Month: September 2025

Changes at Foundation Brewing

| Posted in Beer

Foundation Brewing was founded by John and Tina Bonney, and Christie and Joel Mahaffey in 2013. The Bonneys have announced they’re taking on the full ownership and management of the brewery as the Mahaffeys are moving on to new opportunities.

Big News from Foundation! After almost 12 years, Christie and Joel have made the decision to move on from brewing. Tina and I will be continuing their legacy here at Foundation as full owners of the company. We want to be the first to raise a glass and wish them the best of luck on their next adventure! In the short term, nothing will change at Foundation, but we are excited for the opportunity to put into motion some new ideas and plans Tina and I have been working on in the coming weeks to months. Thanks to all of you for your support through the years and we are excited for what the future holds.

Food Pantries Need Volunteers

| Posted in General News

The Maine Monitor has published an article about volunteer shortages and funding cuts at impacting Maine’s food pantries.

Complicating matters is the infrastructure through which the United States distributes most food to those who need help. In Maine, the nearly 600 hunger relief agencies that get free and low-cost food from Good Shepherd Food Bank rely on volunteers. This includes 250 food pantries as well as soup kitchens, senior centers, shelters, schools and youth programs.

More than 75% of these organizations rely completely on volunteers, with no paid staff, according to Good Shepherd. 

Are you available to volunteer? The State of Maine and Portland Public Schools have lists of local food pantries which you can use to a find a pantry to help.

Upcoming Food and Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Wednesday – Goldie’s Gin and Noble Kitchen & Bar in Brunswick are holding Feral Floral, a flower-inspired cocktail and food event that’s a benefit for the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program.

Thursday – Wayside Food Programs is holding their annual Inside Wayside event. Angoor Wine Bar is holding a 3-course Puerto Rican wine dinner.

Saturday – Oxbow Brewing is holding their annual Goods from the Woods event at their brewery in Newcastle.

Sunday/Monday – A Salvatore’s Hoagie Shop pop-up is taking place at the East Ender.

October 9 – A Maine Food Producer Social is taking place at the Maine Tasting Center in Wiscasset.

October 11 – A community cider pressing will take place at the Mount Joy Orchard.

October 12 – Maine Open Creamery Day is taking place.

October 14 – The Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Summit is taking place at Colby College.

October 18 – Friends with Forks is holding their next meet-up at Nom Cafe.

October 19 – En-Noble and the Portland Pottery Cafe are putting on a chutney cooking class. The Great Maine Apple Day is taking place in Unity.

October 23 – Twelve is holding their annual Harvest Dinner.

October 28 – Luncheonette is holding a reprise of their Korean dinner.

November 1 – The Maine Fermentation Festival is taking place in Waterville.

November 1-9 – 207 Beer Week is taking place at breweries across the state.

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

November 26 – The last day of the outdoor Portland Farmers’ Market in Deering Oaks Park.

December 6 – The first day of the indoor Portland Farmers’ Market at Stevens Square Community Center (631 Stevens Ave).

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.

Maine Food & Dining: Freeport, Biddeford, Camden, Kittery, Auburn, Waldoboro, Brunswick, Rockland, Scarborough, Boothbay Harbor, Bethel, Bucksport, Bangor, Ellsworth, Old Town

| 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 latest episode of The Road Less Eaten (above) travelled to Freeport, Camden and Biddeford where host Biju Thomas visits with Spartan Sea Farms, the Freeport Oyster Bar, Brodi’s Blueberries, Blue Barren Distillery, Fish & Whistle and Magnus on Water.
  • Seacoast Stories has publish a podcast interview with Black Birch co-founder Ben Lord.
  • Maine Macarons has run into a setback in the final run to launching their new bakery in Auburn. They’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign for help to pay for some unexpected rework on the bakery.
  • Perch in Waldoboro has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise the money to replace their espresso machine. $11,914 has been raised so far towards a $16k goal.
  • Parade magazine has published an article about Biddeford. It highlights Palace Diner, Time & Tide Coffee, Elements, Edelweiss, Fish & Whistle, Magnus on Water, Reilly’s Bakery, Pizza by Alex, Colleti’s, Sacred Profane, Banded Brewing and Lucky Pigeon, Round Turn, Nibblesford, Rover and Sweetcream, Batson River and the Lobby Bar at the Lincoln Hotel.
  • Eighty Ate Hospitality in Brunswick has announced plans to merge their restaurant operations under one roof. Bao Bao is shutting down on September 27th. Then starting October 1st ZaoZe Cafe and market will reopen for counter service lunch, and in the evenings ZaoZe Dreamscape will take over the space with a table service dinner menu prepared by chef Leon Vuong. The former Tao Yuan/Bao Bao space will transition to being used as an event space.
  • The Midcoast Villager has published an article about the New York Times recent recognition of Sammy’s Deluxe in Rockland.
  • The Biddo Foodies have shared a set of photos from Spanish Point which opened in Scarborough this summer.
  • Nikaline Iacono from Vessel & Vine will be teaching a Vermouth making class at Full Hearts Farm at Durham this Sunday.
  • The Pemaquid Oyster Festival is taking place this weekend in Boothbay Harbor. Ten Maine oyster farms will be participating in the festival on Sunday and an oyster wine dinner is taking place Saturday night.
  • A Longer Table Homestead in Bethel is holding a farm dinner on Saturday. The meal is a collaboration with Morning Glory Farm and will feature dishes using recipes from a Kurdish family living in Lewiston.
  • My Buddy’s Place has announced they’ll be closing their Bucksport restaurant at the end of September. “It is with heavy hearts that we share we will be closing our doors on September 30, 2025, due to a variety of ongoing issues, one of them being health. This has not been an easy decision, as this restaurant has been more than a business—it has been a place where we’ve shared meals, laughter, stories and memories with all of you. I truly love the community that has been made, each of you individually have a purpose, place and belong. Thank you.” The announcement goes on to say that the owners open another restaurant someday in the future. My Buddy’s Place opened in July 2024.
  • The Bangor Daily News reports that Evenrood in Bangor is planning to close at the end of the year, that Serendib in Ellsworth plans to close December 20th, and that MeMe G’s Bakery in Old Town has closed. They’ve also explored what might be driving this recent set of closings.

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.

Upcoming Food and Dining Events

| Posted in Events

All Week – Maine Lobster Week is taking place. 30+ restaurants from around the state are offering lobster-centered special menus and dishes during the week.

Tuesday – Luncheonette is holding a (sold out) Korean dinner.

Thursday – A part of Maine Lobster Week is the Lobster Roll Remix, a benefit for the Maine Lobstermen’s Relief Fund. It will on September 25th at Southern Maine Community College. Chefs from Chaval, Dok Mali, Douro, Great Wave Sushi, Little Pig, Portland Lobster Company, Sichuan Kitchen, Sicilian Table, Taj, and Terlingua/Ocotillo will each be serving their own creative take on the classic Maine lobster roll. Twelve is hold a Billecart-Salmon Champagne 4-course wine dinner.

Saturday – The 3rd Annual Needham Festival is taking place in Wiscasset.

October 2 – Wayside Food Programs is holding their annual Inside Wayside event.

October 4 – Oxbow Brewing is holding their annual Goods from the Woods event at their brewery in Newcastle.

October 5/6 – A Salvatore’s Hoagie Shop pop-up is taking place at the East Ender.

October 9 – A Maine Food Producer Social is taking place at the Maine Tasting Center in Wiscasset.

October 11 – A community cider pressing will take place at the Mount Joy Orchard.

October 12 – Maine Open Creamery Day is taking place.

October 14 – The Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Summit is taking place at Colby College.

October 19 – En-Noble and the Portland Pottery Cafe are putting on a chutney cooking class. The Great Maine Apple Day is taking place in Unity.

October 23 – Twelve is holding their annual Harvest Dinner.

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

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

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.

Brian Catapang at Magnus on Water

| Posted in People

Delicious Musings has published an article featuring Brian ‘Cat’ Catapang, the beverage director and co-owner of Magnus on Water in Biddeford. The article looks at the intersection of science, exploration, and creativity that are part of Catapang’s process.

Cat explains that he often pushes against the grain, testing the edge between expertise and discovery. For him, mistakes are essential—you have to make all the bad cocktails before you can make the good ones. Mastery of technique and flavor frees him to try combinations that make little sense on paper but reveal themselves in the glass. Balance, a word he finds as hollow as “smooth,” is not the goal. Drinks should evoke emotion: a nightcap can lean sweet or sharp and acidic, and both still achieve their own kind of equilibrium.

Read the full article here: A Maine Bartender Inspired by the Ocean