A pair of sisters opened OystHERS Raw Bar & Bubbly last Saturday in Bath, a venture that seeks in part to highlight the fruits of Maine’s female-owned oyster farms.

Sadia and Lauren Crosby, both natives of nearby Georgetown, launched the raw bar at 97 Commercial St., an 800-square-foot space located on the Kennebec River. The raw bar has seating for about 29 inside, and roughly 50 more outdoor seats.

Sadia and Lauren Crosby, owners of OystHERS Raw Bar & Bubbly, which opened in Bath Saturday. Photo courtesy of OystHERS Raw Bar & Bubbly

Sadia Crosby has owned the raw bar’s namesake, OystHERS Sea Farm, since 2018. “I have never opened a restaurant before and neither has Sadia,” said Lauren Crosby. “It’s unreal and overwhelming, but a total labor of love.”

Sadia’s sea farm provides the venue’s house oysters, and the raw bar menu will be rounded out by a rotating selection of oysters coming from small craft farms with an emphasis on female-owned operations, such as Aphrodite Oysters of South Thomaston; Nauti Sisters Sea Farm of Yarmouth; Grace Pointe Oysters of Cumberland; and Emily’s Oysters of Bath.

The OystHERS food menu includes salads; crab and lobster sliders ($30); charcuterie boards ($27-$30); and a dessert board featuring Whoopie pies, macarons, and strawberries and Nutella ($22).

The raw bar’s beverage program highlights bubblies, including Champagne and cava, as well as prosecco on draft, and Maine-based sparkling wines. The drink menu also has about nine mocktails.

OystHERS is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week until September. The venue will then scale back to five days a week until it closes on Dec. 31, with plans to reopen next Memorial Day weekend.

“Just trying to support local people in the fishing and aquaculture industries is really important to our hearts and our family,” Lauren Crosby said, noting that their father, lobsterman Angus McGregor Crosby, passed away in 2021. “This is our way of staying true to the heritage of coastal Midcoast Maine, and being able to provide something fun for the community.”

Bagels fresh out of the wood-fired oven at Rover Bagels in Biddeford. Photo by Bob Keyes

BON APPETIT LAUDS ROSE FOODS AND ROVER BAGELS

Bon Appetit magazine has named bagels from two Maine bakers among the country’s very best (outside of New York City).

The magazine’s list of the top 24 bagel bakeries beyond the five boroughs, published Tuesday, included  Rose Foods, on Forest Avenue in Portland, and Rover Bagel, in Biddeford. Neither place is a stranger to national recognition. Rover Bagels was named among Food & Wine’s Best Bagels in America in 2021, while Rose Foods was named to Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants in 2018.  Bagelsaurus of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the only other honoree from New England to make the roundup.

The writeup for Rose Foods from reviewer Wilder Davies notes, “The shop uses a mix of sourdough and traditional yeast leavening and boils the bagels in a lye solution, like pretzels, albeit slightly more diluted. The resulting bagel has a plushy and accommodating crumb for ample toppings, and a glossy crust that has a nice yield to it – while still tender enough to avoid sloppy bagel sandwich side-spill.”

The bagels at Rose Foods also made the cut. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Bon Appetit contributor and local food writer Joe Ricchio wrote that Rover bagels are “wood-fired and combine the best of both worlds: the pleasant chew of a New York–style bagel and the outer char and crunch of those favored in Montreal. All are made using a sourdough starter and a combination of locally sourced flour from Maine Grains and the old standby King Arthur.”

ORE NELL’S PUSHES BACK OPENING

The Biddeford location of Ore Nell’s Barbecue is now expected to open in late July, according to owner Will Myska.

Myska had originally hoped to open this second location – Ore Nell’s first launched in Kittery in 2018 – by June, but said the project has been slowed by typical process delays.

“Everybody’s busy this time of year, contractors have multiple jobs right now, and there are some curveballs that you just have to wait on sometimes,” Myska said. “But it’s all coming together, for sure.”

Ore Nell’s is taking over the space at 42 Franklin St. formerly occupied by Louis Pizza. The venue can seat almost 60 customers, Myska said.

“It’s just small enough where we can be a little more intimate and not bite off more than we can chew,” he said.

Myska, a native of Houston, said the Biddeford location will serve much of the same brisket, ribs, chicken, pulled pork and Texas hot link sausages featured in Kittery.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Myska said. “We’ll be doing the same Texas barbecue style that we do here in Kittery, we’re just trying to expand on something that’s done very well for us here.”

WINE SPECTATOR AWARDS FOR 14 MAINE RESTAURANTS

Wine Spectator magazine has given 14 Maine restaurants their Awards of Excellence for 2023, the magazine announced Monday.

Ten of the 14 honorees earned the magazine’s first-tier honor, the Award of Excellence, while four venues won Best of Award of Excellence, the magazine’s mid-tier award. No Maine restaurants earned Wine Spectator’s top-tier Grand Award.

The Best of Award of Excellence went to Havana in Bar Harbor – which has won this same award since 2011 – along with Natalie’s Restaurant in Camden, Sea Glass in Cape Elizabeth, and Kennebunk’s The White Barn Inn, which has received this award since 2017.

Honorees for the Award of Excellence include The Balance Rock Inn Veranda Bar in Bar Harbor; Bistro 1828 at Pepperell Cove in Kittery Point; Coastal Prime in Boothbay Harbor; Earth at Hidden Pond in Kennebunkport; Rockport’s La Bella Vita; Modern Barn in Bethel; Brunswick’s Noble Kitchen + Bar; Old Port Sea Grill and Raw Bar in Portland; Primo in Rockland; and Twelve in Portland.

Launched in 1981, the Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards represent the world’s only award program focused exclusively on restaurant wine service. This year’s awards went to restaurants in all 50 states and more than 70 countries, with 2,001 venues earning the Award of Excellence, 1,411 winning the Best of Award of Excellence, and just 93 taking the Grand Award.

ALLAGASH CHOSEN AS PATAGONIA PARTNER

Allagash Brewing Company has been selected to partner with the food and beverage arm of the outdoor apparel company Patagonia to develop a beer using eco-friendly perennial grain.

Through the collaboration, Allagash has produced its new Dry-Hopped Pilsner, which uses regenerative organic-certified Kernza grain. The beer will be available exclusively on draft in limited supply in the Allagash Tasting Room on Industrial Way beginning Thursday.

“Allagash has long looked to Patagonia as a role model for how consumer brands can make a positive impact, especially on the environment,” said Allagash founder Rob Tod. “We’re proud to partner with such a progressive, forward-thinking company to create a distinct and experimental beer that not only tastes great, but also highlights one way that we can reduce our impact through the ingredients we use.”

Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing. Photo courtesy of Allagash Brewing Co.

“By experimenting with grains like Kernza in our beer, we’re helping to build a toolkit for how we as brewers can do our part to help alleviate the climate crisis,” said Allagash Brewmaster Jason Perkins.

Allagash will contribute 1 percent of the project’s beer sales to Cultivating Community, a Maine-based nonprofit that empowers new Americans by teaching them sustainable farming practices and connecting them to the community through their food hub.

“Patagonia is thrilled to partner with Allagash Brewing Company, a Certified B Corporation that uses a million pounds of local Maine grain each year to brew its craft beers,” said Paul Lightfoot, Patagonia Provision’s general manager, noting that Allagash is one of 11 independent American craft breweries chosen for the collaboration project. “Craft beer drinkers want delicious high-quality beer made with clean ingredients that are better for the planet, and we look forward to bringing that beer to Patagonia customers with Allagash in Maine.”