day Weekend.
  • The owners of the All Grill food truck, opened their Scarborough restaurant in January. All Grill (website, facebook, instagram) serves a menu of Venezuelan dishes like asados boards and hervido soup. It’s located at 238 Gorham Road near Nonesuch River Brewing and is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon – 9 pm (until 8 pm on Sundays).
  • The Bollard has published a review of Rattle Shake Grill in South Portland.
  • A Longer Table and The Commons are organizing a potluck dinner in Bethel in honor of Jacque Pepin on May 1st.
  • The Columbia Falls General Store (instagram) is closing on April 26th. They are seeking a new spot where they can relocate the business.
  • A North Berwick mushroom farm, The Mushroom Hut, has suffered a fire. Owner Nicholas Doucette has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to help them rebuild.
  • The Midcoast Villager has published an article about Day Boat Cafe in Waldoboro, and a report on a pair of new business, Camden Charcuterie and Vacationland Coffee Roasters, slated for the Lyman Morse Wharf in Camden, and a new board game bistro called Munching Meeple under development in Camden.
  • The Portsmouth Herald reports that Forbes Seafood in Wells hopes to reopen their second floor as an 80-seat bar. The second floor of the building has been out of commission for several decades.
  • The Waterville Sentinel reports that Park Lee Chinese Restaurant in Skowhegan has gone out of business.
  • As previously reported, the owners of OhNo Cafe are working on to launch a new business called The Dooryard Pub in South Portland.

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of 100+ coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, plus other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

You can scroll through the past weeks’ Maine Food & Dining reports and get caught up on food news from around the state via this link.

Bird & Co. Taco Oils

| Posted in Openings

Bird & Co. has launched a product line starting with a pair of avocado-based cooking oils.

The Original Taco Oil by Bird & Co is the home cook’s new secret weapon. Made with 100% avocado oil and steeped with whole spices and simple herbs, it was crafted to flavor and elevate pan-fried tortillas for unmatched tacos at home. Beyond taco night, it sizzles as a versatile kitchen staple for braising proteins, grilling veggies, reviving leftovers, and creating vibrant dressings, sauces, and dips..breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

The oils are available in two flavors: Roja made with chipotle, chili, and garlic, and Verde made with cilantro, jalapeño, and lime. They’re available at Bird & Co in Woodfords Corner and online at shopthebirdandco.com.

Il Leone Not Reopening this Season

| Posted in Closings

Il Leone chef/owner Ben Wexler-Waite has announced that his Peaks Island open air pizzeria will not be in operation this season.

We are saddened to share that we will no longer be operating our seasonal summer pop-up at our original Peaks Island location in Maine due to unforeseen circumstances with the site beyond the control of both us and our Landlord the Lions Club.

The Lion’s Club, who have been Il Leone’s landlords on the island, shared,

Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond either parties’ control, we are sorry to see il Leone leave the Club and Peaks Island but are heartened that the business will live on in other forms and forever remain associated to us through its name. We wish il Leone the best in their next chapter. As always, we will continue to support our community and the public through our community burger nights, grants, and scholarships. We warmly invite everyone to join us for these wonderful community events.

Wexler-Waite indicated he’s searching for a spot in Maine to relocate Il Leone to, “[We] are considering a new potential seasonal pop-up location, and encourage those with ideas for potential partnership or collaboration to reach out.”

Il Leone launched on Peaks in the summer of 2021, and last year the businesses expanded with a second location in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.