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February Update
The James Beard Awards Name Seven Maine Semifinalists
Seven Maine restaurateurs, chefs, and bakers are semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards, which recognize excellence in the culinary arts, food and beverage, and the hospitality industries. For Outstanding Restaurateur, Dana Street, founder of Fore Street, Scales, and Standard Baking Co. in Portland, was nominated. In the Outstanding Bakery category, Night Moves Bread of South Portland was singled out. For Best Chef: Northeast, five Maine chefs were named. They include Jeremy Broucek of Bread & Friends; Thomas Takashi Cooke of Izakaya Minato; Chris Gould of Central Provisions; Sara Jenkins of Nina June in Rockport; and Jake Stevens of Leeward. The James Beard Award finalists will be announced on April 1, and the award ceremony is scheduled for June 15 in Chicago.
Winter Weekdays
Visit Portland has launched Winter Weekdays, a statewide dining and hospitality promotion designed to boost midweek business during Maine’s winter season. Winter Weekdays is presented by Visit Portland, with marketing support from the Maine Office of Tourism and industry collaboration from HospitalityMaine, the Maine Tourism Association, and the Greater Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce. Winter Weekdays give restaurants, breweries, cafés, bars, and hotels the flexibility to choose the slowest weekday for their business. These participating establishments offer special promotions on their selected day, encouraging residents and visitors to dine out, explore, and stay overnight during the quieter winter months. The Winter Weekdays campaign will run through April 30, 2026. For a list of weekday deals, go to www.winterweekdays.com.
Cross Country Skiing & the Maine Winter Food Scene
Maine’s extraordinary food scene doesn’t take a wintertime break. Winter is the time to get out the cross-country skis, get a great workout, and head into the Oxbow Beer Garden in Oxford. The restaurant and taproom are in a renovated 200-year-old barn adjacent to an extensive Nordic skiing trail system, formerly known as Carter’s XC Ski, that is now free to the public. Oxbow specializes in wood-fired, naturally-leavened pizza featuring Maine grains and local, estate-grown toppings. Nordic skis and boots are available for on-site rental from the nonprofit organization Portland Gear Hub. Pineland Farms has 5,000 acres of rolling fields in New Gloucester, which is not far from Portland. They offer groomed Nordic ski trails, snowshoeing and fat-tire biking, a sledding hill, and an ice-skating rink, with rentals available. Pineland is also known for its Market, where you can buy produce from its sustainable farm and enjoy lunch to go.
Winter is Maine’s Scallop Season
The cold waters off the coast of Maine produce what are arguably the best-tasting scallops in the world. From December to April, wild Atlantic sea scallops can be harvested from state-regulated waters in the Gulf of Maine by divers and mechanical draggers, with oversight by the Department of Marine Resources. Since most of these scallops are harvested by boats that go out and return on the same day, the term “dayboat scallops” is used. They can be found just hours later at some of Maine’s finest restaurants during the season. Read more at Visit Maine.
Maine Restaurant Week
“Eat & Love It” is the theme for Maine Restaurant Week, which will run from March 1-12, 2026, with participating restaurants announced in mid-February. Created in 2009, MRW was established to give restaurants a winter boost and to celebrate Maine’s chefs and dining culture. For more details, visit Maine Restaurant Week.
Maine Maple Sunday Weekend
Maine produces some of the most delicious maple syrup in the country, and the 43rd annual Maine Maple Sunday Weekend on March 21-22, 2026, is an opportunity to taste it at the source. Sponsored by the Maine Maple Producers Association, it’s a chance to visit sugarhouses that will offer maple syrup samples and demonstrations on how pure Maine maple syrup is made. Many farms will offer games, activities, treats, sugarbush tours, and music. Some sugarhouses are offering events for both Saturday and Sunday. Go to Maine Maple Producers for more info.