Midcoast Entrepreneurs: Bright Ideas, Creativity and Enterprise
From restaurateurs to artists, and everything in between, the Midcoast is beaming with creatives and innovators in all mediums.
Since the inception of PenBayPilot.com, a collective goal of our writers has been to spotlight entrepreneurs and their creativity. Now, we have established a hub for our stories about the Midcoast’s entrepreneurs to permanently reside.
We encourage our readers to support as many local business owners as possible across as many industries as you can. Our neighbors need our support, so please browse through this hub for potential purchases or places to eat.
Rockland’s new barbershop ready to provide ‘best haircut’ of your life
ROCKLAND — The soon to be launched Dark Harbor Barber Company bears a name designed to intrigue the Midcoast community, according to its owner Sam Weldon.
The name behind the new barbershop, slated to open Nov. 16 on Union Street in Rockland, also holds sentimental value to Weldon (one of his favorite novels is Stuart Woods’ Dark Harbor) and is a nod to beautiful Islesboro village bearing the name.
Weldon is returning to the Midcoast with the launch of his… Read more
Meet the North Haven feminist punk guitarist who makes organic skincare
NORTH HAVEN—Whoever said punk is dead hasn’t been to North Haven in awhile. Not exactly considered the gritty underground mecca for the post-punk scene, this lobstering community with only 400 year-round residents, holds its own when it comes to three riot grrrls who live and play music there.
Fiona Robins is the owner of Island Apothecary and her job entails gardening and making organic skincare products on North Haven, which have… Read more
The Grey Owl Bar & Grill in Rockland is set to fly mid-November
ROCKLAND — Lexi Zable, owner of Port Clyde’s The Dip Net and The Barn in Port Clyde, has secured a new Rockland location for a third establishment, taking over The Eclipse and The Speakeasy on the corner of Park Street.
The Grey Owl Bar & Brill comprises both spaces and is currently in the midst of renovations, not only to improve the eatery’s aesthetic, but also to provide more partitioned space between diners per the COVID-19 mandates.
With The Dip Net and The Barn… Read more
Basketball coach and artist Jon Moro on unleashing creativity
ROCKPORT — Carving wooden life size sculptures of sports figures has been a passion for Rockport artist Jon Moro, who recently departed from sports figures to crafting a life size sculpture of two Biblical figures. They were unveiled Oct. 17 at Barnswallow Books, in Rockport Village.
“I’m fascinated by the challenge of creating a sense of movement, and emotion from a still, inanimate object,” Moro said, on his website. “A… Read more
Establishing a sense of normalcy during a pandemic with Thomaston’s Pixie Planner
THOMASTON — With an affinity for using planners to boost her towards achieving her goals, and a fervor for fueling personal growth and productivity, Thomaston resident Dominique Woodward decided two years ago to create a YouTube channel as a way to share her passions.
Her channel, The Pixie Planner, boasts more than 6,300 subscribers and has accumulated more than 465,000 combined views for all uploaded… Read more
Ports of Italy restaurant opens in Rockport
ROCKPORT—Italian born-and-raised restaurateur Sante Calandri was not about to let a pandemic stop him from opening his new restaurant, Ports of Italy, in Rockport last week.
With a sister property in Boothbay Harbor, he’d always had his eye on the Midcoast and when the Helm restaurant came up for sale, he jumped on the opportunity. For the last year, he set to work on redesigning the place, adding two decks that overlook the forest-covered river in back. Set originally to open this… Read more
Deirdre’s Roadside Takeout Serves Elevated ‘Food for Travelers’
CAMDEN—Patrons looking for your garden variety dogs and burgers will be pleasantly surprised to see what’s on the menu at the newly opened roadside takeout shack just outside Camden Hills State Park. Deirdre’s Roadside, co-owned by Chef Ean Flanagan, former owner of Ebantide and Kenny Corson formerly of the catering/banquet department of Point Lookout, are putting out an elevated comfort food menu with the emphasis on high quality, eclectic tastes.
After only being open two weeks,… Read more
Did someone say crepes?
ROCKLAND—Something sweet has come out of the Summer of 2020 and it has rolled out in a pink-and-white food truck with a logo of the Eiffel Tower.
Eric Boyce has always had the dream of opening a breakfast spot; it just has taken awhile.
“I’ve been in aviation for 58 years, both as a helicopter and airplane pilot and as an aircraft maintenance engineer, and lived in Alaska for 21 years, but with COVID-19 happening, and losing my job in April, this seemed like the right time… Read more
Two new eateries bring exotic flavors to Belfast, Thomaston
MIDCOAST—A barbeque restaurant and a food truck serving Middle Eastern street food have opened on the coast in recent weeks. Here’s the skinny on both.
RasDal Falafel — Belfast
Canaan Jordan recently opened his new food truck, RasDal Falafel on Front Street by the footbridge earlier this month. Specializing in Middle Eastern street food, which is mostly vegetarian and vegan, Jordan said, “I’ve been cooking for almost 20… Read more
Mé Lon Togo, known for West African cuisine, opens in Camden
Like most restaurateurs, Jordan Benissan expected he’d be running his popular restaurant Mé Lon Togo in Waterville this spring, but the pandemic had other plans for him. Not able to keep the restaurant open, and falling behind in rent, his landlord evicted him. These setbacks led to his announcement to close his restaurant in March.
An acquaintance, a food blogger, who followed Benissan on Instagram, reached… Read more