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Workshops — Taste the Flavours of Maine
A fabulous food adventure — EAT LOVE MAINE 
Experience a fun, interactive workshop or tasting experience with Chef Karina Hines to connect you with local artisan foods and the flavours of Maine.

Dip & Crudite
Karina eating something local
Dulse & Sage Martinis - Seaweed
Maine Cheese with Loca Blueberry Conserve
Karina Harbourside Fish Market
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Oyster River Pet Nat
Toasted Tofu, Tomato & Basil Bites
Seaweed Squares
Scallops & Iberico Ham
Summer Bruschetta Tasting
Split Rock Gin Martinis
Sashimi Summer Squash
Coast Seafood Tasting

 Workshops & Tastings

EAT LOVE MAINE

Our workshops invite you to connect with the abundance of Maine’s coastline, the diversity of local farms, and the craftsmanship of regional artisans.

Together, we explore the very best of Maine’s food and drinks. Choose your flavour adventure and experience Chef Karina’s fun, interactive curated food + drink pairings, guided by what’s in season and the region’s best ingredients.

What our workshops have to offer you…

  • Curated Maine Tasting Adventure — you get to sample a wide selection of fabulous local foods + drinks.
  • Eat Local — from fresh seafood + in-season produce to a statewide selection of artisan-crafted Maine foods.

  • Drink Local Pairings— from coffee + craft sodas & wild ferments to craft beers, wines + small-batch spirits.

  • Get hands-on or sit back, relax, watch, sip, taste + enjoy.
  • Immersive foodie experience with lots of “tasting the magic of Maine” with food-nerd insights + information
  • Meet passionate people who truly love + live + eat local.

EAT LOVE MAINE — book a curated tasting adventure with us.


Workshops + Tasting Experiences — choose your adventure!

We work with you to curate your experience based on your choice of flavour and spirit for adventure. You can choose an immersive demonstration workshop or roll up your sleeves and create your own boards and platters with chef Karina's guidance and the ingredients she gathers for you. Choose your drink preferences and inform us of any dietary needs. We can easily accommodate gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan + food allergies. We have a great gluten-free brewery in Maine.

 

INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS

Maine Seaweed Tasting Workshop

Explore common coastal Maine seaweeds and taste a selection of seaweeds and Chef Karina's blends, local foods, and drinks made with our magical coastal Maine seaweeds and in-season ingredients. Make a fabulous seaweed-infused cocktail or mocktail.

 

Maine Lobster Tasting Workshop
Learn how to shell and pick a whole Maine lobster and prepare simple, in-season accompaniments in this hands-on tasting workshop. Each guest receives a whole cooked lobster to shell and eat, paired with your choice of wines, beers, spirits, sparkling sodas or kombucha.

 

Shake + Shuck — Maine Martini Making & Oyster Shucking Workshop
A hands-on workshop where you shake up some fabulous local gins and vodkas to create your own Maine martini and stir in some lovely local botanicals. Shuck and slurp some of the very best oysters served with Chef Karina's wild Maine-infused condiments flight. 

 


TASTING EXPERIENCES

Pine Tree State Smoked Seafood Selection — Wine, Beer + Bubbles Pairings

Explore a great selection of smoked fish and seafood from local smokehouses, traditionally smoked over a mix of hardwoods and fruitwoods, and served with in-season and locally made accompaniments. Paired with your choice of wines, beers, spirits, sparkling sodas or kombucha.

Beer & Butcher’s Boards — Craft Beers, Bubbles + Artisanal Meat & Charcuterie
A selection of Maine beers, sparkling sodas, kombucha or natural wine, paired with local charcuterie, handmade sausages and cured meats, served with a great selection of locally made pickles and accompaniments.

Cheese & Creamery Collection —  Curated Cheeses with Wine + Bubbles Pairings
A selection of award-winning local cheeses, dairy delights served with a great selection of locally made accompaniments and paired with your choice of wines, beers, spirits, sparkling sodas or kombucha.

Seacuterie Collection — Local Tinned Fish + Chips Tasting
A great selection of local tinned fish and chips, served with fun seaweeds and in-season accompaniments and paired with your choice of wines, beers, spirits, sparkling sodas or kombucha. 

Maine Meze Plant-based Platters — with Botanical Cocktails + Mocktails
A selection of great local plant-based bites and in-season farm fresh vegetables and locally made accompaniments, paired with cocktails and mocktails that you make using lovely local botanicals.

 

We offer group gifts, available for advance bookings — like our EAT LOVE MAINE SHAKE & SHUCK KIT to take home and get you started.  

Seaweed Sushi Squares

EAT LOVE MAINE

A Flavourful Fun Food Adventure

What’s Included in the Workshops + Tastings

  • 1 ½ – 2 hour food exploration with Chef Karina Hines.
  • Your tasting is a curated Food + Drink Pairing
    — choose your drink preferences when you book.
  • Enjoy pairings with local coffees, teas, sparkling sodas, wild ferments, wines, beers, and small-batch spirits.
  • A taste immersion into the season + real local flavours.
  • Learn chef tips, about local foods + seasonal ingredients.
  • Adaptable to meet your dietary needs + food allergies.
  • 1-month subscription to Botanical Kitchen’s recipes.
  • Exclusive discounts from local businesses we love.
Chef Karina Hines eating

“Eat local food for real flavour.  Where our food comes from, how it is grown, raised,  gathered and made impacts flavour, our health and the health
of our environment".


Karina Hines

An Australian chef and food nerd living in Portland, Maine, who is passionate about connecting people with where their food comes from and seasonal flavours.

Food as Medicine Chef + BK Founder + CFNC


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Other Cooking Classes + Workshops + Wellness Programs We Offer