Welcome to Maine’s Food Scene - The Best Bites for the Ultimate Foodie

Nowhere does farm-to-table dining like Maine. You might think we’re biased but the proof is in the pudding. For centuries, Maine has been an important American breadbasket and it shows in our local cuisine offerings. 

We’ve been practicing the farm-to-table concept long before it became the thing to do. Many of our local restaurants source their produce and meat supplies from either their own farms and gardens or from farmers around the state, ensuring that only the freshest, in-season food make it to your plate.  

This week on the blog, we’re sharing three of our favorite farm-to-table restaurants within the Winterport environs. Add these local restaurants to your list for your next visit to Maine. We guarantee that any one of these restaurants would satisfy the palate of the most discerning foodie. 

The Fiddlehead Restaurant

A fine dining, farm-to-table dinner experience awaits you at The Fiddlehead Restaurant, which is serviced by its very own farm, Fiddlehead Farm. You can find Fiddlehead not far from your stay in Winterport and is located in Bango, Maine.

Fiddlehead Farm provides the restaurant with fresh in-season produce, complemented by meat and poultry from neighboring farms. Almost every other input is sustainably sourced and local within Maine and New England, including cheeses, honey, and of course, seafood.

Fiddlehead’s menu is fresh yet comforting, familiar yet elevated. Whether you choose specialty options like the crab toast and chicken fried duck or try the Fiddlehead twist on classics like mac & cheese or the double cheeseburger, Fiddlehead delivers on its promise - quality without pretense or price. And they are extremely accommodating to dietary restrictions. 

In keeping with its theme of sustainability, Fiddlehead offers a full bar with cocktails made fresh to order. Its extensive wine list favors lesser-known vintners and regions that employ sustainable, organic farming practices.  

The Fiddlehead Restaurant is open for in-house dining, Tuesday through Sunday from 5pm - 9pm. 

Fun Fact: Chef and co-owner Melissa Chaiken recently showed off her culinary skills on a socially-distanced episode of Chopped: Comfort Food Feud. 

Primo 

Located in Rockland, Maine, Primo's dining is in a restored, old Victorian house situated on the edge of a five-acre sustainable farm which supplies most of its produce. 

What the Primo farm doesn’t produce, proprietor, executive chef, and two-time James Beard Foundation Award winner, Melissa Kelly sources from neighboring farms. 

As a result, this farm-to-table restaurant’s menu changes from season to season, utilizing the produce supplied by the farm on a daily basis. Some current main course favorites include porcini-rubbed bistro steak, grilled moulard duck breast, and pistachio and parsley crusted first of the season local halibut.

The restaurant has an extensive international wine list that perfectly complements its yummy food.

Primo’s features both fine dining and a more casual dining experience and offers take out too. It is open for dining by reservation only from Thursday to Sunday, 5pm - 9pm. 

Blaze

If it’s mouthwatering, casual, comfort food you’re looking for, your taste buds will be delighted at Blaze Restaurant.

As with the other restaurants on this list, Blaze is committed to using fresh, sustainable, food sources and the restaurant’s menu features 100% all-natural grass-fed beef and organic chicken from its own farm. 

The restaurant’s extensive menu includes favorites like tacos, oak-fired burgers, sandwiches, and brick-oven pizzas. And what pairs best with these foods? In addition to brewing its own beer at the Blaze Brewery, the beer list is even more extensive than the menu, with almost 50 options from around the country. 

Owned by Maine restauranteur Matt Haskell, Blaze has four branches - one each in Bangor, Bar Harbor, Camden, and Bideford. Blaze is open Monday to Saturday from 11:30 am for lunch and dinner and on Sundays from 10 am for brunch.

Bon apetito!