National Press for Maine

Maine is on a roll with press attention with food and dining stories running in Forbes, Architectural Digest, and Imbibe.

An article (not yet online) about fruit-based wines in the latest issue of Imbibe magazine features Eighteen Twenty Wines, RAS and Bluet. “At Maine’s Eighteen Twenty Wines, founder Amanda Denniston’s choice for vinification [rhubarb] is technically a vegetable, but it’s commonly treated as a fruit…Vinified bone dry, Fête, her summer release is akin to a French rosé. Its big, fruity mid-palate is bookended by a light, Provençal hue and the bone-dry yet savory finish of a Bandol rosé.”

Architectural Digest interviewed Megs Senk and George Korsnick about the creation of the space that is home to the Saint George Pizzeria, their new restaurant in the Midcoast town of Warren. “There’s a reason makers are drawn to this part of Maine. It attracts people who want to create things and be part of something—people with that New England pragmatism, even if they aren’t originally from here. It’s a fiercely individualistic place, but also deeply creative. Most of our friends here run small businesses or are artists or musicians. That’s rare in an area this small.”

In anticipation of National Spritz Day (August 1st) Forbes magazine wrote about some aperitifs and handcrafted bitters including Portland’s hometown favorite Handshake. “Traditionally sipped after meals, this digestif also works well for making big, bold spritzes. Rich, layered, and made with intention, Handshake is a modern bitter with old-world soul.”

Milly’s Market on Federal Street

Milly’s Market is scheduled to open for business on Tuesday at 8 am. It’s located on the first floor of the Casco Building at the corner of Federal and Temple Streets.

Owner Matt Manson and his team are stocking the shelves with produce, beer and wine, personal care products, home goods, and foods from Maine producers like flour from Maine Grains, Fox Family potato chips, Atwood Farm salsas, Butting Heads Farm relishes and Amolita pasta. Milly’s will also sell house-made cookies, muffins, scones, croissant and other baked goods. Additionally the market will have grab-and-go options like salads, wraps, cut fruit and pasta salads and snacks.

Manson’s store in Auburn sells produce and local foods from dozens of Maine farms and food producers. He is drawing on that network in stocking the shelves at Milly’s Market and anticipates adapting what they offer At Milly’s as he becomes more familiar with the needs of his Portland customers.

The name of the market is a blending of Manson’s two children’s names: Madison and Billy.

Milly’s will be open Tuesday through Thursday, 8 am – 7 pm, Friday/Saturday, 8 am – 9 pm, and on Sunday, 9 am – 5 pm.

Upcoming Food and Dining Events

WednesdayPortland Cooking Club is holding a potluck dinner at Blue Lobster Urban Winery in East Bayside.

Thursday – The new Portuguese restaurant, Douro, opening later this year is holding a tasting of their menu at Evo.

SaturdayAllagash is opening it’s new tasting room in Scarborough. The Allagash Bungalow is located at 10 Market Street at The Downs. It will be serving Allagash beers, cocktails and Allagash’s cider and wine. As they have at the brewery in Portland, Allagash has partnered with Bite Into Maine on the food service.

August 7 – The Terlingua Outpost (instagram). is set to launch. The all-day cafe and market will have seating for 16 with plans for outdoor seating coming this fall. The Terlingua market is moving to the Outpost space. As reported inn May, the cafe menu will include sweet & savory kolaches, “pocket-ritos”, ice cream, espresso drinks, coffee & tea, as well as iced and hot NA drinks like an adaptogen latte made with chaga, and a mojito-cino made with mint, brown sugar and half-and-half. For customers dining at cafe there will also be a beer, wine and spirits selection. The market will continue to offer prepared food and staples like enchiladas, Terlingua’s cornbread, chili, soup and house made sauces and spice blends. The Outpost will be open daily, 8 am – 8 pm.

August 15 – A Pie Luck (a pie potluck event) is taking place at Biddeford’s Fringe Fest. You can sign-up to participate in the Pie Luck on this form.

September 14 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield. The Tender Table Night Market is taking place.

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

October 12Maine Open Creamery Day is taking place.

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

November 10-16Brunswick 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.

Flatiron Coffee Opens Today

Flatiron Coffee Bar (website, instagram) is set to open this morning, Friday July 25th at 7:30 am. The 12-seat coffee bar and gallery space is located in the Hay Building in the space formerly occupied by Starbucks.

Owner Gary Perlmutter’s vision for Flatiron is as a counter-service European-style coffee bar. In addition to espresso-based drinks, Flatiron will serve drip coffee, cold brew, chai lattes, espresso tonics, lemonade (see menu below). Flatiron is sourcing coffee from Claw Coffee Roasters in Scarborough and Lay Day Roasters in Bayside. The croissants and cardamom buns served at Flatiron are coming from Belleville and other baked goods are from Little Spruce Baking Company. Additionally, Flatiron will be serving gelato from Gorgeous Gelato.

Perlmutter and his wife Rhonda Pearle own and operate the Pearl Gallery on the 2nd floor of the Hay Building where they exhibit their own work as well as work by other artists. The first artist to have their work featured at Flatiron is Jean Leibowitz Wiecha.

Flatiron Coffee is located at 594 Congress Street and will be open 7:30 am – 3 pm.

[menu photo??]

A First Look at Dry Dock

Here’s a first look at the Dry Dock (website, instagram) restaurant which will be opening for business this Saturday at 11 am. The newly renovated restaurant can seat 145 across the 2-story dining room, with space for another 155 people on the deck. Shown above are the second floor dining room (bottom right) and high top tables adjacent to the first floor bar (top left).

Chef Mike Carney and his team are serving a menu (see below) featuring seafood dishes like broiled haddock with potatoes and green beans (top right) as well as chowder, mussels, steamed clams, and lobster rolls. In addition to oysters, the raw bar offers lobster tails, crab, ceviche and tuna crudo along with a nightly seafood specials like a crab louie and a fluke and halibut salad with horseradish and trout roe (bottom left) shown above. The drinks menu include wines by the glass and a bottle list, local and national brand beer, cocktails, and nonalcoholic drink options.

A fixture on the Portland waterfront since it first launched in 1983, the restaurant had remained dormant since 2018. A new team comprised of Luke HoldenBen ConniffBryan Holden—co-owners of Luke’s Lobster—leased the building last fall and with general manager Matt Ginn have renovated and expanded the restaurant to ready it to reopen to the public.

Dry Dock is located at 84 Commercial Street. It will be open 11 am – 10 pm daily and initially operate on a walk-in only basis.

Rise Pizza & Pub Closing

The owners of Rise Pizza & Pub have announced the closing of their restaurant. This Friday will be their last day in business. Their statement reads in-part,

It is with a very heavy heart that we have to share the news we are closing Rise. Friday will be our last day of service. The perpetual kitchen-staffing crisis in the restaurant industry coupled with high operating costs and razor-thin profit margins have made it unsustainable for us to stay in business. We regret this decision tremendously as we had envisioned Rise being a staple in the community for years to come…Thank you for all the support over the past 2 years. Restaurants are always a risk and we don’t regret taking that leap at all. We’re just devastated that our passion wasn’t enough to keep it going. We’ve made some great friends and will miss seeing all of you every week.

Rise opened in August 2023. It’s located at 319 Main Street in Cumberland Center. They’ll be open this week 4 – 9 pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and noon – 9 pm on Friday.

Maine Food & Dining News: Hartford, York, Searsport, Belfast, Edgecomb, Belgrade Lakes, Waterville, Kennebunkport, South Portland

New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:

  • Bonaventura Vineyards (website, facebook, instagram) in Hartford launched their tasting room (photo above) this past Saturday. Owners Chad Casey and Jen Bonaventura have produced a first vintage of wines with Seyval Blanc, DeChaunac, Marquette, and Leon Millot grapes grown on the farm.  The tasting room will next be open on August 16th, Maine Open Winery Day.
  • Eating Through the Seacoast has published a field report from Swell House (website, instagram), a new coffee shop that opened in York earlier this month.
  • The Bangor Daily News reports that the owners of Hey Sailor have put the Searsport business up for sale, and that a new cafe called Spring Street Eatery is under construction in the former Crumb Provisions buillding at 2 Spring Street in Belfast. The cafe is being launched by chef Sharon Kull and is expected to serve “European-influenced cuisine, including traditional dishes from England and Ireland”.
  • The Lincoln County News reports that a new food truck called Yeti Boys (instagram) is now operating in Lincoln County. They’ve announced they’ll be regularly stationed at the Glidden Point Oyster Farm.
  • The Kennebec Journal reports that the 1958 Cafe (website) opened for business this summer in Belgrade Lakes at Day’s Store.
  • The Waterville Sentinel reports that Jendi Crepe & Smoothie (facebook, instagram) is under construction at 40 Main Street in Waterville and expected to open in August.
  • A new restaurant called Port Fish & Chophouse (website) recently opened at the renovated Breakwater Inn in Kennebunkport. They’re located at 127 Ocean Avenue and open 3 – 9 pm daily.
  • The Streetwich (instagram), a breakfast and lunch spot serving sandwiches, boba tea, light snacks and some sweet treats is under construction in South Portland.

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

Wednesday-Friday – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.

Thursday – It’s the grand opening of the Maine Oyster Company backyard raw bar on Portland Street.

Friday – The Flatiron Coffee Bar (instagram) will open for business. Read this article for more information about Flatiron.

Saturday – The Maine Artisan Bread Fair is taking place in Skowhegan. Vessel & Vine is holding an Alice in Wonder Land themed event in Durham. “Think whimsical tea cakes, cocktails, high tea fare, flamingo croquet and more!” Foodgalicious will be holding a lunch pop-up at Norimoto.

Sunday – It’s Maine Open Farm Day. The annual Armenian Picnic is taking place is Searsport.

July 30Portland Cooking Club is holding a potluck dinner at Blue Lobster Urban Winery in East Bayside.

July 31 – The new Portuguese restaurant, Douro, opening later this year is holding a tasting of their menu at Evo.

August 15 – a Pie Luck (a pie potluck event) is taking place at Biddeford’s Fringe Fest. You can sign-up to participate in the Pie Luck on this form.

September 14 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield. The Tender Table Night Market is taking place.

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

October 12Maine Open Creamery Day is taking place.

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

November 10-16Brunswick 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.

Dry Dock to Open Next Week

The new Dry Dock (website, instagram) restaurant is scheduled to open for business next Saturday, July 26th.

A fixture on the Portland waterfront since it first launched in 1983, the restaurant had remained dormant since 2018. A new team comprised of Luke HoldenBen ConniffBryan Holden—co-owners of Luke’s Lobster—leased the building last fall and with general manager Matt Ginn have renovated and expanded the restaurant to ready it to reopen to the public.

An addition was added to the building to house a new kitchen and the outdoor decks were expanded and can now seat 155. The move of the kitchen from the main building has opened up the two-story dining room which can now seat 145 people with bars on both floors.

Billed as a seafood tavern, the menu (see their website for the full menu) will include classic Maine coast dishes like broiled haddock, chowder, a lobster dinner, crab and lobster rolls and steamed clams. Raw bar options will include oysters, lobster tails, crab, ceviche and tuna crudo.

The kitchen is being led by chef Mike Carney who joins the Dry Dock team from Evo where he and Ginn previously worked together. Ginn was longtime executive chef of the Prentice Hospitality Group before taking the opportunity to lead the relaunch of the Dry Dock as its general manager.

Dry Dock is located at 84 Commercial Street. It will be open 11 am – 10 pm daily and initially operate on a walk-in only basis.