Cloud-dappled golden sunlight pours across Longwoods Preserve as families, their pooches dozing tableside on the outdoor terrace, sample pickled veggies plucked from the surrounding gardens. Their laughter and the clinking of silverware is pierced by a goose’s cry from across the field. She’s one of the guardians who lives among the farm’s chickens, tasked with alerting the flock to predators. At Wander, seemingly everything has a symbiotic relationship.
Forget farm to table, this is table on farm. Ambarona Farm, to be exact. It’s a project springing from the partnership between local conservationists Alex Timpson and Joe Atwood, Maine Farmland Trust, and Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust. Initially bought as conservation land, it then evolved to include a 65-acre regenerative agriculture farm. Over time, the vision morphed further to include a restaurant and bar—intended to both showcase the foods grown using sustainable practices and also educate the community about why those practices are crucial to both supporting the local food community and fighting climate change.
“Regenerative agriculture is everything now,” says Jordan McDuffie, an army veteran and farmer who moved to Maine from Colorado with his wife, Molly, to work on the project. They live on and steward the farm together, executing regenerative practices that are key to land health—like multi-species rotational grazing and forestry management. “The decisions we make today have impacts for generations,” he says, adding: “Another part of that is to reduce waste in every way we can.”
In the kitchen, that means executive chef Kevin Moran and chef de cuisine Rich Maggi make as much use as possible of everything from the farm—often employing multiple parts of every last ingredient. The edible calendula flowers that Molly plants, for example, create graceful accents on dishes, while their leaves add a welcome crunch and subtle bitterness to salads. What they can’t get from their own land, they source from a consortium of neighbors like Springbrook Farm, thus supporting yet more small local farms who share a sustainable approach.
The result? Food that’s teeming with direct, clean flavors. Take the St. Fergus pizza—a crackly-crusted pie with a white base that balances assertive and soothing toppings: One bite is all briny capers, sea salt, and mozzarella, the next is house-made bone marrow butter with breadcrumbs and red onions. And the buttery wild mushroom confit over bean purée, scattered as it is with crisped-up toast corners.
Meanwhile, the chefs make ample use of the farm’s maple and apple trees, which can be found in the seasonal crisp à la mode. “We maximize the use of everything,” says Jordan. “It’s insanely fun to constantly figure out that puzzle.”
Pre-dinner, Molly recommends taking a cocktail to the terrace before exploring their ever-growing trail network. You might even see some sculptures by Maine artists scattered throughout. Furry friends are welcome on the trails as well, as long as they are leashed.
Wander has proven to be a treasure for those living around Cumberland. This local spot operates with strong community values that support their sustainable mission. There’s something magical about pulling up to a restaurant and seeing where the ingredients are grown. And yet, for all the food and nature, there’s also an intangible factor at play: The high-voltage, joyful energy that results when lots of people get together in a place around an invigorating idea. That excitement looms here—indoors and out, harmoniously.
