Celeb spot: Actor Matt Damon poses for a photo with The Juicery employee Irene Schlimmer outside the smoothie shop on Labor Day weekend. Photo courtesy of The Juicery

With fall comes change, and Maine’s plant-based food industry is both breaking new ground and closing doors on those industries. Tough times for restaurants.

The fall started out auspiciously for Maine’s vegetarian business; actor Matt Damon stopped by The Juicery, a vegetarian smoothie spot in Kittery (which also has a store in Portland’s Old Port), over Labor Day weekend. Damon even posed for a photo.

Her visit comes after a Maine summer filled with vegan food, including an all-vegan dinner at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland and an all-plant-based Wellness Weekend at The Claremont hotel in Southwest Harbor. The hotel’s restaurant, Little Fern, hosted guest chefs Babette Davis, owner of vegan restaurant Stuff I Eat in Inglewood, California, and Chris Tucker, owner of vegan bakery Betta with Butta in Los Angeles. The dinner the couple cooked included vegan crab corn chowder, vegan lobster rolls, and Maine blueberry muffins.

At the end of the summer, news also came that Cape Cod-based Akua, a vegetarian burger maker that started operating in 2021, was closing. The company used seaweed harvested in Maine to make its seaweed burgers.

Veggie Life owner Jaime Shaw points to a banner at the Sea Dogs ballpark declaring his product the team’s official veggie burger. Photo courtesy of Veggie Life

Veggie Life achieved its goal with Sea Dogs and new digs

The Sea Dogs named Veggie Life, a plant-based wholesaler, the official ballpark veggie burger this summer, and Veggie Life owner Jaime Shaw threw out the game during Women-Owned Business Night in late August.

For the last few years, Veggie Life has been headquartered in Freeport, behind the Mainely Custard scoop shop. The company recently sold this property. Shaw said its new headquarters at 1732 North Berwick Road in Wells offers additional space “to begin growing the business and distribution.”

The renovations at the venue, which previously housed Richard’s Seafood, are planned to be completed by the end of the year. Inspired by a recent visit to chef Tal Ronnen’s vegan Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles, Shaw plans to host all-vegetable pop-up dinners at the space next summer. When the company’s operations move to Wells, customers will be able to place online orders for burgers, chili and pesto there.

Free vegetarian Thanksgiving and pie auction at Dexter

Gatherings 4 Main, a vegetarian restaurant and community center in Dexter, has planned its fourth annual free Thanksgiving feast for Nov. 20 as a thank you to the community. The menu includes holiday classics like mashed potatoes, stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn and a variety of pies.

The restaurant is looking for volunteers to bake and donate pies to a pie auction during dinner. Proceeds will be used to support the community centre. Dinner will be served at the restaurant at 4 Main Street from noon until 13.30. For more information, call 207-924-2232.

Coffeehouse becomes hub of farmers market

A Coffeehouse, an all-vegetarian coffee shop in downtown Waterville, has partnered with Maine organization FarmDrop to become a pickup spot. Shoppers go online farmdrop.usselect A Coffeehouse as the pickup point and then select the farmers market items they want. The website coordinates with local farms to offer a variety of vegetables, as well as garlic, beans, herbs, and pickles. Pickup is on Fridays from 14:00 to 19:00.

Soymilkmaid sells vegan baked goods

Vegetarian chef and food writer Elise Schloff is selling her vegan desserts at pop-ups this summer and fall, including Rabelais books and Onggi in Portland and Frinklepod Farm in Arundel. Schloff often uses foraged ingredients and draws inspiration from natural food cookbooks of the 1960s and 1970s. For example, at Rabelais in August, she made brown rice budino di riso with tamari caramel, candied blackberries and carob Oreo cookies. Find future pop-ups and more details at: soymilkmaid.square.site.

Vickie’s Veggie Table in Biddeford is closing

The all-vegan Vickie’s Veggie Table in Biddeford has closed. Owners Vickie Charity-McGuirk and her daughter Melanie McGuirk wrote on social media that they were “grateful for the two years you all gave us.” Vickie’s Veggie Table has been an incredible experience for both of us and we’re delighted to be able to bring healthy vegan options to Biddeford town centre.”

The owners said they tried to sell the business, located at 299 Main St., Suite 101, before it closed in October but did not have a valid offer. The restaurant and juice bar opens in 2022. The owners plan to compile a cookbook with stories and recipes from the restaurant and its customers.

We doubly dare you to skip this delicious vegan chocolate mousse cake from Holy Donut owner Leigh Kellis. Photo: Leigh Kellis

The owner of Holy Donut bakes and sells vegan desserts

Leigh Kellis, owner of vegan-friendly Holy Donut, has started wholesale selling her vegan chocolate desserts. You can find them at 643 Congress St. in Portland. You can find it in the Novel book at and in the cafe. Kellis told me she’s especially “obsessed” with the vegan chocolate mousse cake, which she makes often. During her last few weeks of operation, Kellis baked vegan chocolate desserts for Vickie’s Veggie Table, owned by her cousin Vickie Charity-McGuirk.

Maine’s first veggie food map

Anecdotal evidence suggests that more and more vegans and vegetarians are vacationing in Maine, but the state tourism agency offers little to no tourist information for them. To address this, I created the Vegan and Vegetarian Food Map of Maine. The map received more than 4,500 visits in less than a month, indicating that demand for information is high. The list includes more than 80 vegan and vegetarian restaurants, hotels, farms, bakeries, food manufacturers, historic sites and related businesses. Visit the map at: bit.ly/MaineVeganMap.

Avery Yale Kamila is a food writer living in Portland. Reach her at [email protected].

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