Maine - Editor's Favorites

Food in New England Editor’s Favorites Maine

Maine Restaurants Offer Food Made With Passion and Love of Tradition

Travelers have a handful of needs to fill: scenery, entertainment, and … food. A few times every day, the question arises: Where can we find a good restaurant? With its large variety of farms, forests, and shoreline, New England offer travelers a wonderful array of unique local dishes. Food tourism covers more than just dining. Besides its signature lobsters and other family-friendly dining, Maine has locally made artisan products like potato vodka and organic sauerkraut; luxury inns with chef-led cooking classes; imaginative food retailers and food-related gifts; and more. Below are some ideas; keep checking back for frequent updates.

Lost But Not Forgotten

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The Great Lost Bear, a restaurant and beer bar, has become a Portland institution since 1979. The Bear is located about two miles from Old Port but well worth the journey across town. The Great Lost Bear features an enormous eclectic menu with something for everyone: spicy junk food, a large vegetarian selection, wicked gooey desserts. The Bear features 54 taps with 15 Maine microbreweries represented. Named one of the top ten beer bars in the United States. Phone: 207-772-0300.

Maine Flavors Are Authentic at Cape Arundel Inn

The Cape Arundel Inn in Kennebunkport offers five-star New England dining where every table gives visitors the feeling of being on a ship. Among the views from the tables are the play of breaking waves on the rocks and breathtaking ledge gardens. The dining room is a blend of charming wood floors and wainscoted ceilings with the elegance of crisp white linen tablecloths and cobalt blue goblets. Chef Rich Lemoine’s menus are grounded in traditional New England fare, but his preparations feel wholly contemporary. Working from scratch is a must in Lemoine’s kitchen. For instance, he creates the stock for his lobster stew every week by boiling lobster shells in a 25-gallon pot. That’s the real Maine taste. Phone: 207-967-2125.

Only in Maine

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A visit to the Bartlett Maine Estate Winery in Gouldsboro might have you wondering, “Where are all the grapes?” You won’t find any here—because there aren’t any. But you will find some delicious, on-site pressed wines made only from native Maine fruit. Blueberries, apples, pears, and peaches are the main-stay ingredients of these special wines, which have impressed wine aficionados from far and wide. Stop by the gorgeous hand-wrought stone tasting room from June through October and decide which flavor you like best before taking a bottle or two home—these wines are only available in the state of Maine! For more information call 207-546-2408.

Pass Under the Vine to Find
This Great Restaurant

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The original Dutchman’s pipe vine still graces the front door of Arborvine, a historic country home built in 1823. The Colonial-period detailing of this double-chimney Cape house has not changed. Dinners at this restaurant, on Main Street in the town of Blue Hill are fabulous: grown locally or harvested from the waters of the nearby coast, prepared with care and imagination. Dinner is served year-round. For lighter fare in the relaxed atmosphere of a piano bar, guests may choose The Vinery. Phone: 207-374-2119

Pumpkin Beer? Why Not?

There should be an award just for a beer’s name. Sea Dog Brewing Co. has won top places in the California Brewer’s Festival for is Sea Dog Bluepaw and Sea Dog Apricot beers. As of May 2009, the brewing company will open its third and newest eatery in South Portland, at 125 Western Avenue. This is in addition to Seadog's two existing waterfront locations, overlooking the Androscoggin River in Topsham or along the historic Penobscot River in Bangor. Beerhounds, mark your travel calendr for the fall, when the company serves Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale, described as a crisp wheat ale with subtle hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. Conventional beers alse are served along with daily lunch and dinner. Phone: 207-871-7000.

Road to Land’s End

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From the Brunswick area, ride down Route 24 to explore Cundy’s Harbor, Orrs Island, and Bailey Island. Be prepared for plenty of salt air and awesome scenery. Your objective is Land’s End on Bailey Island, where the road ends and the ocean appears. There is a small beach, a gift shop, and tremendous views. Cook’s Lobster House is a good place to eat. It has been voted the #1 seafood restaurant in the Midcoast since 1995. Open year-round. Phone: 207-833-2818

Shout "Whoopie" for Maine's Whoopie Pie

A whoopie pie, sometimes called a gob, black-and-white, or a bob, is a pastry that is wildly popular in New England, particularly Maine and Massachusetts. It is made of two small, chocolate, disk-shaped cakes with a sweet, creamy frosting sandwiched between them. That is the baseline information for the benefit of newcomers to Maine. Now, one superior place to find the treasured whoopie pie is at Isamax Snacks, bakers of Wicked Whoopie Pies. (In Maine, when something’s good, we call it “good.” When something’s great, we call it “wicked.”) Isamax Snacks’s Classic Whoopie Pies have been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show as a great gift. The bake shops are located at 5 Mechanic Street in Gardiner, 621 Maine Avenue in Farmingdale, and 32 Main Street in Freeport.

Student Interests Drive the Cooking Classes at Castine

Chef Tom Gutow of The Castine Inn in Castine presents a hands-on cooking experience like no other. During a three-to-four-hour class in the Castine Inn's kitchen, Gutow leads students through the intricacies of making great ingredients taste their best. Each class is custom designed to fit the student’s skill and interest level. Learn how to make the perfect omelette or the chef’s famous scones. For the more advanced cook, focus on sauce making, learning several traditional techniques as well as an innovative dish or two from The Inn's acclaimed tasting menus. The options are limited only by your imagination - Chef Tom can organize the classes around specific ingredients or styles of cooking. Phone: 207-326-4365

Try the New Bone Crusher Burger

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You don’t have to be a trucker to enjoy the delicious made-from-scratch meals and desserts at Dysart’s Restaurant in Hermon. Dysart’s specializes in homemade Maine food and the menu changes seasonally to feature some of our Maine treasures like apple and blueberry pie, Maine lobster and New England boiled dinner. Any day you can order Daisy's Baked Beans (thank you, Daisy!), macaroni & cheese, and country pot roast. Salads for the health-conscious, too. Phone: 207-942-4878

Fabulous Sandwiches, With a Side of Live Music

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With its fascinating late-19th-century architecture and cool working harbor, Portland is a perfect walking city, particularly in the crisp temperatures of fall. But when you need to rest the legs and sooth the stomach, a great place to land is the North Star Music Cafe at 225 Congress Street. With high ratings from local food critics, the North Star Café draws a large lunch crowd for its excellent sandwiches, fresh ingredients, unusual concoctions, numerous vegetarian and vegan offerings, and a friendly, informal and relaxed environment. It's the kind of neighborhood place you'd like to settle into one of the comfy couches and spend a Sunday morning, munching a bagel, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper. Live music is presented Sunday afternoons and every evening; you can check a calendar of performers at the café’s website. Phone: 207-699-2994.

Great Grapes

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The celebrated writer J.R.R. Tolkien once suggested that the phrase “cellar door” was one of the most phonetically beautiful in all of the English language. At the Cellar Door Winery in Lincolnville, the phrase lends itself to one of the most beautiful landscapes in all of mid-coast Maine. The Vineyard is home to over ten different varieties of grapes, all expertly harvested and transformed into Cellar Door’s delicious wines, available for tastings from May 1 through October 31, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily. The winery also offers cooking classes, food pairings, and a gift shop so you can be sure to take your favorite bottle home with you. For more information call 207-763-4478.

Hear Ye, Organic Diners

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For those who believe they are what they eat, and want to be at their best, the Brooklin Inn in Brooklin is a year-round organic restaurant offering local and organic ingredients classically prepared. Organic Maine-raised steak and chicken, fresh, free-swimming fish and shellfish are among the specialties of the house. This is also a cozy bed & Breakfast in the town that is home to WoodenBoat magazine, the Brooklin Boatyard, the Atlantic Boat and many boat builders, artists, musicians and writers. Phone: 207-359-2777

How About Those Papelbon Poppers?

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The Midcoast town of Hope, Hatchet Mountain Publick House on Hatchet Mountain Road is the place to water your thirst, enjoy casual and fine dining (with well-known fare in addition to curious menu items like Fish Tacos, Cajon Shrimp Kabob, and Papelbon Poppers), and even to buy and sell antiques. Perhaps most of all, the public house is a center of this revitalized community, along with the nearby, bustling Hope General Store. Stop in for a buffalo wing, a beer, and a bite of conversation. Everyone is talking about it. Phone: 207-763-4565.

A Better Way to Shop

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Where can you find organic greens, fresh veggies, local fruits, free-range eggs, chicken, beef, pork, lamb and goat meat, goat and sheep's milk, cheeses, breads and pastries, pickles, Maine berry jams, and Maine-made maple products all in one place? The Rockland Farmers’ Market promises all of this and more. Hand made crafts and fresh Thai food will be available, and market goers will be treated to a series of events throughout the season like spinning demonstrations, horse-drawn carriage rides, live music and educational discussions about global warming. It’s a great way to spend a morning. Location: Harbor Park, 275 Main Street. Time: Thursdays from 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.; May 21 through October 15, 2009. Information: 207-594-8644. Click here for a full listing of farmers’ markets in Maine.

Berries Are Just the Opening Act
at This Fine Coastal Inn

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We first heard of the Berry Manor Inn in Rockland in connection with its Lobster Pie, which was so good that it was featured during an annual Pies on Parade Inn to Inn Tour hosted by The Historic Inns of Rockland. But the Lobster Pie is just the beginning of the dining pleasures at this beautiful B&B in this exquisite region of Maine. The breakfast menu alternates between sweet and savory, including poached pears, raspberry-stuffed French toast, lemon poppy seed cake, new red potatoes with dill, and Maine blueberry sour cream coffee cake. The Inn also offers an inspired perquisite: a guest pantry where guests can store their dinner leftovers and get access anytime to snacking essentials. Talk about good ideas. Phone: 800-774-5692.

Biscuits That Melt in the Mouth
Are Just the Start of Robinhood's Pleasures

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Robinhood Free Meetinghouse , the restaurant with the quirky name in the town of Georgetown, just six miles from Bath, is imprinted with the style of its chef, Maine-born Michael Gagne. Open year-round, the restaurant has been honored by numerous publications, and called a “culinary classic” by The New York Times. The eclectic range of entrees may include Jamaican meat pies with mango chutney, proscuitto-wrapped salmon with fettuccine, braised plum tomatoes and balsamic syrup. The Meetinghouse is famous for is cream cheese biscuits, which are described as dense and rich enough to melt in your mouth.
Chef Gagne also offers Cook Without Fear Classes from mid-October through mid-May on days and nights the Meetinghouse is closed. Get together a group of at least eight friends and sign up. The students group and the chef work out a menu ahead of time, then make five courses, start to finish, while sampling various wines. It’s a hands-on class, and you get to eat the five-course meal. Phone, 207-371-2188.

Bread Is a Very Big Deal
at Stone Turtle Cooking School

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The formal name of the Stone Turtle Baking and Cooking School on Howitt Road in Biddeford is really a shortened form of the name the owners originally drafted: “Stone Turtle Baking, Cooking, Pizza-making, Community Oven, Team Building, Omigod I’m Having A Great Time, Wood-fired Oven Learning Center.” That gives you an idea of the zest these people bring to their classes, which take place in a single day, easily manageable during a vacation. Class topics cover all manner of artisanal, sourdough and other types of breads, pizza, soup and bread, pies and tarts, and more. Classes are wonderfully informative, and the homework is delicious. Phone: 207-324-7558.

Cakes Inspired by Tropical Taste

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You can enjoy a whiff of the Caribbean, odd as it might sound, in the northern city of Houlton at a favorite local shop, Toot Sweet Bakery, on North Street. Toot Sweet is the source of the divinely inspired Mainely Rum Cakes. A member of the staff explains,” We have had a passion for rum cakes for over 15 years. This means we have tasted a lot of rum cakes in our travels and as gift recipients. When we were playing around with the recipes for rum cakes, we decided to add a little fun and a different spin on our cakes. While of course we offer the original rum cake, we have "rummed" it up a bit with some specialty flavors that will be sure to knock your taste buds right into next century. We can honestly say that our rum cakes top all the rest.” Phone: 207-532-0754.

Chef Leads Visitors on a Cooking Adventure

Whether you're an experienced chef or someone who likes to tinker around in the kitchen, the Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School in York, Maine, offers a culinary adventure for you. The new school, located adjacent to the gourmet food company's flagship store, will feature everything from daily demonstrations and cooking basics classes for kids and adults to opportunities to meet and learn from noted restaurant chefs or to discover ways to prepare elegant, company-worthy meals. Phone: 207-363-1088.

Chocolate in Lights; Chocolate in Claws

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Wilbur’s of Maine has a retail store on Independence Drive in Freeport, and directly behind the store is the factory, where the dark art is wonderfully performed. Narrated factory tours with lots of opportunity for tasting are offered from 9 to 2 weekdays; call ahead to make a reservation. Fine chocolate in every imaginable form is created and shaped here. Watch, in particular, for the Chocolate Maine Hunting Boot and the Chocolate Lighthouse and Wilbur the Chocolate Moose. Phone: 207-865-4071

Chocolates, With a Giant Moose on the Side

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Of course, the first thing you hear about Len Libby’s Chocolates in Scarborough is the notorious Lenny the Moose, a life-size chocolate moose sculpted form 1700 pounds of milk chocolate who stands at the entrance to greet visitors. Lenny has fans and admirers from all over the world, but the story of this business only begins with the giant maitre d’. The store opened in 1926, making fine chocolate by hand and serving it in many forms, from candies to ice cream to giant lollipops, and more. Guests are invited to tour the property and watch the chocolate-making in progress. There is a huge selection of tempting chocolate treats in the retail store for traveling and for gifts for friends back home. Phone: 207- 883-4897.

Crafting a Friendly Meeting
of Wine and Food

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Pairings Food and Wine Education Center is an offshoot of the Winterport Winery and its mission is to educate people about the many ways to pair wine with food and to have an enjoyable time while learning about this match. Winery owners Michael and Joan Anderson opening Pairings in 2001 after noting how often visitors would ask about what wines to match with what foods. The facility is a beautiful, functional, open kitchen, where cooking classes are given. Each class, under the guidance of resident Chef Laurie Turner, includes recipes, sampling, and delicious wines. Class size is limited to ensure an intimate learning environment. Recent class topics have been Cooking With Beer, Heart Healthy, Winter Soups. Call Pairings and get started with your wine-and-dine education. Phone: 207.223.0990

Cranberry Culture of Maine Inspires This Kitchen

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Cranberry Island Kitchen in Cumberland, just north of Portland, was started by two friends and bakers who wanted to translate the food culture of the Cranberry Isles of Downeast Maine into a line of elegant baked goods. The retail store, on Corey Road, features specialty desserts like the Lucky Lobster shortbread and fancy whoopie pies in scallop and other Maine-induced shapes (the pumpkin whoopie pie draws devotees every year). The line of gourmet foods includes toppings and sauces of Maine blueberries, raspberries, and apples, and great Maine gifts are available among the kitchen accessories and gift baskets. Open weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and other times by appointment. Phone: 207-829-5200

Cuisines of the World in a Beautiful Setting

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For an evening of fine dining in a spectacular setting, a great opportunity awaits at the Greenville Inn Moosehead Lake . A historic 1895 Moosehead Lake lodge, the Greenville Inn, on Norris Street, is renowned for its wonderful food and unsurpassed vistas of the majestic Appalachian Mountains. The menu showcases different cuisines of the world, some of the old, a little of the new. Most evenings, guests are treated to a glorious sunset that can be sesen from every table in both of the inn’s dining rooms. Phone: 888-695-6000