January 5 – Maine-based grocer Mainely Provisions has opened a third location, this one in Westbrook.
The new store is located at 110 New Gorham Road, previously home to Digby’s Variety, a supermarket and sub store located in
Operating for 27 years before closing in September. The City of Westbrook held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest Mainely Provisions on December 20.
Mainely Provisions launched its first location in Kingfield in 2020 and added a second store in Bethel in 2023. The stores sell meat, fresh produce, deli and prepared foods, baked goods, local produce, organic foods, beer, wine and spirits.
Joe Christopher, co-founder of Upward Management Group, which owns Mainely Provisions, Three Dollar Deweys, Saltwater Grille and other hospitality establishments, said it made sense for Mainely Provisions to expand into Westbrook.
“We really needed a place in Southern Maine where we felt like a convenience store would work,” Christopher said, noting that they gutted and renovated the building, with new coolers and a walk-in refrigerator/beer cave.
The 30,000-square-foot Westbrook location is significantly smaller than Mainely Provision’s Bethel and Kingfield stores. “It’s just like grocery stores used to be before they became these giant box stores.”
Like the other locations, the Westbrook Mainely Provisions will carry as many local products as possible, Christopher said. For example, the store has a Carrabassett Coffee Bar and also offers vegan and vegetarian fresh and frozen products from Veggie Life of Maine.
Christopher said Mainely Provisions will also look to help the community by supporting local sports teams and donating to charity events and local food banks. “If you want things around you to be better, you work hard in your community, and that’s the kind of company we are,” he said.
CHIEF MATT GINN LEAVES PRENTICE HOSPITALITY GROUP
Chef Matt Ginn announced on social media on Sunday that he has left Prentice Hospitality Group after 10 years, saying it is ‘time for a change’.
Ginn had been executive chef at Prentice, whose stable of luxury venues includes Chebeague Island Inn, Evo Kitchen + Bar and Twelve in Portland, as well as The Good Table in Cape Elizabeth.
“I am grateful to the group and ownership, and to my colleagues (and) colleagues for all the opportunities these properties have given me,” Ginn wrote in his Instagram statement. “I am proud of what we have achieved on many levels in the hospitality industry… I am looking forward to new challenges and a little break with my family.”
Ginn could not immediately be reached to ask what his next professional step might be.
Ginn, a native of Cape Elizabeth whose first job was picking strawberries at Maxwell’s Farm, worked at acclaimed Boston restaurants Harvest and L’Espalier before returning to Maine in 2012 as executive chef at Five Fifty-Five. In 2015, he helped found Evo as executive chef.
Ginn made multiple appearances on Food Network’s “Chopped” show and won $10,000 on the televised cooking competition in 2018. Last March, Ginn relaunched The Good Table; Prentice had purchased the 38-year-old restaurant in late 2023.
WINTER SUPPER CLUB EVENTS RETURN TO BUXTON
Flanagan Farm in Buxton begins its third season of winter Supper Club events on Sunday February 2.
Chef Rafael Zimmerman from Magnus on Water in Biddeford will be the evening’s guest chef. Zimmerman’s menus at Magnus highlight the diversity of Peruvian cuisine and show how it has been influenced by Japanese and Chinese cuisines.
Before heading up the Magnus on Water kitchen, Zimmerman introduced the area to Peruvian flavors through his Lost Llama pop-up private dinners and events. He started his culinary career in Maine at the Artemisia Café in Portland.
Tickets for the dinner, which starts at 4 p.m., cost $190, available through the Maine Barns website.
The next three dinners in the series are scheduled for Saturday, February 8, Thursday, February 13 and Sunday, March 2, featuring dishes from Big Tree Catering, Deer Isle’s Aragosta at Goose Cove and Rockport’s Nina June, respectively. These dinners are now sold out, but interested parties can join the waiting list online.
Supper Club evenings start with fireside cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, with optional ice skating in the Flanagan Farm woodland. Guests then gather in the heated barn for a communal four-course dinner with wine service.
Copy the story link
