Month: June 2025

Upcoming Food and Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Friday-Saturday – The Rockport Donut Festival is taking place.

June 16 – Acclaimed bartender and former Portlander Trevin Hutchins will be holding a pop-up at Room for Improvement introducing his new San Francisco bar Jupiter Room.

June 26-28 – The Holy Trinity Greek Festival is taking place.

June 28 – The Wavy Days beer festival is taking place.

June 28/29 – The Maine Oyster Festival is taking place in Freeport.

July 18-20 – The Yarmouth Clam Festival is taking place.

September 14 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

September 19-21 – The Common Ground Country Fair is taking place in Unity.

October 12 – Maine Open Creamery Day is taking place.

November 1-9 – 207 Beer Week is taking place.

November 10-16 – Brunswick Wine Week is taking place.

Maine Food & Dining News: Thomaston, Searsport, South Berwick, Waldoboro, Lisbon, Dover-Foxcroft, Bath, Tenants Harbor, Falmouth

| 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:

  • The Crooked Spoon (instagram) is moving into The Block Saloon space in Thomaston which will now serve as their production kitchen and where they’ll operate a weekly dinner service on Friday nights, 5:30 – 11 pm beginning on June 20th. You can also experience their hand made pasta at their weekly Monday night pop-up at The Waldoboro Inn and at the Rockland Farmers Market. The Crooked Spoon is run by chef Samuel Emery and Chloe Chalakani.
  • The Bangor Daily News reports that Maineport Brewing in Searsport has debuted a new tasting room.
  • Sam Ostrow has closed down Secundo, the South Berwick outpost of his Kittery restaurant Festina Lente. “It is with a lot of mixed emotions that as of today we are closing Secundo. We built a beautiful space, served exquisitely crafted food & beverage, and provided warm hospitality since opening. Thank you to all of our patrons that have shared their evenings and special occasions with us, and thank you to all of the staff members that made Secundo such a wonderful place to spend our time.”
  • Sara Rademaker and her Waldoboro company American Unagi were featured by Food & Wine magazine in their 5th annual Game Changers list.
  • Crooked Keg Brewing has launched a $25k Go Fund Me crowdfunding campaign to help them launch an arcade and tap room in Lisbon. They previously operated a tasting room in Brunswick.
  • The owner of Riverside Grill, in Dover-Foxcroft is running a restaurant give away essay contest. The winner will gain ownership of the Riverside Grill, all equipment, the building it’s in as well as a $10,000 vendor credit. There’s a $100 entry fee for the contest and the drawing is taking place on October 1st.
  • Bay Bowls has launched their new location at 45 Water Street in Bath.
  • A new food truck called QP Burger (instagram) is under development in Tenants Harbor. The menus is expected to include “hybrid smash burgers, red snapper hot dogs, and crinkle cut French fries” and the Bangor Daily News reports that a new food truck park is expected next week in Belfast.
  • The Press Herald reports that Mornings in Paris will be opening a new cafe in Falmouth.

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

 

Game Changer: American Unagi

| Posted in People

Sara Rademaker and her Waldoboro-based company American Unagi has been featured by Food & Wine in their 5th annual Game Changers article. The Game Changers article recognizes “the people, products, and companies changing the way we eat and drink for the better — are meeting those challenges with creativity and grit.”

The unagi supply chain has long been convoluted — eels were caught in Maine, then shipped to Asia to grow to maturity. Now, thanks to American Unagi, eels never have to cross international waters to reach dinner plates. The first large-scale, land-based eel aquafarm in the United States is making eel more accessible and sustainable for American consumers and chefs alike.

American Unagi eel is available in the Portland area at Harbor Fish, SoPo Seafood and Brown Trading, and online via their e-commerce site.

2025 Portland Pocket Guide

| Posted in Openings

The 2025 Portland Pocket Guide is now available—see below for where to pick one up. As in past years the guide highlights a cross section of the restaurants, bakeries, breweries, coffee shops, cocktail bars, and cafes that make eating and drinking in Portland so compelling.

Use the guide as a starting point for your ongoing exploration of the Portland and Maine food scenes. See the Portland Food Map directory for full list of independent eateries in the city to put together your own selection. We’d enjoy seeing your list and hearing about your eating adventures.

Are you holding a wedding, running a business event, operating a hotel, or simply want a bunch of the guides on hand for out of town visitors? The pocket guides are now for sale online in packs of 25 at our online store.

Many thanks to our sponsors! Their support is essential to making this resource available: Evergreen Credit Union, The Boulos Company, the Canopy by Hilton Waterfront, Wine Wise, Allagash Brewing Company, The Longfellow Hotel, and Vertical Harvest.

While supplies last you can pick-up a free copy of the guide at these local businesses: Tandem Coffee Roasters, Portland Trading Company, Allagash Brewing, Rose Foods, Oxbow Brewing, Onggi, Ugly Duckling, the Portland Yoga Collective, and starting this weekend at  Bresca and the Honey Bee in New Gloucester.

One final note: This dining guide wouldn’t be as good as it, in fact it wouldn’t exist at all, without the skills and contributions of graphic designer Sofija Razgaitis and of Dawn Hagin from Rare Bird Strategic. Congratulate them on their work the next time you see them.

Vena’s Returning

| Posted in Openings

Vena’s Fizz House announced this morning that the business—which announced they were closing down in April—is going remain in operation after all.

According to a press release,

Steve and Johanna Corman, who launched Vena’s in 2013, will remain hands-on with product development and mixology education. Behind the scenes, a new, passionate team has joined the operation to support Vena’s growth in retail and wholesale markets. Dan and Stefanie Cisowski have stepped into the front lines to ensure the brand you love remains innovative, small-batch, and botanical-infused. “We’re proud to build on Vena’s legacy of innovation,” said Dan Cisowski. “This next chapter is about expanding the brand’s creative spirit, while staying true to our roots and introducing new ideas to the marketplace.”

Vena’s first launched in Boothby Square on July 10, 2013. They closed that location, and had at one point pursued plans to re-open in a larger space at 867 Congress. From 2023 they’d focused on their house branded products.

Upcoming Food and Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Tuesday – Winemaker Michael Terrien will be at Old Port Wine Merchants 4–6 pm for a tasting of wines from Maine-based Bluet and two California wineries he cofounded Obsidian Wine Co and Terrien Wines.

Saturday – BayCider Fest is taking place.

June 13/14 – The Rockport Donut Festival is taking place.

June 26-28 – The Holy Trinity Greek Festival is taking place.

June 28 – The Wavy Days beer festival is taking place.

June 28/29 – The Maine Oyster Festival is taking place in Freeport.

June 18-20 – The Yarmouth Clam Festival is taking place.

September 14 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

September 19-21 – The Common Ground Country Fair is taking place in Unity.

October 12 – Maine Open Creamery Day is taking place.

November 1-9 – 207 Beer Week is taking place.

November 10-16 – Brunswick Wine Week is taking place.