Jodie Roquemore adjusts the open flag outside Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery in Wiscasset on Sunday, July 2. The business just celebrated its first anniversary. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo)
After spending the last year establishing her popular breakfast and lunch spot on Route 1, Jodie Roquemore, owner of Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery in Wiscasset, is leveling up. On June 27 she purchased Sarah’s Cafe, one of the town’s most well-loved and longtime businesses, and will shift her focus from breakfast to dinner.
Roquemore, who migrated north from Georgia and who greets all her customers with “ma’am” or “sir”, is looking forward to the challenge of expanding on the Southern style hospitality that quickly became a signature at her first location.
In May 2022 Roquemore, along with manager and baker Julie Bellefleur, created a hybrid eatery combining classic elements of the Southern cooking Roquemore grew up with, the local diner-style favorites customers craved, and the made-from-scratch baked goods Bellefleur built her reputation on as the owner of Newcastle’s Bellefleur Bakery and Catering.
Roquemore’s Southern hospitality has melded well with Maine’s deeply rooted sense of community. The small gray building just south of Birch Point Road is regularly packed, with customers flowing out onto the attached deck.
That overflowing business is one of the main reasons Roquemore jumped at the chance when Sarah Heald decided to retire and sell Sarah’s Cafe. The premier waterfront location has at least double the capacity of Roquemore’s current space.
While Jodie’s Cafe is known for its breakfast offerings, Roquemore sees the new location in the heart of Wiscasset as more of a lunch and dinner spot.
She hasn’t completely ruled out breakfast, though. She said it will depend on whether she can source enough staff to maintain the same level of quality and service she currently offers.
“I don’t want to do anything halfway,” she said.
She also wants to do justice to her predecessor. Roquemore is extremely cognizant of the special place Sarah’s Cafe held in the hearts of its customers.
“It is a bit intimidating — she’s an amazing person,” she said of Heald and her successful 30 year run, which ended June 23. “She built a really great business.”
While Roquemore is still in the early stages of planning — she has not even settled on a name for the new restaurant — she wants to combine elements of the two restaurants to build something that will satisfy the clientele of both.
With the purchase of Heald’s business, Roquemore also gained access to the iconic recipes Sarah’s Cafe was known for. While the menu will change, a number of Sarah’s Cafe favorites will still be represented, and Roquemore hopes that Heald’s customers will give her a chance to show what she can do.
Jodie Roquemore stands for a photo at Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery in Wiscasset on Sunday, July 2. As of June 27, Roquemore is the new owner of Sarah’s Cafe, an iconic Midcoast eatery, also located in Wiscasset. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo)
Roquemore is also retaining a lot of the existing staff. While she has been able to manage the smaller Jodie’s Cafe in a challenging staffing environment, the larger restaurant will need more hands on deck and she feels fortunate that so many will stay on.
“I’ve been impressed with all of them. They know what they’re doing and they’re quick to do it,” she said. “They’re just really hard, good workers.”
Roquemore wants to open August 1, but admits it may be a bit optimistic. She said the timeline is really dependent on licensing and state inspections and she does not yet know how long those processes may take.
While she is doing a few smaller renovations — new carpet, new paint, a few minor repairs — Sarah’s Cafe has been an operating restaurant so the necessary infrastructure is in place and operational.
Roquemore will close the Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery location once the new location is ready to open.
“I just don’t think that I would be able to give my best to both of them,” she said.
She’ll keep it running until then, though. She wants to keep her staff employed and she said she would miss the customers if she didn’t get to see them every week.
“We need to keep the ball rolling until we move down there,” she said.
Roquemore sees the larger kitchen as one of the best features of her new location. She is already looking at ways to bring the South to supper offerings.
Roquemore really wants to bring a low country boil to the menu — something she’s wanted to do since she first conceived of opening a restaurant in New England. A low country boil consists of shrimp, crawfish, red potatoes, ears of corn, smoked sausage, and Old Bay seasoning, all cooked together and then dumped out on a newspaper-covered tray.
“You can add all kinds of stuff,” she said.
She’s trying to source alligator meat but so far no luck. She hasn’t given up though.
“You fry it in little nuggets — gator nuggets — and it tastes kind of like chicken,” she said. “You know we like to fry everything in the South.”
She also has a recipe for fried pimiento cheese balls, served with pepper jelly.
“I’m going to definitely try to do that as long as I can get them to turn out right. I’ll have to practice,” she said. “I’m always experimenting — that’s how you grow.”
Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery is located at 277 Bath Road in Wiscasset. For more information, call 687-8204 or find the business on Facebook.
