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.
Grandpa’s Kitchen, new Belfast breakfast, lunch spot, dishes up comfort food
BELFAST—If you’re shopping at the United Farmers Market of Maine in Belfast and happen upon Mike Raven’s booth, “Grandpa’s Specialty Smoked Meats,” you don’t have too far to walk for table service, as he recently opened a tiny restaurant next door.
Last month, Raven opened Grandpa’s Kitchen, an offshoot of his smoked meats business, in the kitchen annex attached to United Farmers Market of Maine formerly used by Jamaican Vybz.
As the family cook, Raven grew up observing his… Read more
Belfast welcomes sushi restaurant Satori to historic Gothic building
BELFAST — When the Gothic Building in Belfast became available for use it left a void downtown. The storied building, owned by Todd French, was once the home of now world-famous eatery The Lost Kitchen, followed by several other establishments. Now, a new sushi restaurant has filled both the space and a niche in town. Satori opened on September 20.
Satori is the work of three talented restaurant professionals who were brought together by happenstance and a combination of each of… Read more
Bedell brings year-round dining option to heart of Tenants Harbor
TENANTS HARBOR — Many locals, and those versed in the Maine food scene, know Malcolm Bedell either from his writing, which includes co-authoring a book and regularly contributing to a variety of print and online publications, or his popular and cleverly-named Rockland-based food truck ‘Wich Please.
Now, Bedell is back with a new project: a modest eatery in his home town of Tenants Harbor called Ancho Honey, housed in a converted residence at the heart of the village. An attractive… Read more
Waterman’s Beach Brewery is Midcoast’s latest oceanfront brewery to open
SOUTH THOMASTON—It may be the end of the summer season for tourists to Maine, but Waterman’s Beach Brewing is just getting started.
General Manager Heath Curtis just opened the oceanfront brewery for Labor Day weekend to an enthusiastic crowd of locals, visitors and fans of Waterman’s Beach Lobster. But first, a little back story, so it all makes sense.
Three years ago, Waterman’s Beach Lobster, a family-owned lobster pound, announced it was closing for good after 30 years… Read more
Sadie Samuels’ new lobster shack opens in Belfast
BELFAST—She works hard for the money, that’s for sure. Captain Sadie Samuels catches lobster all week on her own boat, FV Must Be Nice.
The afternoon I’d stopped by her new lobster shack, located right on the Harbor Walk in Belfast, she’d already been up at 4 a.m. to go haul.
“The bait guys were late this morning, like 5 a.m., so I got a late start,” she admitted. Yet, by 10 a.m., when most of America is only an hour into their work day, Sadie got off the boat,… Read more
‘The Only Doughnut’ you’ll ever need now exists in Belfast
BELFAST—Was it a coincidence that the day I decided to check out The Only Doughnut, a new shop in Belfast, there was only one doughnut left?
Well, to be accurate, one kind of doughnut—a coconut glazed—was left. The entire racks of doughnuts had been sold, cleared out by 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Owner Sally Jaskold was kind of surprised herself. Jaskold, who co-runs the business with Matt Wheeler, began making doughnuts from a commercial kitchen in Belfast and sold them at the… Read more
Jeff Barrett incorporates old wood, metal into his carvings, sculptures
MONROE — Jeff Barrett, a Monroe-based artist, takes pride in not only his art, but also the source materials of his art.
The former Colorado resident spent the 1980s and 1990s working in a well-known art glass studio in Denver, Colorado, where lived for two decades during a time he described as a “wonderful and unique time in American craft.”
As an artist for most his life, Barrett noted he has always worked in media other than glass, despite the two decades spent working… Read more
Local artist brings wooden canvases to life with carefully sculpted faces
BELFAST — While the 24th annual Arts in the Park drew artists of all types from far and wide, one local artist whose work is featured in landscapes far and wide has been coming back every year for decades.
Ron Cowan, 76, is the man responsible for the intricately… Read more
Oliver’s Bistro opens with solid reputation in the Midcoast
Gary Oliver, the former co-owner of Mt. Battie Take Out at the base of the Camden Hills State Park, has a message for the shack’s loyal patrons who were disappointed to learn it was closing this season: “Don’t fret. We’re back and better than ever.”
The Beloin family, which owned the property the roadside restaurant was situation on, retired last October and sold their iconic lodging, Beloin’s to a young couple, as written about in a PenBay Pilot story, “… Read more
Amanda Amoroso combines passion for ceramics, environmental friendliness in company
ROCKPORT — For Rockport resident Amanda Amoroso, being environmentally friendly is a way of life and is at the center of her ceramics company, Honey Bee Hill.
Though she is now a skilled ceramics creator, she did not start her journey through the art world dedicated to ceramics.
When enrolling at Pennsylvania State University to pursue a bachelor’s of fine arts, Amoroso possessed an initial interest in industrial design.
“I have always enjoyed thinking about the… Read more