Dig into some of the best the Pine Tree State has to offer.
Gastro Obscura’s Guide to Eating Through Maine

Congdon’s After Dark is very likely the only dedicated food truck park in New England. During the warmer seasons, they host up to 10 mobile eateries offering diverse cuisines—everything from Thai food to gyros, empanadas to gelato, and of course, lobster rolls—as well as regular live music, weekly fundraisers, kids entertainment, and car rallies.

The park is run by the family behind Congdon’s Doughnuts, and their sweet treats are often available—even in liquid form: After Dark has teamed up with two Maine breweries to create custom brews infused with their locally famous doughnuts, like Honey Dip Blonde from Mast Landing and Fritter Stouts from Barreled Souls. 

During the 19th century, Maine was considered the breadbasket of New England, with tiny Somerset County producing enough wheat to feed over 100,000 people. However, with much of Maine’s grain farming eventually relocating to the Midwest, the region’s prodigious wheat production largely ceased by the 19th century.

In the early 2000s, inspired by central Maine’s rich agricultural history, speech pathologist Amber Lambke began hosting a gathering of grain lovers called The Kneading Conference. Backed by a community of bakers and farmers interested in revitalizing local grain, Lambke realized the need for a mill. She bought the historic Skowhegan county jailhouse in 2009 and Maine Grains was born. It has since been home to a creamery, yarn shop, community radio station and, of course, a state of the art flour mill.

Maine Grains uses Austrian stone mills to transform oats, rye, wheat, corn, and buckwheat from over 45 farms throughout Maine and the Northeast into organic flours, though they also sell dried beans and whole grains for home-milling. And as part of the building complex, the Miller’s Table Café & Bakery showcases wood-fired pizza, sandwiches, and pastries all made from flour milled right upstairs.

As the saying goes, “anyone who loves the law or sausages should never watch either being made.” While we can’t speak for the law, there’s one farm in Bristol, Maine where understanding your food’s provenance is the mission.

The pigs at Broad Arrow Farm—largely heritage breeds like Large Black, Gloucestershire Old Spots, and Berkshire—are born on the property and spend their lives foraging on autumn acorns and beechnuts in the forests and pastures of the Pemaquid Peninsula.

Owner Dan Sullivan started the farm in 2014 as a way to provide an alternative to industrial food systems that connected the surrounding community to its sources of food.  The farm is also home to a specialty food market which features their meats, local beer and cider, and artisanal pantry items from other producers around the state.

After a series of successful farm dinners, they opened a charcuterie bar which they aptly named The Rooting Pig. Small plates starring locally produced ingredients are on offer, but the charcuterie board—replete with local cheeses and a rotating selection of Broad Arrow dry-cured meats—is the real showstopper.

Located in the thick of Portland’s West End, Zu Bakery is veteran baker Barak Olins’ homage to the French bakeries of the 1930s—the city’s first micro-boulangerie. With its cozy quarters and open floor plan, the entire baking process is on display for visitors, so you can watch Olins and his fellow bakers churn out crusty baguettes, hearty Danish ryes, and light and airy croissants, much of which are made with whole-grain flour milled in-house.

Small scale production at its best, bread baking is done throughout the day to preserve freshness, so don’t be surprised if you arrive early and your favorite loaf isn’t quite ready. But what’s better than having it handed to you fresh out of the oven?    

Because Maine’s climate and soil don’t offer hospitable conditions for most grape varieties, the Pine Tree State isn’t exactly known for its wine. But what the state does have is fruit, and plenty of it—which is exactly what Keith and Constance Bodine of Sweetgrass Winery & Distillery use to create some distinctly Maine wine, spirits, and ciders.

Armed with a master’s in Food Science and Enology (winemaking), Keith first brought his knowledge of fermenting and distilling to Maine in 2005, where his wife Constance was raised. To date, Sweetgrass Winery has produced a maple syrup brandy, a rhubarb liqueur, a Sangria made with apples, cranberries, and peaches, a cherry-apple hard cider, a blueberry tawny port, and much more. A handful of praise, including Best Wine in Maine at the 2010 Eastern States Exposition Wine Competition as well as nods from Wine Enthusiast and Forbes prove that it wasn’t just for novelty, either—Sweetgrasses offerings are as inventive as they are top-shelf.

Sweetgrass has a tasting room in Portland’s Old Port, but their homebase in rural Union is where you can take tours, hike trails around their farm, and enjoy a picnic after sampling some sips.

After serving in the military, Matthew Secich became a chef working in high-end restaurants in Chicago and Washington, D.C. before opting for a simpler life. He moved to Maine, converted to the Amish faith, and has been running a deli with his family since 2015. 

You’ll find Charcuterie at the end of a rural road surrounded by woods and farmland. Inside the log cabin shop, long ropes of kielbasa, andouille sausage, and smoked cheeses hang above the counter, patiently curing. Chalkboards spell out the menu, including rosemary molasses bacon, fresh bratwurst, and Tuscan salami. Everything here is grown on the family farm which—in keeping with their faith—runs without electricity. A wood stove keeps it cozy, oil lamps are lit once the sun goes down, and the meat is kept cool on ice that’s hand-cut each winter after being harvested from a local lake.  

Down a back road on the far reaches of Deer Isle—one of Maine’s many bridged island communities—you’ll find more than just homemade jams and jellies. You’ll also find Nellieville. 

Since the mid-1980s, artist and jelly-maker Peter Beerits has been adorning the woods surrounding his jelly business with obscure sculptures. Spending summers on Deer Isle growing up, Beerits became fascinated by refuse material on the island and saw their potential as art supplies. His junk collection found new life in Nellieville: a living museum made of an eclectic hodgepodge of wood, metal, and glass.

In addition to characters and scenes dreamed up by Beerits, there’s also a Wild West town—complete with a jail, a lawyer’s office, and a saloon—showcasing real-life events from the Gold Rush-era as well as a recreation of a legendary Deer Isle general store fronted by the store’s actual facade and the best of Beerits memory. On select (though unpredictable) Friday afternoons during the warmer seasons, you can join him for an inside tour of the ever-evolving village.  

Of course, be sure to pick up one of Nellie’s delicious spreads for your toast, which include orange marmalades, mango chutneys, and cherry peach conserves, many of which are made with local ingredients.

While a handful of restaurants operating out of diner cars have popped up throughout Maine—A1 Diner in Gardiner and Miss Portland Diner in Portland come to mind— the Palace Diner in Biddeford is the oldest, and certainly the most praised. Built by the Pollard Company in 1927, it fed workers at the textile mills along the Saco River for decades. And while it’s changed hands six times since then, it has retained the original mint-green floor tiles, steel backsplashes, and worn countertop.

Today’s owners, Greg Mitchell and Chad Conley—who cut their teeth in high-end kitchens and highly regarded farms—bring their cooking chops to a humble menu, breathing new life into diner favorites like tuna melts and corned beef hash to undeniable success (if a 2008 James Beard Award nomination is any indication).

As is the case with most dining cars, there are only fifteen seats so expect a wait unless you arrive right after they open. Palace is cash only, but there is an ATM on-site.

To some, seaweed is merely a nuisance to avoid while swimming. Historically, however, it has been hugely important to food systems across the Pine Tree State: chock-full of trace minerals, gardeners use seaweed to enrich their soil, and subsistence farmers supplement their food supply with saltwater greens. More recently, wild-harvested and farmed seaweed has become a booming business, with everyone from lobstermen to chefs getting on board.  

Taking things a step further, Heritage Seaweed’s founder Josh Rogers began testing tea blends that incorporated dulse, kelp, and bladderwrack, noticing that the flavors of green and black tea were enhanced by the umami of sea vegetables. Cup of Sea now retails at over 50 grocery stores, specialty shops and cafés in New England and New York City. In 2018, he opened a retail shop in downtown Portland where, in addition to dried seaweeds and teas, there are shelves full of seaweed food items like jerky, salsa, pickles, puree, seasonings, salad, kimchi and kraut. They also stock seaweed-based bath and body items as well as cookbooks, art, and field guides. Seaweed Heritage also holds regular tastings and events to educate the public about seaweed and ocean sustainability.