Mill Inn & Cafe
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Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom |
Part of the newly redeveloped riverfront
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — In early August, a milestone was reached in the Riverfront Redevelopment Project at the downtown complex that has previously housed Moosehead Manufacturing as a ribbon-cutting ceremony welcomed the Mill Inn & Cafe as part of the renovations into a mixed-use building with the larger site also housing apartments and office space.
Nearly two months later the Mill Inn & Cafe, located at the front of the property next to East Main Street and the Piscataquis River dam, has six rooms for lodging and locally-produced foods and beverages from an espresso bar served seven days a week.
“We opened the 26th of August, the inn was open a few weeks before the cafe,” said Mill Inn & Cafe Manager Erin Cabot, who along with her husband Ben also operates the Cabot House Bed and Breakfast on West Main Street. “I have seven employees right now,” she added.
Six boutique guest rooms are available at the Mill Inn & Cafe, with each on the second floor of the brick building and divided on both sides of the hallway with each space varying in size. Five of the rooms have luxury king-size beds, the sixth room has a pair of luxury queen beds, and all have private bathrooms and complimentary Gigabit WiFi.
“They all have their little touches,” Cabot said, with each room having a unique decor. She said one of the rooms has a winter theme with ice fishing traps and snowshoes displayed on the wall and the multiple-bed room has both buoys and fishing line decorations.
Below the inn on the first floor is the cafe which offers ample indoor seating to gather with the large historic windows offering views of the river and surrounding area as well as an outdoor patio overlooking the water flowing over the dam.
“We have a great patio that is a public seating area,” Cabot said. “It’s really open for anybody to sit outside and listen to the river — it’s relaxing.”
She said customers order at the counter and then can take a seat wherever they want and stay for as long as they wish. “You can sit and relax and the things we offer are very good,” Cabot said. The emphasis is on local products, “that is our intention,” she said.
Menu offerings, which Cabot said she hopes to increase in the future as the cafe grows, are made in-house — such as the quiche of the day baked every morning — or by the Spruce Mill Farm & Kitchen on the Sangerville Line Road. She said the Spruce Mill Farm & Kitchen delivers items such as baked goods, including croissants, scones and oatmeal bars, and seasonal salads on Tuesdays. Customers can also select from gluten-free offerings at the Mill Inn & Cafe.
“Hopefully people will come back as we change and grow along with us,” Cabot said.
The Mill Inn & Cafe serves Wicked Joe Coffee, which Cabot said is organic and fair trade and is made in Topsham. “It is a Maine-based bean which our customers seem to like and personally I think it is the best espresso I have ever had,” she said.
On the other side of the front door to the cafe is what Cabot described as “the designated quiet room” without speakers playing the music heard on the other side of the first floor. She said the space is great for groups to meet and “hopefully will be a place for teens to study or if people have a craft group they can come here and enjoy.”
Cabot said events are being planned, with one being an open mic. “We have an our wine license,” she said, as “a jazz and wine evening” is also being planned for the Mill Inn & Cafe.
An artisan pie baking workshop is set for November with Natasha Colbry of the Spruce Mill Farm & Kitchen. Attendees will learn how to decorate their pies and can enjoy wine and cheese while their artisan pies bake at the cafe to then take home.
On Friday, Oct. 9 the first event at the Mill Inn & Cafe will feature poet and humorist Tom Lyford, who lives in the nearby mill apartments. He will present a night of nostalgia and humor at the Mill Cafe starting at 6 p.m.
The Mill Inn & Cafe is located at 5 East Main Street in Dover-Foxcroft, with the cafe open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends. For more information, go to www.dfmill.com or see “The Mill Inn & Cafe” on Facebook.
Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom
A PLACE TO SIT AND RELAX AND STAY — The Mill Inn & Cafe in Dover-Foxcroft offers ample seating space for customers to sit and relax, both indoors or on an outdoor patio, as well as a half dozen rooms at the upstairs boutique inn.
