Boothbay Harbor Fest 2019 Best Bites

First Place: Kaler’s Restaurant:  Lobster Poutine—poached lobster, Pineland farms cheese curds, lobster gravy, smoked bacon, BBQ French onions, micro greens dressed with jalapeño white balsamic vinegar on BBQ potato chips

Second Place: Fisherman’s Wharf: Teriyaki house hot smoked salmon with wakame seaweed soba noodle salad, charred peanut sauce, and miso tempura flake! 

Third Place (a 3-way tie!!): Thistle Inn: The Thistle Inn Crab Cake—Peeky toe crab, panko bread crumbs, egg, corn, and spices, over a julienne vegetable salad with honey vinaigrette, red pepper coulis, and paprika aioli; Harborside Tavern:  Pimento cheese fritter with bacon-onion jam; Caper’s Deli: Beef sliders—thinly sliced beef on potato rolls with red wine, mushroom, and blue cheese sauce.

Boothbay Harbor Fest 2019 Cocktails Winners

First Place:  Thistle Inn - Over the Edge - Cold River Vodka, vanilla syrup, amaretto, passion fruit, allspice dram and pineapple juice

Second Place: Kaler’s Restaurant -  Bloody Knuckles -  Cold River Voda, house-made mixer, celery, Spanish loves, lemon, fresh Maine lobster knuckle, Old Bay seasoning ... and a few secrets.

Third Place:  Harborside Tavern - : Housemade lavender lemonade and Cold River Vodka garnished with lemon and a lavender sprig.
Details: garnished with lavender sprig and lemon

Honorable Mentions

All 15 tasting locations were winners for participating, but we do wish to give an extra shout out to those who went above and beyond to wow their crowd:

Whales Tale hosted a luau on Friday night complete with décor and costumes!

Thistle Inn gave out lobster jewelry and prizes, which included a grand prize gift certificate of $100!!!

Kaler’s added fun stickers to each tasting passport and adorned their drinks with colorful straws. Their nautical food display was decorated beautifully, and their staff wore festive attire.

Mine Oyster booked outstanding dance party bands both nights to entertain the late night crowd.

Cod’s Head got a special permit for added outdoor space, making the grand finale party SO MUCH FUN that the last shuttle of the weekend went home empty because the crowd didn’t want to leave!

Maine Magazine Food Editor, Susan Axelrod’s Tasting Faves: Kaler's Lobster Poutine for doing something new and crazy-good with lobster, plus Instagram wow factor; Harborside’s Pimento Cheese Fritter with Bacon-Onion Jam for knock-it-out-of-the-park deliciousness;  Fisherman’s Wharf’s Teriyaki House Hot Smoked Salmon for creativity and starting Saturday on a high note ... and ...Thistle Inn’s Crab Cake for being the perfect rendition of a classic, but also for their cheerful, “show must go on” attitude in the face of kitchen equipment failure!