April 15, 2020 • 21 mins
Before the pandemic changed literally everything about our day-to-day life, we recorded a series of episodes focusing on the food and drink scenes in a number of cities that we really love. This week, we're talking about Portland, Maine and all of the deliciousness we hope to return to when life returns to normal. Thank you for listening, take care, and wash your hands.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This is park Landia,
a production of I Heart Radio. We sold our lofts
in Chicago, moved into an RV. Now we're talking in
the country full time, exploring America's national parks with our
dog Finn, and we're excited to bring you another bonus
episode of traveling Eats with Matt. A special place in
(00:24):
my heart for this because again, I get to live
vicuriously through you most of the time, but in these situations,
now we get to travel together and do it together
and eat all these amazing things together. Yes, and excited
is an understatement, because this week is very nostalgic. It's
about Maine, a state that I grew up visiting frequently.
(00:46):
I grew up in New Hampshire, so Maine was right
in our backyard. I would go to the beaches there
all the time. I would road trip through it in
the summers. And these are some of the most I
mean some of the most iconic American flavor and dishes
you'll find here. And they're wonderful things like blueberries and
lobster and whoopy pies and shellfish of all sorts and
(01:08):
and so much more, and and for me, I was
just coming in as a newbie. I've never been to Maine. Um,
I get to explore it through their food in their
national parks, and I'm just loving it because I get
to again reap the rewards. So we have two different
perspectives here and fresh fresh first main experience fresh lobster, yes,
(01:32):
and we really took full advantage. So I want to
back up and first talk about my my nostalgia with me.
And so I grew up like New Hampshire's coastline is
really minimal and not all that great, but Maine is
right there, so we would always just drive over. It
took like an hour to get to Maine, and we
go to beaches like Old Orchard Beach, York Beach, and
(01:52):
Wells Beach and a whole lineup of others. And I
just remember not only swimming and going on like the
boardwalks and stuff like that, but just the foods that
came with it, like feasting on lobster, whether it's lobster
rolls or just like whole lobsters that you you know,
rip apart and it's like yeah, right, And then things
(02:12):
like blueberry pancakes and blueberry pie of course, with all
the whip cream and whoopee pies, which I grew up
like spoiled by my proximity to whoopee pies, assuming that
they're just abundant everywhere and they're not really about the
tricky thing about it about growing up, You're like, I
just think that this is everywhere. Yeah, I mean to
(02:33):
be able to get it anywhere, and it's just not it. Yeah,
it's so hard. Sucks. That's a hard part about traveling.
You don't get any normalcy, but you get all these
new experiences, right, It's a wind lose win win win
win win win situation. Well, it does make me appreciate
them more. I guess, like I fully took whoopy pies
for granted growing up, and now when I am in Maine,
I am super excited and it's like I'm experiencing them
(02:57):
for the first time all over again, which is a
great thing. So we would also as a kid, and
I actually did this this past year or two, but
a tradition was road tripping up from New Hampshire all
the way to Prince Ederad Island in Canada, and that
means obviously driving right through Maine for several hours. Yeah,
and so we would spend like one week every summer
(03:17):
in Printederated Island. But one of my favorite memories from
that road trip was we would always stop at this
restaurant slash truck stop called Dyes Arts in Bangor. They
actually have a few locations in Maine. It's like a
little mini restaurants slash truck stop chain, but it's shockingly
good food for being like in a truck stop. It's
(03:38):
this like these like rich homae recipes in this really comforting,
warm dining space with thinks, like all the main things
like blueberry french toast and then lobster and like baked
pasta dishes and sandwiches and huge chocolate woopy pies with
marshmallow filling. Huge. They're huge. They look like cakes. They
(04:00):
come in like a variety of sizes, but they you know,
they look like layer cakes more so than just like
can we go, let's go, let's just fly there for
this because you're the way you describe it, I need
to have this experience. I haven't You've yet to share
this experience with me. I know I wanted to go
back to Diazearts when we were you and I were
there this fall, but kind of right out of time. Um,
(04:21):
there's a lot to eat, man, I can't criminal into
one one trip, I guess, but this is something So
that was no soldier, that's all long, kid, But I
actually learned something new and exciting about main cooking and
main like recipe traditions. So my dad's girlfriend, Gail is
from me, and she actually has like dual heritage or
(04:43):
dual citizenship between Canada Maine because she's from Northern Maine,
which is Acadian culture, like French Acadian culture, which is
a whole like kind of world in realm in and
of itself, especially food wise. And I learned from her
all about these dishes called plois p l o y
e s, And they are these thin buck wheat pancakes.
(05:07):
Basically they look kind of like crepes or like a
really like a flattened English muffin more so is how
I describe them. And they're real simple. They're made with
buck wheat flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and water.
Traditionally it makes like a thin crape like batter and
then you prepare them on ungreased iron grittles and doesn't
(05:30):
take long to cooks is the batter so thin, and
they're so thin, so they're done when they kind of
start to bubble and get a little bit of golden
brown underneath, and then they're served traditional the whole variety
of things. They can be dipped in chicken stews, chicken soups,
or served with maple syrup or even peanut butter. But
the most traditional thing in Acadian culture is something called crypton,
(05:55):
and that is a savory like ground pork patte made
with onions and spices blended into it, like cinnamon, not
meg allspice, ginger, and it's nice and thick, hardy aromatic
spread that you serve and eat with poise, so you
have like a little bit of spicy and fragrant, like
a little bit of sweet nuttiness from the pancakes here where.
(06:18):
I just want to leave this room and go onto
a plane and go every you're describing, because like I
just want to travel. Yeah, I want to travel there.
I want to eat it and then I want to
come back. Um, so if you can give me a day,
we'll pick this up. I mean, I mean, I want
to explore this region because I have never really spent
time in the Acadian portion of main which is like
(06:39):
the far northern along the Canada border, and you can't
find it, Like I never saw Poise or Creton like
along the coast by any means, I've never even heard
of them. But you can find them in restaurants that
like Long Lake Sporting Club and Dollies and here in
this part of the country there you just you with everything.
(07:00):
They're used kind of in place of bread employer, and
you can do a lot with them. But I'm so
I'm so into it, so interested that I'm like, oh,
Maine has so much already. I didn't know there's this
whole like subculture that I I'm just learning about it, right,
It's more than just Lopstism. So but getting back to
the coast, which is kind of my main thing, you know,
(07:24):
it's like my heartfelt memories and everything that I crave
all the time. Was like, Portland is the main city
of the biggest city in Maine, and what an incredible
foods foods in that city has. It's amazing. You and
I were there somewhat recently because my brother got married.
Just as how to Portland just a couple of months
(07:45):
in the past from the time of this recording, so
we were there in the fall, beautiful time to be
in Maine, and we're able to get more of a
recent taste, like for me, like revisiting some of those
flavors and you experiencing it for the first time and
some of the highlights I think we're There's this bakery
there at this famous bakery in Portland called Two Fat
(08:06):
Cats Bakery, and it's this rustic little shop, super fragrant,
like you start to you get this waft of like
pie crust room as soon as you're approaching the door,
and then you just get enveloped with it and it
feels like you're in like this little cottage kitchen. Yeah,
just thinking about it really, And they have things all
(08:27):
sorts of goodies, but like blueberry pie and burbon pecan
pie and seasonal things like New England bog pie, which
is wild main blueberries and cranberries with oat crumble and
some flecks of bittersweet chocolate as well. It sounds great,
like I've not had that sounds great. Yeah, I'm like
(08:48):
my mouth is filling with saliva. They also have layer
cakes and cupcakes and of course what peepies. They're known
for what pepies? I think in particular and rightfully so,
because they are wonderful. They have the classic, which is
two chocolate cakes with marshmallow buttercream filling, and then they
do seasonal things like in the summer they have lemon
zucchini woopee pies with blueberry filling. They also have pumpkin
(09:10):
woopee pies in the fall with maple filling. Love it, Yeah,
I'm like tearing up um. And then my favorite, like
coffee shop, which is somewhat of doesn't really do this
place justice because it's really a full fledged, incredible bakery.
It's called Tandem Coffee and Bakery, and they have a
(09:31):
couple of locations, but the one that I love the
most is housed in a former gas station, which is
just the coolest thing. Looks really cool, It's fun to
go there and hang out. But their pastry assortment is
mind blowing, just the amount of products that we're able
to create and innovate with because these aren't these are
not traditional stuff you see just at every comic place cafe.
(09:54):
They have things like cornmeal cake with berries and ricotta,
and squashed cakes with on butter cream cheese, and chocolate
horses shot a cream pie corn and red chili scones.
Love it. The biscuits are amazing to just you can
get the biscuit by itself and that's great, but they
also serve it with butter. You can basically it's like
they give it so much butter. That's basically a biscuit
(10:17):
butter sandwich, which I'm gonna yeah, I feel like I
need a moment. Just give me a couple of again,
like trying to breath, right, gosh, sorry. You know, there
was a caterer at Brian and Whitney's wedding and that
(10:40):
was okay amazing. I mean their food at their wedding
was just the best. Brian Whitney, great job on that wedding.
It was the perfect wedding. Uh. And that's not just
because I was your Dane minister or bat with Matt
was the best man, you know, the best, the best man.
But yeah, but they had one of the most acclaimed
(11:01):
restaurants in Portland, like do the catering in this place
is called even Tide Oyster Company. Their their main restaurants
right downtown Portland and totally worthwhile because obviously Maine and
coastal Maine is very well regarded for its seafood, not
just a lobster and lobster rolls, which they have plenty
of that here. They are known for their brown butter
(11:22):
lobster rolls in particular, but Even Tide does a ton
with some of the best oysters you'll probably ever slurp
in your life, as well as like little neck clams
and crab claws, clam chowder New England style, of course,
the only style worth mentioning. They have lobster stew, and
then if you want oysters in cooked form, you can
(11:43):
get fried oyster buns as well. And then I think
a fun option would be to bring a group go
to Even Tide and then do one of the family
style lobster bakes and that comes with a corner copia
like with Whole Maine lobster steamer, clams, hustles, potatoes, salt
pork knock worse in steam tuns. It's a lot to
(12:07):
take you just not fair. It's just not fair because
I mean, I've had it, so it is fair in
that aspect, but that I want it right now and
I'm way too far away to go get it. I
know it's it's hard, well, but it's just one of
those places that you absolutely have to go to. Its
very destination worthy and then swinging back in the direction
(12:27):
of sweeter things. And well, also on the topic of
Brian and Whitney's amazing wedding, they had donuts from this
place called Holy Donut. Like instead of a wedding cake,
they had this tiered stack of donuts. And Holy Donut
is a local institution. Some of the best donuts I've
ever tasted in my life. And I'm not just saying
that because I just remember they brought out the donuts.
(12:49):
Everyone was dancing, so they didn't even get to like
cut their donut or their cake, you know that aspect,
And so they boxed them all up, you know, and
then they put them back in the kitchen. And I remember,
like later into the wedding party, like sneaking into the
kitchen just eat donuts. And I had literally fed Whitney
a donut because she didn't want to touch it because
she was still in her wedding dress. You know. He
(13:12):
was stunning. But the cool thing about Holy Doughnut is
how they make their dough and stuff, and they incorporate
main potatoes into their dough. It's mashed local potatoes, and
I I mean, how perfect, how incredible, and it adds
a really great texture. It's they're soft. I remember these
(13:32):
donuts were so soft and fluffy and light, even though
the flavors kind of sound hawgier than they are. And
they're all topped with like the most vibrant glazes and frostings,
and they're just their eye candy and then also just
literal candy for your mouth because they're so good. I
love a good donut, and we talked about my old
fashioned donuts in Chicago, but you know, these donuts might
(13:57):
have kicked the I mean hard hard to top, especially
when they come in flavors like maple in blueberry glaze, chai, pomegranate,
and then they also do in addition to like Maine
potato donuts that do sweet potato donuts, and then they
come in flavor with like ginger. So yeah, I would
eat Swo potatoes like wa do that pretty much. She
(14:21):
was with him here where I am just eating nothing
about Swoo potatoes in every form. You are listening to
Parklandia from my Heart Radio. Portland also has a really
(14:42):
great bar scene to which we're kind of starting to
bronte and One of the biggest surprises there that I
that we discovered was this adorable little cocktail bar called
jewel Box, And the name itself is just the cutest
thing ever put This place was really interesting. I've never
seemed to core like this, like a lot of vintage knickknacks,
(15:03):
soaring ceiling, like bright pink colors and purples, the whole
like luck was very It looked like promage vintage prompt,
but like not TACKI really enough. Like normally if a
bar went for like a prom theme, it would be
uncomfortable and bizarre. But this was this works hip story,
hipster vintage prom And there was two floors. There was
(15:25):
like the main bar area with the tall sailing and
then there's you go upstairs to a lofted area, which
was so cool, which is great. Um when we went there.
We went there at the wedding party. There was like
probably thirty people that all met up here, took over
the bar, and we go upstairs and you know, there's
people on their like dates and things like that, and
then all of a sudden you just see them start
to leave because they're like what is going on? And
(15:48):
more and more family members get up there and then
I remember the last group leaving and we all just
kind of looked at each other and started cheering because
because we took it over, which was wrong and it was,
but it was funny to us, and really we do
feel sorry for everyone who had to leave um because
we were just weird and familiesque environment we turned it
was like basically if National Lampoons like Christmas fan case
(16:11):
occasion took over the upper floor of this place. But yeah, yeah,
it was a fun time and the cocktails were really good,
very they tended to be really strong, but like so
flavorful and really interesting combinations as well. And right now
and when we were there, they had things like the
Fall Fashion, which is barrel aged gin anti chili liquere,
(16:33):
apple cider syrup in orange bitters to like a spicy
kind of apply version of an old Fashioned, and then
the Aged Discovery, which has absinthe, raspberry liquor, all spice liquor,
aquavy lemon juice, and campari, like very robust flavors I've
never seen. I've never had like absinthe and aquavy in
(16:54):
kampari together, for instance, but it all works. They do
really bold things here and the results are really exciting
and great. I love main I mean, yeah, I fell
in love with Portland and if it didn't get cold,
probably try to move there. But yeah, I'm trying to
(17:14):
stay away from cold. Yeah. And then if you continued
up the coast as you shed because a Katie National
Park is up the coast, there's this lovely little seaside
town called bar Harbor and that's the entry town to Acadia.
And it's this island town, small city with tons and
tons of great independent restaurants and cafes, coffee shops, bars,
(17:39):
all of that, and unsurprisingly, seafood is the star here
at all of these there's so much yeah, and there's
like we didn't get too much time here, which is
really sad. I would love to. I mean, this is
the place that it would be great to like kind
of buckle down and like hang out for a few
days and just go to a Kadia back up when
it's not cold and like forty degrees right, good option. Yeah,
(18:03):
because a lot of the restaurants here are seasonal to
which makes sense because it does get so cold and
tourism drops off because a lot of a Katia is
not accessible in the winter, so you have a lot
of like lobster centric restaurants like Stumins Lobster Pound and
Rose Eating Lobster and a bunch of other settle clothes
for they'll take like a winter break, you know, which
is nice. Oh yeah. And then there was that one
(18:25):
coffee shop, the Independent, which was so great. Um you
know because when we were there was forty degrees. It
was perfect. But they had some sandwiches and other like
bakery items and perfect, perfect little shop. Yeah, it reminded
me of Central Perk in Friends. It kind of yeah,
(18:45):
not as like fancy, like you know, there's not like
a lounge chair there, but it definitely had that like
you know, the owners there, you know, or you know,
the main people are there and they're not like trying
to be something, They're just trying to do great quality
food and coffee. It was really good. And yeah I
had blueberry coffee cake of course, because yeah this again
(19:09):
blueberry everything everywhere and I'm all about it. And then yeah,
Bar Harber's just dotted with these really nice cozy places
like the chart Room, just like the best like kind
of quintessential nautical vibes. It feels like you're in like
a sailor's I don't know, ship or something like the
hull of a ship with like salmon and mc damier
(19:32):
crusted halibit like main crab cakes and then the thirsty
whale like lively, warm, rustic pub lobster rolls and chowder.
And is this where I had the lobster bisk? I
don't think so. No, I remember that lobster bisinks. But
I'm sure you can get lobster bisk almost anywhere. You
probably need to whale. You can get lobster best lobster rolls.
(19:54):
But I love a good solid lobster bisk, like I
I forget how much I love it and until I
go to somewhere like Maine and get some beautiful lobster risk. Yeah,
well this is the place to eat it and go
lobster crazy bar Harbor, Portland, the coast. We have a yeah,
I mean, we have a lot to explore here. I'm
still very you to go to northern Maine and just
(20:16):
to go back to all of this. And I think
the beautiful thing here is like showing that Maine is
a lot more than just lobsters and blueberries. Yeah it is.
It's whoopy pies, it's ploys. It's diverse, it's um you knew,
it's um inventing things and it's trying things differently. It's
just a beautiful place to go and explore all these
(20:36):
magnificent foods. Yes, I seriously cannot wait to go back,
but I'm leaving now because I'm hungry. Yeah. Same. You've
been listening to park Landia, a show about national parks Parkland.
It's a production of My Heart Radio created by Matt Carrouac,
Brad Carouac and Christopher hasiotis produced and edited by Mike John's.
(20:57):
Our executive producer is Christopher hasiotis our researcher. It's Jocelyn Shields.
A special things goes out to Gabrielle Collins, Crystal Waters
and the rest of the park La India crew and
Hey listeners. If you're enjoying the show, leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts. It helps other people like you
find our show. You can keep up with us on
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(21:20):
on the conversation and our Facebook group Parklandia Rangers from
our podcast My Heart Radio. Visit the Heart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
and as always, thank you for listening.
Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. This is park Landia,
a production of I Heart Radio. We sold our lofts
in Chicago, moved into an RV. Now we're talking in
the country full time, exploring America's national parks with our
dog Finn, and we're excited to bring you another bonus
episode of traveling Eats with Matt. A special place in
(00:24):
my heart for this because again, I get to live
vicuriously through you most of the time, but in these situations,
now we get to travel together and do it together
and eat all these amazing things together. Yes, and excited
is an understatement, because this week is very nostalgic. It's
about Maine, a state that I grew up visiting frequently.
(00:46):
I grew up in New Hampshire, so Maine was right
in our backyard. I would go to the beaches there
all the time. I would road trip through it in
the summers. And these are some of the most I
mean some of the most iconic American flavor and dishes
you'll find here. And they're wonderful things like blueberries and
lobster and whoopy pies and shellfish of all sorts and
(01:08):
and so much more, and and for me, I was
just coming in as a newbie. I've never been to Maine. Um,
I get to explore it through their food in their
national parks, and I'm just loving it because I get
to again reap the rewards. So we have two different
perspectives here and fresh fresh first main experience fresh lobster, yes,
(01:32):
and we really took full advantage. So I want to
back up and first talk about my my nostalgia with me.
And so I grew up like New Hampshire's coastline is
really minimal and not all that great, but Maine is
right there, so we would always just drive over. It
took like an hour to get to Maine, and we
go to beaches like Old Orchard Beach, York Beach, and
(01:52):
Wells Beach and a whole lineup of others. And I
just remember not only swimming and going on like the
boardwalks and stuff like that, but just the foods that
came with it, like feasting on lobster, whether it's lobster
rolls or just like whole lobsters that you you know,
rip apart and it's like yeah, right, And then things
(02:12):
like blueberry pancakes and blueberry pie of course, with all
the whip cream and whoopee pies, which I grew up
like spoiled by my proximity to whoopee pies, assuming that
they're just abundant everywhere and they're not really about the
tricky thing about it about growing up, You're like, I
just think that this is everywhere. Yeah, I mean to
(02:33):
be able to get it anywhere, and it's just not it. Yeah,
it's so hard. Sucks. That's a hard part about traveling.
You don't get any normalcy, but you get all these
new experiences, right, It's a wind lose win win win
win win win situation. Well, it does make me appreciate
them more. I guess, like I fully took whoopy pies
for granted growing up, and now when I am in Maine,
I am super excited and it's like I'm experiencing them
(02:57):
for the first time all over again, which is a
great thing. So we would also as a kid, and
I actually did this this past year or two, but
a tradition was road tripping up from New Hampshire all
the way to Prince Ederad Island in Canada, and that
means obviously driving right through Maine for several hours. Yeah,
and so we would spend like one week every summer
(03:17):
in Printederated Island. But one of my favorite memories from
that road trip was we would always stop at this
restaurant slash truck stop called Dyes Arts in Bangor. They
actually have a few locations in Maine. It's like a
little mini restaurants slash truck stop chain, but it's shockingly
good food for being like in a truck stop. It's
(03:38):
this like these like rich homae recipes in this really comforting,
warm dining space with thinks, like all the main things
like blueberry french toast and then lobster and like baked
pasta dishes and sandwiches and huge chocolate woopy pies with
marshmallow filling. Huge. They're huge. They look like cakes. They
(04:00):
come in like a variety of sizes, but they you know,
they look like layer cakes more so than just like
can we go, let's go, let's just fly there for
this because you're the way you describe it, I need
to have this experience. I haven't You've yet to share
this experience with me. I know I wanted to go
back to Diazearts when we were you and I were
there this fall, but kind of right out of time. Um,
(04:21):
there's a lot to eat, man, I can't criminal into
one one trip, I guess, but this is something So
that was no soldier, that's all long, kid, But I
actually learned something new and exciting about main cooking and
main like recipe traditions. So my dad's girlfriend, Gail is
from me, and she actually has like dual heritage or
(04:43):
dual citizenship between Canada Maine because she's from Northern Maine,
which is Acadian culture, like French Acadian culture, which is
a whole like kind of world in realm in and
of itself, especially food wise. And I learned from her
all about these dishes called plois p l o y
e s, And they are these thin buck wheat pancakes.
(05:07):
Basically they look kind of like crepes or like a
really like a flattened English muffin more so is how
I describe them. And they're real simple. They're made with
buck wheat flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and water.
Traditionally it makes like a thin crape like batter and
then you prepare them on ungreased iron grittles and doesn't
(05:30):
take long to cooks is the batter so thin, and
they're so thin, so they're done when they kind of
start to bubble and get a little bit of golden
brown underneath, and then they're served traditional the whole variety
of things. They can be dipped in chicken stews, chicken soups,
or served with maple syrup or even peanut butter. But
the most traditional thing in Acadian culture is something called crypton,
(05:55):
and that is a savory like ground pork patte made
with onions and spices blended into it, like cinnamon, not
meg allspice, ginger, and it's nice and thick, hardy aromatic
spread that you serve and eat with poise, so you
have like a little bit of spicy and fragrant, like
a little bit of sweet nuttiness from the pancakes here where.
(06:18):
I just want to leave this room and go onto
a plane and go every you're describing, because like I
just want to travel. Yeah, I want to travel there.
I want to eat it and then I want to
come back. Um, so if you can give me a day,
we'll pick this up. I mean, I mean, I want
to explore this region because I have never really spent
time in the Acadian portion of main which is like
(06:39):
the far northern along the Canada border, and you can't
find it, Like I never saw Poise or Creton like
along the coast by any means, I've never even heard
of them. But you can find them in restaurants that
like Long Lake Sporting Club and Dollies and here in
this part of the country there you just you with everything.
(07:00):
They're used kind of in place of bread employer, and
you can do a lot with them. But I'm so
I'm so into it, so interested that I'm like, oh,
Maine has so much already. I didn't know there's this
whole like subculture that I I'm just learning about it, right,
It's more than just Lopstism. So but getting back to
the coast, which is kind of my main thing, you know,
(07:24):
it's like my heartfelt memories and everything that I crave
all the time. Was like, Portland is the main city
of the biggest city in Maine, and what an incredible
foods foods in that city has. It's amazing. You and
I were there somewhat recently because my brother got married.
Just as how to Portland just a couple of months
(07:45):
in the past from the time of this recording, so
we were there in the fall, beautiful time to be
in Maine, and we're able to get more of a
recent taste, like for me, like revisiting some of those
flavors and you experiencing it for the first time and
some of the highlights I think we're There's this bakery
there at this famous bakery in Portland called Two Fat
(08:06):
Cats Bakery, and it's this rustic little shop, super fragrant,
like you start to you get this waft of like
pie crust room as soon as you're approaching the door,
and then you just get enveloped with it and it
feels like you're in like this little cottage kitchen. Yeah,
just thinking about it really, And they have things all
(08:27):
sorts of goodies, but like blueberry pie and burbon pecan
pie and seasonal things like New England bog pie, which
is wild main blueberries and cranberries with oat crumble and
some flecks of bittersweet chocolate as well. It sounds great,
like I've not had that sounds great. Yeah, I'm like
(08:48):
my mouth is filling with saliva. They also have layer
cakes and cupcakes and of course what peepies. They're known
for what pepies? I think in particular and rightfully so,
because they are wonderful. They have the classic, which is
two chocolate cakes with marshmallow buttercream filling, and then they
do seasonal things like in the summer they have lemon
zucchini woopee pies with blueberry filling. They also have pumpkin
(09:10):
woopee pies in the fall with maple filling. Love it, Yeah,
I'm like tearing up um. And then my favorite, like
coffee shop, which is somewhat of doesn't really do this
place justice because it's really a full fledged, incredible bakery.
It's called Tandem Coffee and Bakery, and they have a
(09:31):
couple of locations, but the one that I love the
most is housed in a former gas station, which is
just the coolest thing. Looks really cool, It's fun to
go there and hang out. But their pastry assortment is
mind blowing, just the amount of products that we're able
to create and innovate with because these aren't these are
not traditional stuff you see just at every comic place cafe.
(09:54):
They have things like cornmeal cake with berries and ricotta,
and squashed cakes with on butter cream cheese, and chocolate
horses shot a cream pie corn and red chili scones.
Love it. The biscuits are amazing to just you can
get the biscuit by itself and that's great, but they
also serve it with butter. You can basically it's like
they give it so much butter. That's basically a biscuit
(10:17):
butter sandwich, which I'm gonna yeah, I feel like I
need a moment. Just give me a couple of again,
like trying to breath, right, gosh, sorry. You know, there
was a caterer at Brian and Whitney's wedding and that
(10:40):
was okay amazing. I mean their food at their wedding
was just the best. Brian Whitney, great job on that wedding.
It was the perfect wedding. Uh. And that's not just
because I was your Dane minister or bat with Matt
was the best man, you know, the best, the best man.
But yeah, but they had one of the most acclaimed
(11:01):
restaurants in Portland, like do the catering in this place
is called even Tide Oyster Company. Their their main restaurants
right downtown Portland and totally worthwhile because obviously Maine and
coastal Maine is very well regarded for its seafood, not
just a lobster and lobster rolls, which they have plenty
of that here. They are known for their brown butter
(11:22):
lobster rolls in particular, but Even Tide does a ton
with some of the best oysters you'll probably ever slurp
in your life, as well as like little neck clams
and crab claws, clam chowder New England style, of course,
the only style worth mentioning. They have lobster stew, and
then if you want oysters in cooked form, you can
(11:43):
get fried oyster buns as well. And then I think
a fun option would be to bring a group go
to Even Tide and then do one of the family
style lobster bakes and that comes with a corner copia
like with Whole Maine lobster steamer, clams, hustles, potatoes, salt
pork knock worse in steam tuns. It's a lot to
(12:07):
take you just not fair. It's just not fair because
I mean, I've had it, so it is fair in
that aspect, but that I want it right now and
I'm way too far away to go get it. I
know it's it's hard, well, but it's just one of
those places that you absolutely have to go to. Its
very destination worthy and then swinging back in the direction
(12:27):
of sweeter things. And well, also on the topic of
Brian and Whitney's amazing wedding, they had donuts from this
place called Holy Donut. Like instead of a wedding cake,
they had this tiered stack of donuts. And Holy Donut
is a local institution. Some of the best donuts I've
ever tasted in my life. And I'm not just saying
that because I just remember they brought out the donuts.
(12:49):
Everyone was dancing, so they didn't even get to like
cut their donut or their cake, you know that aspect,
And so they boxed them all up, you know, and
then they put them back in the kitchen. And I remember,
like later into the wedding party, like sneaking into the
kitchen just eat donuts. And I had literally fed Whitney
a donut because she didn't want to touch it because
she was still in her wedding dress. You know. He
(13:12):
was stunning. But the cool thing about Holy Doughnut is
how they make their dough and stuff, and they incorporate
main potatoes into their dough. It's mashed local potatoes, and
I I mean, how perfect, how incredible, and it adds
a really great texture. It's they're soft. I remember these
(13:32):
donuts were so soft and fluffy and light, even though
the flavors kind of sound hawgier than they are. And
they're all topped with like the most vibrant glazes and frostings,
and they're just their eye candy and then also just
literal candy for your mouth because they're so good. I
love a good donut, and we talked about my old
fashioned donuts in Chicago, but you know, these donuts might
(13:57):
have kicked the I mean hard hard to top, especially
when they come in flavors like maple in blueberry glaze, chai, pomegranate,
and then they also do in addition to like Maine
potato donuts that do sweet potato donuts, and then they
come in flavor with like ginger. So yeah, I would
eat Swo potatoes like wa do that pretty much. She
(14:21):
was with him here where I am just eating nothing
about Swoo potatoes in every form. You are listening to
Parklandia from my Heart Radio. Portland also has a really
(14:42):
great bar scene to which we're kind of starting to
bronte and One of the biggest surprises there that I
that we discovered was this adorable little cocktail bar called
jewel Box, And the name itself is just the cutest
thing ever put This place was really interesting. I've never
seemed to core like this, like a lot of vintage knickknacks,
(15:03):
soaring ceiling, like bright pink colors and purples, the whole
like luck was very It looked like promage vintage prompt,
but like not TACKI really enough. Like normally if a
bar went for like a prom theme, it would be
uncomfortable and bizarre. But this was this works hip story,
hipster vintage prom And there was two floors. There was
(15:25):
like the main bar area with the tall sailing and
then there's you go upstairs to a lofted area, which
was so cool, which is great. Um when we went there.
We went there at the wedding party. There was like
probably thirty people that all met up here, took over
the bar, and we go upstairs and you know, there's
people on their like dates and things like that, and
then all of a sudden you just see them start
to leave because they're like what is going on? And
(15:48):
more and more family members get up there and then
I remember the last group leaving and we all just
kind of looked at each other and started cheering because
because we took it over, which was wrong and it was,
but it was funny to us, and really we do
feel sorry for everyone who had to leave um because
we were just weird and familiesque environment we turned it
was like basically if National Lampoons like Christmas fan case
(16:11):
occasion took over the upper floor of this place. But yeah, yeah,
it was a fun time and the cocktails were really good,
very they tended to be really strong, but like so
flavorful and really interesting combinations as well. And right now
and when we were there, they had things like the
Fall Fashion, which is barrel aged gin anti chili liquere,
(16:33):
apple cider syrup in orange bitters to like a spicy
kind of apply version of an old Fashioned, and then
the Aged Discovery, which has absinthe, raspberry liquor, all spice liquor,
aquavy lemon juice, and campari, like very robust flavors I've
never seen. I've never had like absinthe and aquavy in
(16:54):
kampari together, for instance, but it all works. They do
really bold things here and the results are really exciting
and great. I love main I mean, yeah, I fell
in love with Portland and if it didn't get cold,
probably try to move there. But yeah, I'm trying to
(17:14):
stay away from cold. Yeah. And then if you continued
up the coast as you shed because a Katie National
Park is up the coast, there's this lovely little seaside
town called bar Harbor and that's the entry town to Acadia.
And it's this island town, small city with tons and
tons of great independent restaurants and cafes, coffee shops, bars,
(17:39):
all of that, and unsurprisingly, seafood is the star here
at all of these there's so much yeah, and there's
like we didn't get too much time here, which is
really sad. I would love to. I mean, this is
the place that it would be great to like kind
of buckle down and like hang out for a few
days and just go to a Kadia back up when
it's not cold and like forty degrees right, good option. Yeah,
(18:03):
because a lot of the restaurants here are seasonal to
which makes sense because it does get so cold and
tourism drops off because a lot of a Katia is
not accessible in the winter, so you have a lot
of like lobster centric restaurants like Stumins Lobster Pound and
Rose Eating Lobster and a bunch of other settle clothes
for they'll take like a winter break, you know, which
is nice. Oh yeah. And then there was that one
(18:25):
coffee shop, the Independent, which was so great. Um you
know because when we were there was forty degrees. It
was perfect. But they had some sandwiches and other like
bakery items and perfect, perfect little shop. Yeah, it reminded
me of Central Perk in Friends. It kind of yeah,
(18:45):
not as like fancy, like you know, there's not like
a lounge chair there, but it definitely had that like
you know, the owners there, you know, or you know,
the main people are there and they're not like trying
to be something, They're just trying to do great quality
food and coffee. It was really good. And yeah I
had blueberry coffee cake of course, because yeah this again
(19:09):
blueberry everything everywhere and I'm all about it. And then yeah,
Bar Harber's just dotted with these really nice cozy places
like the chart Room, just like the best like kind
of quintessential nautical vibes. It feels like you're in like
a sailor's I don't know, ship or something like the
hull of a ship with like salmon and mc damier
(19:32):
crusted halibit like main crab cakes and then the thirsty
whale like lively, warm, rustic pub lobster rolls and chowder.
And is this where I had the lobster bisk? I
don't think so. No, I remember that lobster bisinks. But
I'm sure you can get lobster bisk almost anywhere. You
probably need to whale. You can get lobster best lobster rolls.
(19:54):
But I love a good solid lobster bisk, like I
I forget how much I love it and until I
go to somewhere like Maine and get some beautiful lobster risk. Yeah,
well this is the place to eat it and go
lobster crazy bar Harbor, Portland, the coast. We have a yeah,
I mean, we have a lot to explore here. I'm
still very you to go to northern Maine and just
(20:16):
to go back to all of this. And I think
the beautiful thing here is like showing that Maine is
a lot more than just lobsters and blueberries. Yeah it is.
It's whoopy pies, it's ploys. It's diverse, it's um you knew,
it's um inventing things and it's trying things differently. It's
just a beautiful place to go and explore all these
(20:36):
magnificent foods. Yes, I seriously cannot wait to go back,
but I'm leaving now because I'm hungry. Yeah. Same. You've
been listening to park Landia, a show about national parks Parkland.
It's a production of My Heart Radio created by Matt Carrouac,
Brad Carouac and Christopher hasiotis produced and edited by Mike John's.
(20:57):
Our executive producer is Christopher hasiotis our researcher. It's Jocelyn Shields.
A special things goes out to Gabrielle Collins, Crystal Waters
and the rest of the park La India crew and
Hey listeners. If you're enjoying the show, leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts. It helps other people like you
find our show. You can keep up with us on
social media as well. Check out our photos from our
travels on Instagram at Parkla India Pod and join in
(21:20):
on the conversation and our Facebook group Parklandia Rangers from
our podcast My Heart Radio. Visit the Heart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
and as always, thank you for listening.
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