Spring and early summer sprinkled Maine with new vegetarian eateries, new vegetarian products and new vegetarian menus. Here’s a look at the latest plant-based food news.

The arrival of tourist season saw Bar Harbor vegetarian restaurant Cottage Street Ramen celebrating a year in business, and the new all-vegetarian Bom Dia smoothie and coffee shop open at 47 India Street in Portland with a menu of smoothie bowls, coffees and bagels. Also in Portland, about 130 people turned out in June to hear bestselling author Dr. Michael Greger discuss his latest book, “How Not to Age,” which examines the healing power of plants.

On July 28 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the all-vegetarian Frinklepod Farm in Arundel is hosting its latest Pop-Up Market with 10 vendors, including Midcoast Vegan, SAO Cooks & Catering and The Whole Almond. Be sure to enjoy a dish of Frinklepod’s soft serve plant-based ice cream.

Michael Schneider and Brittany Wallingford with their son Lincoln, 3, in front of their new all-vegan Beanies Food Truck, which is in Belfast for the summer and will return to Kingfield in the fall. Photo by Carrie McHale

Vegan food truck drives into Belfast

After launching in Kingfield in April, the all-vegan Beanies Food Truck rolled into Belfast for the summer earlier this month in its purple 1966 Ford Grumman van. It is parked outside the Mainely Gallery & Studio at 181 Searsport Ave.

“Our staples are burgers and tacos,” said Michael Schneider, who owns the business with Brittany Wallingford. “We make homemade tortillas and we fry them on the grill to order.”

Beanies’ most popular item, he said, is the pinto bean taco, though the Korean BBQ burger with kimchi and pickled onions; and the gluten-free quinoa bowl with kale, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts and avocado are also well-loved. The truck also serves iced tea, smoothies and espresso. Each meal comes with apple chips, a nod to Wallingford’s childhood growing up on the Wallingford Fruit Farm in Auburn, and the truck tries to source local and organic ingredients.

Beanies Food Truck will stay in Belfast through the summer, after which Schneider and Wallingford plan to return to Kingfield for the winter. There, find the truck parked at 396 Main St. Check social media for hours and daily specials in both locations.

The all-vegetarian A Coffeehouse opened at 252 Main St. in Waterville on Memorial Day. Photo by Allison Grozik

Vegetarian coffee shop opens in Waterville

A Coffeehouse, a vegetarian coffee shop in downtown Waterville, opened in late spring, serving a full coffee and tea menu, along with baked goods, bagels (vegan or Montreal-style made with eggs), smoothies, fruit juice mocktails and hearty vegan salads.

“I felt Waterville doesn’t have enough third spaces to gather, talk about books, listen to music and talk politics,” said shop owner Jenny Allen, who owns the building with her husband. “So I thought it would be great for the community of Waterville if we opened a place like that.”

A Coffeehouse, at 252 Main St., serves Equal Exchange coffee; both plant-based and dairy milks are available. Allen said she decided to make the shop vegetarian as a way to offer healthful choices and to give Waterville a much-needed vegetarian restaurant. The decision makes the kitchen’s job easier, since “meat is just gross to handle,” she said.

Open mic time is always available at A Coffeehouse, Allen said, adding that specific open mic nights may be scheduled in the future. The coffee shop is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays. She plans to expand the hours when Colby College students return in the fall.

This rustic barn in Mount Vernon is now the site of the all-vegetarian Rooted Dinners, a prix fixe meal held twice a week through October. Photo courtesy of Edible Elements Catering

Veg dinners pop up in Mount Vernon

Chef and caterer Annalisa McAllister of Edible Elements Catering in Mount Vernon is hosting Rooted Dinners, a series of all-vegetarian, multi-course meals sourced from local farms and eaten in a rustic barn. The prix fixe dinners are scheduled to continue through October.

“Our intention is to honor and celebrate local farmers and the simple joy of the seasons through vegetarian dining,” McAllister told me.

A recent nine-course dinner included maple butter bread boards with grilled peaches; polenta rounds with caramelized onions; roasted red pepper soup; and summer risotto with mushrooms, corn and zucchini. The meal concluded with dark chocolate Bundt cake with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and white chocolate ice cream.

The dinners begin at 6 p.m. and are held at 29 Blake Hill Rd. The cost is $95, excluding wine, beer and nonalcoholic drinks. Seats must be reserved in advance. Upcoming summer dinners take place on July 25 and 26, and Aug. 2,  3, 8 and 9. View the full schedule at edibleelementscatering.com/rooted.

Veg menus added in Georgetown and Westbrook

At least two non-vegetarian area restaurants added plant-based menus this season. The Osprey in Georgetown now offers a vegan and vegetarian menu featuring entrees such as local ale-battered tofu, grilled local mushrooms with mashed potato and broccoli, and Parisian gnocchi. In Westbrook, Bamboo Bistro added a full vegan menu, which offers pho tofu, vegan beef Korean bowls, vegan pad Thai and coconut curry.

Newcastle, Biddeford and Island Falls news

Plant-based restaurant and market Salt + Pepper Social in Newcastle has reopened for the season and now serves dinner Thursday through Monday. The restaurant has added smoothie bowls to its daytime menu. This spring, Biddeford-based Tootie’s Tempeh launched its first flavored tempeh, a curry variety. Bay Bowls, with locations in Portland and Brunswick, has announced plans to open another all-vegetarian smoothie bowl shop at 288 Main St. in Biddeford.

Meanwhile, the all-vegetarian Sewall House Yoga Retreat in Island Falls is hosting a week-long Vegan Cooking Workshop Sept. 8 through Sept. 13. Retreat owner Donna Davidge will teach the workshop, covering breads, salads, main dishes and desserts. The workshop costs $500 and accommodations can be booked in the historic house built by Davidge’s great-grandfather, William Sewall, who hosted Theodore Roosevelt there many times.

Avery Yale Kamila is a food writer who lives in Portland. She can be reached at avery.kamila@gmail.com