Will Grunewald

Rockport

Editor in Chief at Down East Magazine

senior editor @MagazineofMaine

Featured in: Favicon

downeast.com Favicon

outsideonline.com Favicon

washingtonian.com Favicon

newsbreak.com Favicon

stevenspointjournal.com Favicon

deleciousfood.com

Articles

The Art of Saltwater Fly Tying

2 weeks ago | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

Fly-fishing and Maine, together, bring a number of things to mind straightaway: the quicksilver flash of brook trout, trailblazing guide “Fly Rod” Crosby, Carrie Stevens’s iconic Gray Ghost fly, casting from a sturdy Rangeley-style rowboat, the quietude of upland rivers and streams. Ever since the middle of the 19th century, when word of Maine’s big and abundant brookies reached the East Coast’s big cities, fly-fishing has been intrinsic to the state’s sporting culture.
Does Portland's Oun Lido’s Live Up to the Hype?

3 weeks ago | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

Oun Lido’s chef and co-owner BounahcreeKim, who goes by “Bones,” has a strong Portland pedigree. He cooked for several years at Cong Tu Bot, chef Vien Dobui’s lauded Vietnamese restaurant, and most recently worked at Miyake, the most venerable of the city’s sushi counters, and its sister noodle bar, Pai Men Miyake. At Miyake, where his brother is head chef, Kim was training to be sous chef when Dobui approached him about partnering to run his own kitchen in the city.
Brian Hughes Has Reinvented the Humble Garden Hoe

1 month ago | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

Since time immemorial, the humble hoe has been an essential implement of agriculture (and, consequently, civilization). Both the ancient Sumerians and ancient Chinese believed deities had conferred hoes upon mankind. Fast-forward to the present to find hoes leaning against sheds around the globe and featuring in innumerable YouTube and TikTok videos that tout their virtues — “Know Your Garden Hoe” or “What Your Favorite Kind of Hoe?” In Mozambique, a hoe even adorns the national flag.
3 Maine Ice Bars to Chill at This Winter

Jan 13, 2025 | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

Every winter brings ice bars to Maine, although the lineup tends to ebb and flow. One year, an ice bar pops up here. The next, maybe it doesn’t, but some other restaurant or hotel hosts one instead. Chalk it up to the fundamental nature of any object cut entirely from blocks of ice: there’s no storing it in the shed till next year.
Mainers Are Gathering Under the Stars

Nov 12, 2024 | downeast.com | Brian Kevin |Will Grunewald

“FLASHMOB!” is what Jon Silverman posted in all caps one recent Tuesday evening, alerting 555 members of the Central Maine Astronomical Society Facebook group that, after months of canceled events — a consequence of cloudy skies and smoke from western wildfires — conditions for the following evening were at last looking ideal: calm, clear skies and a new moon. And so, the next night, they gathered.
How to Photograph the Night Sky

Nov 7, 2024 | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

The first rule of astrophotography is to go somewhere far from bright lights — rural and remote. “Light pollution is more pronounced in photos because cameras are so much more sensitive to light than our eyes are, so it’s easy for stars to get washed out,” Williamson says. The darker the sky, the greater the likelihood of success. Set your alarm for the dead of night, well after nightfall and well before dawn.
4 Maine Soda Fountains Serving Up a Dose of Nostalgia

Aug 15, 2024 | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

I remember the first time I went to an old-fashioned soda fountain as a kid. I was maybe 12 or 13, and new owners had just reopened a 1920s drugstore not far from where my family lived, in Pittsburgh. The owners had ditched the drugs but retained the ice cream, the pop (the regional term for soda), and the old marble countertops, swivel stools, and stainless-steel fountain equipment. At the time, it felt like a very adult experience, like sidling up to the bar at an old-time pub.
Where Is "Down East" Maine Anyway?

Jul 22, 2024 | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

Driving over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge never fails to stir a certain hard-to-define feeling, a mixture of awe and calm and anticipation conjured up by the span’s swooping lines, the sight of its namesake river slowly unspooling seaward, and the impression, however foggy, of crossing a threshold. Coming from the south, the midcoast is all of a sudden in the rearview, and the down east region lies somewhere ahead. But exactly where down east begins has long been a source of disagreement.
Where to Eat In and Around Acadia National Park On Any Budget | Down East Magazine

Jul 5, 2024 | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

From popovers to lobster rolls to French-inspired entrées, here’s where to dine on Mount Desert Island.
Where to Stay While Visiting Acadia National Park

Jun 20, 2024 | downeast.com | Will Grunewald

Acadia and a whiff of refinement have always gone hand in hand, owing to the robber barons and other well-heeled rusticators who transformed Mount Desert Island into a leisure destination in the 19th century. Nowadays, vacationers who prefer their outdoorsy adventures mixed with sophistication still have plenty of options, especially around Bar Harbor.