It was a cool night for a hot event at Ash Point Estate in Owl’s Head, where the community gathered to raise funds for Trekkers, one of the most beloved nonprofit organizations in the Midcoast. Present were Primo, The Alna Store, Thomaston’s Barbecue Place Station 118, Wiley’s on Main, Buttermilk at Marriner’s, Chase’s Daily, and The Causeway Restaurant. For the second year in a row, The Causeway Restaurant from Spruce Head won the competition. 

Executive Chef Gil Plaster led the team, and cooked alongside Adrian Martinez and Sophie Brooks on a bite that proved more delicious than all the other tasty morsels served that evening. It’s tough to beat bacon-wrapped Medjool dates with fruitwood bacon, cream cheese, chorizo, and cherry mostarda. It’s sweet, salty, smoky, and decadent all at once. The chefs on site were simmering the slightly tart mostarda over an open flame, the dynamic gimmick of the annual summer event. The sauce reduces to an unctuous jam that pairs perfectly with pork. 

Greg Soutiea, who owns The Causeway along with his wife, Lauren, and is a longtime supporter of Trekkers, noted that the energy this year was electric. And the competition was fierce. Primo has been a leader in the slow food, farm-to-table-nose-to-tail scene before most people had ever heard those terms. The Alna Store was nominated for a James Beard Award 2024 for Best New Restaurant. The other contenders are popular, enduring, and well-regarded across the board. It is not an exaggeration to say that every team brought an outstanding dish. 

From their website: “Trekkers is a non-profit, outdoor-based mentoring program that cultivates the inherent strengths of young people through the power of long-term mentoring relationships.” Select students in grades 7 - 12 participate in road trip adventures and civic minded activities in which they learn to become self-directed, capable, ethical human beings, while having so much fun they forget they don’t have their phones. Fired Up 2025 raised an incredible $150,000, which directly benefits the young adults of MidCoast Maine. 

Keep an eye out for the iconic green and white Trekkers buses piled high with duffel bags and sleeping bags and packed with excited children when you travel around New England’s green spaces. And do not miss an opportunity to indulge in the award-winning Bacon Wrapped Dates at The Causeway, located on the ocean at 5 3rd Street in Spruce Head.