Gill’s to Open Thursday

| Posted in Openings

Gill’s (website, instagram) is scheduled to open on Thursday. The bar is being launched by Michael and Siobhán Sindoni, the owners of Wayside Tavern, along with chef Rian Wyllie. It’s located in the former Bao Bao space at 133 Spring Street.

The drink menu (see below) includes a set of house takes on classic cocktails like the Gibson shown above along with wines by the glass, and draft and packaged beer. Wyllie’s kitchen menu includes apps, salads and sandwiches and will be expanding to include a pair of desserts and a lamb neck shawarma. Shown here are the Moxie pork ribs and a not to be missed patty melt.

Gill’s seats ~40 people overall with an 8-seat bar along the right-hand wall and a mix of booth and high top tables filling in the remainder of the dining room. Molly Miller from Meter Haus consulted on the design. Miller was also the designer of Wayside Tavern.

The business is named after Gill’s Handy Store which was located at 133 Spring Street in the mid 20th century. The present day Gill’s will be open Thursday through Monday opening at 4 – 10 pm, and until 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Kitchen Window Bakery

| Posted in Under Construction

Hannah Murch has launched a wholesale bakery called The Kitchen Window (instagram). Murch is the the kitchen manager at Hot Suppa and is using the HS kitchen in their off hours to produce a line of cookies, muffins, croissants, tarts, scones and other baked goods.

Starting this morning, Hot Suppa is also be the first place you can buy Murch’s baked goods. This morning’s line-up includes cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies, and mocha scones. Murch has also produced gluten-free versions of the cookies and scones.

The Kitchen Window baked goods will be on sale at Hot Suppa Fridays through Sundays moving forward. Customers can peruse the day’s selection in a pastry case in the Hot Suppa waiting area to get to go, or to enjoy while waiting for a table.

Douro to Open October 9th

| Posted in Openings

Douro (website, instagram) will be opening for business on October 9th. The 100-seat Portuguese inspired seafood restaurant and bar is located at 110 Thames Street near Twelve. Douro is being launched by the Prentice Hospitality Group.

The kitchen, led by Colin Wyatt and chef de cuisine Jim Stein, will be serving a seafood focused menu that taps into Portuguese cooking traditions with a raw bar, tinned fish, snack, small plates and entrees like Cataplana, a Portuguese seafood stew. Other examples from the menu include mussel toast, peri-peri chicken, and mushrooms with farro. Prentice’s executive pastry Georgia Macon is planning a dessert menu with options like pastel de nata and an almond torte.

Wyatt shared in a press release,

“We have been talking about a restaurant like this for a while – taking the world class seafood we have here in Maine and bringing it through a Portuguese lens,” says Executive Chef Colin Wyatt. “The simplicity and soul of Portuguese cooking lends itself to the way in which I personally prepare food for my family and friends, and I’m excited to share that with the community. Chef Jim [Stein] and I have been working on developing a menu that really feels like the best of what you can get in Maine – seafood, produce, meat – and preparing it in ways that feel simple and not overworked. Letting the product and produce speak for itself.”

The wine program built by Carrie Nolan will have an 32-bottle wine list that features traditional and natural wines from Spain and Portugal. Customers will be able to enjoy wines by the half or full glass, large pour (7 ounces), carafe (375 ml), or bottle. The cocktail menu, created by bartender Matt Im, also takes its cues from Portugal’s food and flavors with most of the drinks available in both traditional and nonalcoholic versions. Douro will also have a selection of madeira, port, sherry, beer, and cider.

The 3,300 sq ft restaurant has been designed and built out by Woodhull. It features a 10-seat bar plus a mix of counter and table seating. Douro’s dining room can accommodate up to 50 people and be reserved for private events. Outdoor seating along Thames Street is in the plan for 2026.

The name of the restaurant is a reference to the Douro River which runs through Portugal and Spain. Douro will initially be open Monday through Thursday, 3:30 – 8:30 pm, and Friday through Sunday, 11:30 am – 8:30 pm with a brunch menu 11:30 am – 3:30 pm. Reservations are available online.

The Prentice Hospitality Group also operates Twelve, Evo Kitchen + Bar, The Chebeague Island Inn, The Good Table in Cape Elizabeth, and Not a Bakery.

Sweetgrass Winery Fire

| Posted in General News, Maine

The Penobscot Bay Pilot reports that a fire destroyed the Sweetgrass Winery & Distillery building in Union early this morning.

As first to arrive on scene, Union Fire Chief Jesse Thompson encountered a fully-involved structure fire and most of the building was already on the ground, he said. To him, this was an indication that the fire had been burning for a while prior to the 911 calls at approximately 2:05 a.m. Though the structure was referred to as a barn, a winery was in operation inside.

Sweetgrass (website, facebook, instagram) was founded in 2005. Owners Keith and Constance Bodine have also operated a tasting room in Boothby Square in the Old Port since 2014. Sweetgrass produces a wide range of products and are especially well know for their Back River Gin.

Upcoming Food and Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Tuesday – Graziano Nicosia will be at Old Port Wine Merchants for a tasting of wines from his family’s Sicilian vineyard Tenute Nicosia, 4 – 6 pm.

Friday-Sunday – The Common Ground Country Fair is taking place in Unity.

Sunday – Cherie will be holding a pop-up at Lambs in South Portland.

September 21-28 – Maine Lobster Week is taking place.

September 23 – Luncheonette is holding a (sold out) Korean dinner.

September 25 – Twelve is hold a Billecart-Salmon Champagne 4-course wine dinner. 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.

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

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.

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.

Maine Food & Dining: Hampden, Bass Harbor, Rockland, Nobleboro, Bethel, Deer Isle, Old Town, Castine, Brunswick, Kittery, East Boothbay

| 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:

  • Marsh Island Kitchen (website, facebook, instagram) has launched in Hampden. The menu includes soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches, wings, poutine and entrees like fish and chips and ribeye steaks. Joe Robbins joined the team earlier this year as the executive chef for Marsh Island Kitchen. Robbins was a 2024 Beard Awards semifinalist in the Emerging Chef category, and has cooked at the White House Tribal Nations Summit in 2023 and 2024. This is the second Marsh Island Brewing location, they were founded in 2016 in Orono.
  • A breakfast food truck called Actual Foods (instagram)  launch yesterday in Bass Harbor on Mount Desert Island. Owner Steffy Amondi is serving a build-your-own menu from which customers choose the bread, protein, vegetables and sauce for a breakfast scramble. The menu also includes the egg dish shakshuka. Actual Foods is located next to the ferry terminal in Bass Harbor at 53 Granville Road, and is open Thursday through Sunday, 7 am – 1 pm. Amondi had operated a earlier iteration Actual Foods truck in in Portland in 2020.
  • A wine and cocktail bar called Lemon Bar (instagram) is under construction in Rockland. As reported by the Midcoast Villager, “[Co-owner] Carly Summers said Lemon Bar will be an intimate bar/lounge with an extensive focus on wines and cocktails. ‘The real focus will be a multi-faceted space where you can come for a date night, or a book club can meet,’ she said.” Lemon Bar will be located in the former Brass Compass Cafe at 305 Main Street. The space is under renovation and owners Carly and Wesley Summers hope to open for business this fall.
  • The Lincoln County News reports that a bakery called Savory Moose has (re)opened in Nobleboro. “Close to a year after they shuttered Ginger Mousse Bakery, Karen and John Kelly have reopened the business with a new name and some familiar favorites.”
  • Down East magazine has published an article about Watershed in Bethel. “Up the front steps and inside, the atmosphere is relaxed, the layout is snug, the pastas are house-made, and the chocolate pot de crème is served in vintage Italian espresso cups, quite a few of which have been in chef-owner Victoria Fimiani’s family for generations. What the place is, in essence, is a proper trattoria.”
  • The New York Times has included Sammy’s Deluxe in Rockland and Pilgrim’s Inn on Deer Isle in their 2025 Restaurant List of the “50 best places in America right now.”
  • The Bangor Daily News has word on Yahweh Cafe and Bakery which is set to open this Saturday in Old Town, and a report on the closure of Safe Harbor Cafe in Castine.
  • The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a 3½ star review of the Ram & Bull in Brunswick. “The menu includes classic pub fare like fish and chips, mussels, a variety of sandwiches and burgers — including a cheese-stuffed Juicy Lucy, in a nod to Khristine [Leeman]’s native Minnesota.”
  • New England Fishmongers has announced plans to close their shop in Kittery which opened in 2021. “We’ve made the tough choice to not renew our lease so that we can return to our roots, commercial fishing. This shift will give us more time on the water and allow us to bring you even more seafood directly from our vessel.”
  • Eating Through the Seacoast has provided a look at Color Field Coffee Company (instagram), a honor system self serve coffee shop in East Boothbay. Colorfield is a micro-roastery run by a “family of artists”.

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.

More NYT Love

| Posted in Reviews

The New York Times shared some Portland dining guidance as part of the launch of their 2025 Restaurant List. As part of that effort they published this guide to eating in Denver, San Diego, San Antonio, Minneapolis/St Paul, and Portland.

The Portland section highlights: Bite INto Maine, Bread & Friends, Franciska, LB Kitchen, Luke’s, Minato, Mr. Tuna, Ocotillo, Sur Lie, Tandem, The Shop, and Zu Bakery.