Holiday Weekend in Biddeford, Maine

Somewhere between the scented hot towel presented at check-in and the serving of “forest tea” made with foraged aromatics from the Maine woods, it becomes clear that dining at Elda, a Scandi-minimalist restaurant in a converted mill building, is going to be a transporting experience. I’m here during a quick, pre-holiday visit to Biddeford, and as I settle in to nibble on a prix fixe menu of local oysters, venison, and duck with morels, time slows down. Owners Bowman and Anna Brown have created a kind of atelier for refined, place-based cuisine, and by the time I get to the final course I’m nearly hypnotized with pleasure. 

This is a good thing, because tomorrow will be busy. The goal is to check some items off my gift list in a compact city center where it’s possible to duck out of the cold and into restaurants and cafés that have been earning raves in the national press. Biddeford’s recent revitalization has been so dramatic that it won a Great American Main Streets award from Main Street America, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In the morning, I throw the curtains open to a blast of daylight. The windows in the Lincoln Hotel are large by design: The building debuted as a water-powered textile mill 40 years before electricity came to Maine, so maximizing daylight was essential—an architectural element that proved a boon to the developers who took over the property in 2019. Downstairs, the lobby is bedecked with twinkling Christmas trees and soft velvet seating.

The relationship between Biddeford and its textile industry is as tightly woven as the sheets and blankets that were produced by a workforce of 10,000 mostly Franco-American immigrants. Now, these mill buildings are powered by a new kind of engine: the energy of great restaurants, bookstores, vintage shops, natural-wine bars, breweries, diners, and ice cream parlors to attract visitors to a once-neglected corner of America’s Vacationland.

To that end, there are three prime spots to begin any day. Time & Tide Coffee roasts its own beans, and its pistachio cream latte is my first, favorite flavor of the morning. Jackrabbit Café is a Scandinavian-inspired café from Bowman and Anna Brown that’s beloved for its cardamom buns and savory open-faced smørrebrød sandwiches with seasonal toppings. Alternatively, Palace Diner is a local legend, a tiny revived 1927 Pollard Dining Car commandeered by Greg Mitchell and Chad Conley, two veterans of Portland’s fine dining scene; the fluffy buttermilk flapjacks here are irresistible with a side of homemade corned-beef hash.

Mitchell and Conley have always credited the team at Elements, a local bookstore/café/bar, with helping to encourage their foray into Biddeford, and co-owner Michael Macomber has witnessed the town’s transformation. “Ten years ago you could do a day trip to Biddeford and shop and eat at a few places, but now, you can make a weekend of it,” he says. “The biggest difference is the sheer volume of people visiting and walking around downtown. And that has coincided with an enormous growth of businesses, particularly within hospitality and food and beverage industries.”

Speaking of business, it’s time to shop. Clothing and gift ideas abound at two representatives of Biddeford’s 21st-century textile industry, Suger and Wooven. The former is a combination boutique-café where owner Roxi Suger sells soft, sustainable, modular clothing that’s great for travel and made right in the old mill. Around the corner, Thanh “Albert” Nhan of Wooven sells beautiful linens, bags, and clothing made with recycled textiles sourced from Southeast Asia, as well as custom silk pieces crafted on-site. Meanwhile, the Maine woodsy vibe at Hills & Trails comes through in its pine-scented candles, arty bandanas, and custom silk-screened tees and sweatshirts. 

Let me pause here, raise my metaphorical shopping bags, and declare that all this walking and scouting is, indeed, hard work. Time for a break at Fish & Whistle, another restaurant opened by a couple who earned their fine-dining stripes in Portland. Fish and chips is the star here, but chef Jason Eckerson also makes a mean fish chowder that’s perfect for a winter warm-up.

Biddeford’s food scene also extends into retail: Nibblesford specializes in Maine-made cheeses and charcuterie boards, and staff can walk you through the finer points of pairing their nibbles with local craft beers. And Lorne Wine is a bar/wine store where you can snack and sip an array of natural wines, ciders, and beers, or just grab a bottle for home.

Walk a bit farther up Main Street and pause at the corner of York to take in a massive mural of a young boy in a red baseball cap holding a phone to his ear. In Slemani, Iraq, 5,000 miles away, a matching mural depicts a young girl at the other end of the line, holding her own phone. Called “One Blue Sky,” the murals were commissioned by Boston’s Good Works Foundation and painted by artist Pat Perry with input from students at Biddeford Intermediate School and Slemani’s International School of Choueifat. Lovely.

From here, you’re close to a trio of tasty spots. Sweetcream Dairy makes truly homemade ice cream (they even pasteurize their own milk), and ’tis the season for a roasted chestnut flavor produced with nuts from a University of New England program that is reviving the American chestnut. And, as we’re in one of the country’s epicenters of craft beer, Lucky Pigeon Brewing and Banded Brewing are both reasons to stop into the Pepperell Mill complex.

My list was long, but the day has grown short. Time for dinner. Magnus on Water serves small plates and seriously delicious cocktails. I savor the duck confit with lentil puree, a bitter greens salad, and one perfect French 75—light enough for the drive home and elegant enough to end the day with style. A happy holiday, indeed. 

See More: Guide to Biddeford, Maine | Eat, Stay, Play

Amy Traverso

More by Amy Traverso