Bite, Feed, Dine: Maine’s Dining Trends

62 places to eat your way through Maine’s hottest dining trends

By Caroline Praderio
Photographed by Douglas Meriam

From our October 2013 issue

A Chef’s Best Friends

Maine restaurants bring the farm and table even closer together

In Maine, using locally sourced food isn’t a trend — it’s a way of life. It’s what discerning diners have come to expect in a state with 1.25 million acres of farmland. But some restaurants have brought farm-to-table dining to a new extreme by starting their own farms.

One of Maine’s newest farm-to-table converts is chef Masa Miyake, Portland’s prized purveyor of Japanese food. In 2011, his restaurants Miyake and Pai Men Miyake began to source ingredients from Miyake Farm in Freeport. Today, Miyake Farm raises about 40 percent of the meat served at his restaurants. “There are many great vendors around Maine, but we started the farm so we can fine-tune the ingredients coming into our kitchens,” says Will Garfield, co-owner of the restaurants. “It provides a much more intimate connection with food,” adds farm manager Emily Phillips. “Our servers and our kitchen crew visit the farm, then they pass that connection on to our diners.”

Now Growing at Miyake Farm

37 pigs: Ossabaw Island Hogs: descendants of a Spanish breed and domesticated in the 1970s on an island in coastal Georgia.
Mangalitsas: a breed rescued from near-extinction by Hungarian farmers in the mid-nineteenth century. They’re a cross between a wild boar and a Spanish lard pig, making for richly marbled meat.
Guinea Hogs: an American breed over 200 years old known for friendly temperament and 
foraging skills.
200 Red Rangers: 
meat birds noted for 
grazing ability and longer growth period.
60 Dominique Hens: 
a dual-purpose breed for providing meat or laying eggs.
 

The Exaltation of the Libation

Craft cocktails are cropping up across the state. We’ll drink to that.

A craft cocktail, according to Andrew Volk, is simply defined: “a thoughtful approach to what’s in your glass.” As the proprietor of Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, the city’s newest upscale cocktail bar, Volk has brought this vision to life, mixing libations that feature many boutique, Maine-distilled spirits. Swankier still is the bar’s Lodge Membership — a 50-member cocktail club that includes a $1,750 bar tab, personalized drinks, and access to the club’s speakeasy (all for annual dues of $2,000).

Hey, Bartender!
Andrew Volk’s Tips for Ordering Craft Cocktails:

Trust your bartender: “A lot of people who make this their chosen profession are really excited, talented, and able to make a lot of drinks.”
Start with what you know: “Telling your bartender, ‘Hey, I usually drink this and I’d like to try something similar,’ always helps. If you drink vodka sodas, we can make something that’s close to a vodka soda but one step outside your comfort zone.”
Be open: “If you don’t like your drink, let your bartender know and get something else.”

The Rum Manhattan
“There’s a rum I really like made up in Gouldsboro by Bartlett Distilling. It’s called Rusticator Rum, and it’s kind of funky — it’s got some vanilla notes to it. To be able to use a Maine-made rum in a Manhattan, with a really good sweet vermouth and an orange twist — it’s pretty great.”

2 ounces Rusticator Rum
1 ounce Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice. Stir for thirty seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a thin strip of orange peel, expressing the oils over the drink.
 

Low and Slow

From brisket to baked beans, barbeque is Maine’s best new way to dine out. Elsmere BBQ and Wood Grill is South Portland’s newest meat mecca — a family-oriented barbeque joint that slow-cooks every cut in a 4,400-pound, Texas-built, all-wood-burning smoker named “Mama.” We talked with co-owner Adam Powers to learn more about Elsmere’s budding barbeque business here in Maine.

Why a barbeque restaurant, and why now?
I grew up in Thailand and ate the street food there, and to me, that’s always the best food in the world. Barbeque is the American equivalent of street food. I’m such a fan of folk cuisine, and this is American folk cuisine.

What can diners expect from Elsmere?
In the 1920s, this place was called Elsmere Garage. We wanted to go back to its roots and give it a garage feel. It has a relaxed vibe with an upscale look. We have something for everyone — from the infused drinks to roomy booths to an outdoor patio to a chef’s table where you can sit and watch us cook.

Does the menu have any Maine twists?
On our wood-burning grill we do our signature appetizer, which is barbequed oysters. They’re cooked just until they open and then served with a lemon garlic bourbon sauce or your choice of barbeque sauces. We have a black pepper, red Texas-style sauce, and more of a Carolina-style golden mustard sauce.

What’s your ideal barbeque meal?
Brisket, cornbread, collard greens, beans, and a cold beer. And a side of ribs.
 

On the Road

Great food goes mobile with these eight food trucks.

The cupcake bakers at Portland-based Love Cupcakes rotate their menu with unique seasonal flavors.
Bite Into Maine’s lobster roll comes three different ways: Maine style, Connecticut style, and picnic style.
Baja Fish Tacos from El Corazon Food Truck, topped with fresh cilantro, cabbage slaw, onion, and salsa.
Wicked Good Street Kitchen’s Chicken & Waffles with buttermilk-brined chicken and Maine maple syrup.
Sink your teeth into “Mainecentric” eats from Cape Elizabeth’s Bite Into Maine truck.
SmallAxe‘s signature pork belly sandwich is layered with homemade pickles and General Tso sauce.
A gyro from Pretty Awesome Street Food with beef, lamb, jicama, minty tomato relish, and queso fresco.
Portland’s Mainely Treats updates the ice cream sandwich with local scoops and freshly baked cookies.
SmallAxe does double duty for diners on the go, with hearty menus for both breakfast and lunch.
Stay classic or go wild with the ever-changing specials concocted by Portland’s Mainely Burgers.
Wicked Good Street Kitchen makes its mark with diverse offerings – from poutine to raw pad thai.

 

We Gather Together

Have a seat at the table — there’s plenty of room.

Fifty guests sit down for a late August meal at The Barn at Flanagan Farm in Buxton. Tonight’s dinner is prepared by Justin Loring of Nosh in Portland, the latest chef featured in Flanagan’s star-studded series. Since March 2013, diners have enjoyed monthly meals from the culinary minds at Portland’s Eventide Oyster Company, Camden’s Long Grain, and more.

I take my seat, too, and shake hands with my tablemates. To my left is the owner of a Portland car repair company. To my right, a student from New Jersey vacationing in Ogunquit. I stockpile talking points in my head: the weather, the wine, those beautiful flowers on the table.Before I have the chance to say much, the courses start appearing: beef tartare over hard-cooked egg whites coated in something referred to only as “crispy love.” Smoked tuna with spicy kimchi and a mercifully cool dollop of lobster mayonnaise. A poached egg on top of duckfat brioche, both hidden under thin, velvety slices of cured duck breast. A beet-arugula salad and a slab of pork belly later, dessert: cheese with grilled peaches, cornbread, and a generous handful of Maine blueberries.

Communal dining is like eating a holiday meal with extended family. I find myself bridging the awkward pauses in small talk by sipping wine. I wince when tablemates flirt with volatile conversation topics. But I am genuinely comfortable. We are eating good food. We are bathed in soft light, listening to a soundtrack of upbeat oldies and the gentle scrape of knives against plates. Flanagan’s Table is the type of place where you’re at ease singing along with Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” when it plays on the stereo — and many guests do.

After dessert, the chef emerges to a round of applause. Dinner organizer Alex Wight stands up and thanks us for coming. But just before the chatter and music creep back in, a man seated at the center of the table raises his hand.

“Alex!” he calls out. “Next dinner — when?”

 

A Frozen Frenzy

Whether you’re getting your scoops from boutique shops or roadside stands, one thing is clear: there’s a Maine ice cream renaissance underway. Here are six cream-of-the-crop flavors.

Gorgeous Gelato
Raspberry
Gorgeous Gelato’s owners are the real deal: a couple who moved from Milan to Maine in 2010 determined to sell the best gelato in New England. They still make every flavor at their Fore Street shop in Portland and recently rolled out a gelato cart in Freeport. Try a dish of raspberry: refreshing, sweet, and deep red.

Maple’s Organics Gelato

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry
All of Maple’s 100 percent organic scoops begin with Maine’s Own Organic milk and cream. Add native strawberries, chocolate from Taza in Somerville, Massachusetts, and you’ve got Chocolate-Covered Strawberry. But get it quick — it’s made only in five-gallon batches at a time.

Mount Desert Island Ice Cream

Blueberry Buttermilk Crumble
This sweet and rich treat starts with — what else? — Maine blueberries. MDI Ice Cream gets theirs from Allen’s in Ellsworth. After an overnight rest in a bed of sugar, the berries are de-skinned and de-seeded by hand, then mixed with homemade crumble and Kate’s buttermilk.

The Gelato Fiasco
Dark Chocolate Noir Sorbetto
This flavor started as a challenge: Could the Gelato Fiasco make a truly delicious chocolate sorbet? Scoops and scoops of cocoa powder later, you might say they’ve succeeded: Dark Chocolate Noir is one of the few varieties that’s made every day (sometimes twice) to meet customer demand.

Beal’s Famous Old Fashioned Ice Cream
Whoopie Pie
Beal’s bakes and assembles their own whoopie pies before folding them into rich French vanilla ice cream to make this popular summer flavor — one that customers ask for earlier and earlier each year.

Stone Fox Farm Creamery
Pumpkin Ginger
This seasonal flavor has deep Maine roots: milk from Monroe, cream from Dixmont, and Long Pie pumpkins from Morrill. Only the ginger root — imported from Hawaii — is from away.

 

Index

Where to find the restaurants from this article.
Farm-to-Table

Arrows
37 Ogunquit Rd., Cape Neddick
207-361-1100
arrowsrestaurant.com

Cafe Miranda
15 Oak St., Rockland
207-594-2034
cafemiranda.com

Earth at Hidden Pond
354 Goose Rocks Rd., Kennebunkport
207-967-6550
earthathiddenpond.com

Joshua’s
1637 Post Rd., Wells
207-646-3355
joshuas.biz

Miyake
468 Fore St., Portland
207-871-9170
miyakerestaurants.com

Miyake Diner (opening Fall 2013)
129 Spring St., Portland
miyakerestaurants.com

Pai Men Miyake
188 State St., Portland
207-541-9204
miyakerestaurants.com

Primo
2 South Main St., Rockland
207-596-0770
primorestaurant.com

Salt Water Farm
24 Central St., Rockport
207-236-0554
saltwaterfarm.com

Vignola & Cinque Terre
10 Dana St., Portland
207-772-1330
vignolamaine.com

The Well
21 Wells Rd., Cape Elizabeth
207-831-9350
jordansfarm.wix.com/thewell

Craft Cocktails

3Crow
449 Main St., Rockland
207-593-0812
facebook.com/3crowmaine

Bar Lola
100 Congress St., Portland
207-775-5652
barlola.net

The Corner Room Italian Kitchen & Bar
110 Exchange St., Portland
207-879-4747
thecornerroomkitchenandbar.com

El Camino
15 Cushing St., Brunswick
207-725-8228
elcaminomaine.com

Fog Bar & Cafe
328 Main St., Rockland
207-593-9371
facebook.com/fogbarcafe

The Front Room Restaurant and Bar
73 Congress St., Portland
207-773-3366
the frontroomrestaurant.com

Gingko Blue
455 Fore St., Portland
207-541-9190
gingkoblue.com

The Grill Room & Bar
84 Exchange St., Portland
207-774-2333
thegrillroomandbar.com

In’Finiti
250 Commercial St., Portland
207-221-8889
infinitimaine.com

LFK
188A State St., Portland
207-899-3277

Natalie’s at Camden Harbour Inn
83 Bayview St., Camden
207-236-7008
nataliesrestaurant.com

Portland Hunt & Alpine Club
75 Market St., Portland
huntandalpineclub.com

Shepherd’s Pie
18 Central St., Rockport
207-236-8500
shepherdspierockport.com

Barbeqcue

4 Points BBQ
145 S. Main St., Winterport
207-223-9929
4pointsbbq.com

Beale Street Barbeque
215 Water St., Bath
207-442-9514
mainebbq.com

Buck’s Naked BBQ
50 Wharf St., Portland
207-899-0610
568 Rte. 1, Freeport
207-865-0600
4 Turning Leaf Dr., Windham
207-893-0600

bucksnaked-bbq.com

Elsmere BBQ and Wood Grill
448 Cottage Rd., South Portland
207-619-1948
elsmerebbq.com

Mainely Meat BBQ
Atlantic Brewing Company

15 Knox Rd., Bar Harbor
207-288-9200
atlanticbrewing.com/mainely-meat-bbq

Moe’s Original Barbeque
650 Broadway, Bangor
207-992-9000
moesoriginalbbq.com

Pig Out BBQ
31-B Front St., Belfast
207-338-6009
facebook.com/pigoutbelfast

Smokin’ Good BBQ
212 Mayville Rd., Bethel
207-824-4744
smokinggoodbarbecue.com

Spring Creek Bar-B-Q
26 Greenville Rd., Monson
207-997-7025
springcreekbar-b-qmaine.com

Food Trucks

Bite Into Maine
Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth
biteintomaine.com
Twitter: @BiteIntoMaine
207-420-0294

El Corazon
Portland locations
elcorazonfoodtruck.com
Twitter: @corazontweet
207-200-4801

Love Cupcakes
Falmouth and Portland locations
lovecupcakesinme.com
Twitter: @LoveCupcakesME
207-749-1671

Mainely Burgers and Mainely Burgers 2.0
Scarborough Beach, Portland locations
mainelyburgers.me
Twitter: @MainelyBurgers
207-650-6217
207-272-2921

Mainely Treats
108 St. John St., Portland
facebook.com/mainelytreats
Twitter: @MainelyTreats

Pretty Awesome Street Food
Portland
facebook.com/prettyawesomeLLC
Twitter: @prettyawesome7

Portside Picnic
Back Cove parking lot, Portland
portsidepicnic.com
Twitter: @PortsidePicnic
207-423-0148

SmallAxe
Breakfast: 122 Anderson St., Portland
Lunch: 385 Congress St., Portland
smallaxetruck.com
Twitter: @smallaxetruck
207-400-9971

The Squeeze
Local fairs and festivals, Bangor Waterfront Pavilion
facebook.com/thesqueezeme
Twitter: @thesqueezeme
207-233-8443

Wicked Good Truck
Portland locations
wickedgoodstreetkitchen.com
Twitter: @wickedgodtruck
207-200-8150

Communal Dining

Cultivating Community’s Twilight Dinners
Turkey Hill Farm
120 Old Ocean House Rd., Cape Elizabeth
207-761-4769
cultivatingcommunity.org

Flanagan’s Table
668 Narragansett Trail, Buxton
207-232-3044
$100
flanaganstable.com

Full Moon Dinners at the Peak Lodge
Sunday River Ski Resort
15 South Ridge Rd., Newry
207-824-3500
Adults, $39; children, $14
sundayriver.com

Graze at Pineland Farms
15 Farm View Dr., New Gloucester
207-761-6665
$75
theblacktieco.com

Salt Water Farm
24 Central St., Rockport
207-236-0554
$65
saltwaterfarm.com

Wolfe’s Neck Farm
184 Burnett Rd., Freeport
207-865-4469
$14–$28
wolfesneckfarm.org

Ice Cream

Beal’s Famous Old Fashioned Ice Cream
Rtes. 25 and 237, Gorham
207-839-3032
29 Gorham Rd., Scarborough
207-883-6652
12 Moulton St., Portland
207-828-1335
18 Veranda St., Portland
207-828-1253
344 Cottage Rd., South Portland
207-799-4410
bealsicecream.com

Brown’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream
232 Nubble Rd., York
207-363-1277
Gelato Fiasco
74 Maine St., Brunswick
207-607-4262
425 Fore St., Portland
207-699-4314
Also available in stores.
gelatofiasco.com

Gifford’s Ice Cream
307 Madison Ave., Skowhegan
207-474-2257
293 Main St., Farmington
207-778-3617
1109 Broadway, Bangor
207-947-7848
170 Silver St., Waterville
207-872-6631
910 Minot Ave., Auburn
207-784-1260
Also available in stores and at ice 
cream stands.
giffordsicecream.com

Gorgeous Gelato
434 Fore St., Portland
207-699-4309
45 Main St., Freeport
Also available in stores.
gorgeousgelato.com

John’s Ice Cream Factory
510 Belfast Augusta Rd., Liberty
207-589-3700

Maple’s Organic Gelato
881 Rte. 1, Yarmouth
207-846-1000
Also available in stores.
maplesorganics.com

Mount Desert Island Ice Cream
7 Firefly Ln., Bangor
207-801-4007
325 Main St., Bar Harbor
207-801-4006
51 Exchange St., Portland
207-210-3432
mdiic.com

Round Top Ice Cream
526 Main St., Damariscotta
207-563-5307
Also available at ice cream stands.

Shain’s of Maine
1491 Main St., Sanford
207-324-1449
Also available in stores and at ice 
cream stands.
shainsofmaine.com

Smiling Hill Farm
781 County Rd., Westbrook
800-743-7463
smilinghill.com

Stone Fox Farm Creamery
Available in stores, and the 
Mobile Cone Ice Cream Truck.
207-323-2850
stonefoxfarmcreamery.com

Tubby’s Own Ice Cream
512 Main St., Wayne
207-685-8181
41 Main St., Winthrop
207-377-3340
tubbysicecream.com