Est. 2019
Our Story
A Fire Built to Last
Tide & Ember was born from a single evening in 2017, when Mara and Thomas Callahan sat at a small harbor-side table in Kennebunkport and looked at each other over plates of lobster and said: this is the restaurant we want to run. Two years later, they did exactly that.
Thomas had spent a decade in the kitchens of Boston and Portland, learning French technique, unlearning the excess of it, before landing on what he actually wanted to cook: food that tastes like the Maine coast, elevated by fire, local ingredients, and restraint.
Sourced Within the State
Every protein on our menu comes from Maine: lobster hauled from the Atlantic each morning by a family fleet out of Wells Harbor, scallops dived from the floor of the Gulf, halibut and cod brought in fresh daily. We work directly with the fishermen so we know exactly when and where each catch comes from.
Our produce comes from three farms within fifteen miles: Broadturn Farm in Scarborough, Snell Family Farm in Buxton, and our own kitchen garden behind the restaurant. What grows together, goes together. Maine seasons are short and beautiful.
Head Chef
Thomas Callahan
Executive Chef & Co-Founder
Chef Thomas trained under James Beard–nominated chefs in Boston before returning to Maine, where he grew up fishing, clamming, and eating lobster rolls on the dock. His cooking is defined by restraint, letting an ingredient's origin do most of the talking, and by the wood-fired hearth at the center of our kitchen, which has been burning every service since opening night.
Day-Boat Seafood
Maine lobster, scallops, and fin fish sourced fresh daily from local fleets.
Local Farms
Produce and proteins from three partner farms within 15 miles of our kitchen.
The Fire
Our wood-fired hearth has been burning every service since 2019. Never gas.
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