A restaurant serving small-plate-style American cuisine will soon open in a downtown Camden space that used to be a small food market and a coffee shop.
The eatery, called Winona’s, will accommodate just six parties at a time and only serve dinner by reservation. Owners Devin Dearden, 32, and Hannah Adams, 34, mostly plan to run the operation on their own, with no other staff.
“When I was younger, I always thought I wanted to have a bigger operation, tons of employees, but as I worked in many different restaurants, my dreams got a little smaller and more manageable. I’m excited to have a place that’s just the two of us,” Dearden said.
Adams and Dearden, who are a couple, have named the restaurant after their pet cat, Winona, who is featured in a logo above their doorway and on their Instagram page.
They still have not decided on an opening date as they wait for their licensing but are aiming for late September or early October. They’re opening at 31 Elm St., which used to serve as the food market Goods. Before that, it was Zoot Coffee, which has since moved to a bigger spot on Elm Street.
Besides the fact that Adams and Dearden don’t identify as “morning people,” they’re excited to offer dinner-time meals because that style of food is more to their taste.
As the chef, Dearden said he plans to change his menu based on the time of year and what’s available from local vendors.
Among the early dishes he plans to serve are Cod en Papillote, a piece of fish cooked in parchment paper and steamed in the oven, then doused in tomato butter and daikon and served with shiitake mushrooms, Dearden said in an interview. Their drink selection will include beer, wine and sake.
“If you were to order the entire menu, it could be eaten like a tasting menu, but it’s essentially all going to be a la carte,” Dearden said. “The type of food is very seasonally driven. I guess ‘new American’ would be a good phrase for it, but I get inspiration from a lot of different cuisines.”
The pair has lived in Maine for the past seven years and moved to Camden recently from Wiscasset. They have both worked at the Alna Store, which was a semifinalist for the highly competitive James Beard Award in the Best New Restaurant Category, according to Portland Food Map.
Other menu items they’re planning include roasted pork and pozole, salmon with roasted carrots, and roasted beets and apples with a smoked cheddar vinaigrette and pistachios, among other things. He does plan to recycle certain techniques with different themes or ingredients. With en papillote, for instance, he may substitute in another fish, sauce, or garnish.
Dearden, who graduated in 2013 from the Culinary Institute of America, said he sees Winona’s as the completion of a long-held dream of having his own establishment. While he and Adams are unsure what the future holds, their lease will be for three years.
“We like the way it feels, the way Maine feels,” Adams said, “so we’re super excited to be up here.”
