Blending Food and Love: A dream realized at Brackish River Bistro in Winterport

WRITTEN BY ANNE GABBIANELLI

Bethany Gregory, chef and owner of Brackish River Bistro in Winterport, is no stranger to a kitchen.

“I grew up with my grandparents, and I was constantly in my grandmother Mabel’s ‘little ole’ paneled kitchen.” That was in upstate New York in a town called Candor.

As she recalled the various recipes concocted by her idol, Gregory said, “I can make them all by heart.”

That love of food led Gregory on many journeys, from New York to Cape Cod to Bangor and now Winterport, with her own eatery: Brackish River Bistro.

“I catered a bridal shower in this space over a year ago and found it was literally a turnkey operation. I willed it to become mine even when the process was slow, and I wasn’t sure if it would truly happen since it took months to make it a reality,” she said.

Brackish River Bistro’s home shares a building with Winterport Winery. The location is right across the road from where the freshwater of the Penobscot River is blended with salt water, so Gregory said it was easy to come up with a name for her new business. She is amazed at the number of customers who ask what “brackish” means.

Gregory, who studied at the International Culinary Academy in Pittsburgh, will tell you she is “food obsessed” with a passion for vegan dishes.

“Farm-to-table was our life long before farm-to-table was cool. And as an older Irish woman, [my grandmother] Mabel’s recipes should have been bland. They were not,” Gregory said. “My grandmother had a flair for flavor, and it didn’t matter where the recipes or item originated.”

Brackish River Bistro’s menu is a blend of comfort foods and more sophisticated options. Mabel’s Table selections include loaded potato shepherd’s pie, eggplant parmesan, and fish and chips, while other choices include beer-braised short ribs, wild mushroom heirloom tomato pasta, and a surf-and-turf board.

“I decided to split my menu, half comfort and half upscale,” Gregory said. “Much of my menu is gluten free, and overall just about anything I make that’s vegan I love intensely and is bursting with flavor unfamiliar to many.”

There is an expansive grab-and-go coffee bar and bakery section, along with a varied menu of bistro bites, sandwiches, salads and soups, kid’s menu, breakfast, brunch, and Maine-inspired cocktails to spice up the menu. Not to mention mouthwatering specials like bacon and pea bucatini carbonara and potato skins Florentine.

While Brackish River Bistro has been in business less than a year, Gregory is pleased to have a restaurant that is not just seasonal. Her catering business carries her through any quiet winter days the restaurant business may experience.

“I’ve been in love with Maine since I first visited here more than 13 years ago,” she said.

Several years later, a trip to Bar Harbor sparked dreams of her future in Maine.

“Ultimately, I wish to own a guest house [in Bar Harbor] with the intention of that being where I will spend my golden years.”

Although Mabel passed away when Gregory was in her early 20s, she knows the woman who sparked her love for food would be proud of her accomplishments. Laboring in the kitchen for the evening special of wild mushroom and short rib stroganoff, Gregory knows the family matriarch is still present as she proudly displays her body art dedicated to her grandmother.

“Her spoon is tattooed to my arm, so that when I stir things, it’s still her coming through,” Gregory said.

Learn more about Brackish River Bistro on Facebook.