NOURISH brought farmers, artists, chefs, volunteers, and neighbors to the same table—and raised money for an organization built on the belief that feeding people can also feed a community.
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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by ArtWaves.
BAR HARBOR—By the time Kathryn Strand declared she’d just had her best meal of the year, the people at the long tables had already been doing what Open Table MDI has always hoped people would do.
They had been talking.
They had been laughing and leaning toward one another, passing butter and water down the table, learning names, sharing stories, worrying, smiling, having new ideas.
Farmers and artists, cooks and volunteers and development directors, EMTs and PhDs, people who had come alone and people who had come together, all of them had found themselves, for a little while, in the same place on Cottage Street in Bar Harbor.
The meal they’d just had was five courses of beautiful food, much of it grown or made nearby.
But the real things being served were harder to put on a plate: friendship, community, conversation, and kind generosity.
NOURISH, the locally sourced dinner was a fundraiser for Open Table, was about the food, but just like Open Table MDI, it was about more than that. It was about community and people helping people, people listening to people, strangers becoming friends.
When Open Table MDI began hosting community dinners in 2018, co-founder Puranjot Kaur told the Mount Desert Islander’s Samuel Shepherd, “We are all about feeding people and providing an opportunity for the community to come together. We feel like that helps community members inspire one another.”
Open Table, much like the former Food For All (that had been hosted at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church) were meant to bring community together, to inspire, for people to make friends and to nourish each other.
The organization’s official mission is “to inspire strong, loving, and inclusive communities by bringing people together to share in nourishing food.”
NOURISH was meant to help raise funds so that Open Table MDI can continue its community-building programs.
As the press release states, “ In keeping with Open Table MDI’s community-oriented mission, NOURISH drew upon the island’s talents: harpist Phoebe Durand accompanied the entire evening, while fine artwork from oil, watercolor, and textile artists adorned the walls. Professional gardeners donated their materials and time to create seasonal floral arrangements for the tables, and local chefs and bakers popped in to create signature menu items.”
That’s a lot of people combining and giving to make an event happen.
Between courses, Kaur spoke to those gathered and described each course.
The farms and businesses where the food came from were named and included Bar Harbor Farm, Beech Hill Farm, Peggy Rockefeller Farm, Moon Beam Farm, Triple Chick Farm, Fuzzy Udder, Middle Earth Mushrooms, Peekytoe Provisions, and more.
Co-Founder and Executive Director Mahandeva Singh and Lead Chef and Community Coordinator D Laninga led the kitchen team. Food was finished, plated, garnished, and a mostly volunteer serving staff brought those plates to long tables, beautifully adorned with floral arrangements.
Singh, explained in a letter, in August 2025, that he was stepping down as Open Table MDI’s head chef permanently.
“Just over a year ago, I had major surgery—one that most people take two to three years to fully recover from. When I came back in May to continue running the supper, I thought I was strong enough. I was not. Each week, my body told me it was too much,” he’d explained.
The community responded with well wishes and love, the board explained and called Singh’s letter “a testament to his passion, dedication, and the joy he has poured into this community.”
Singh continued as the organization’s executive director. In January 2026, Open Table MDI reopened with the hiring of D Laninga as Open Table MDI’s new lead chef and community coordinator.
“Cooking has long been D’s creative outlet and grounding force,” a press release at the time said. “With years of experience cooking for community pop-ups, large dinners, and volunteer meal programs (including volunteering for Open Table MDI!), she brings a joyful, inclusive approach to the kitchen.”
That joy and inclusion was evident at NOURISH where hugs and cheers abounded, where those working the door made everyone feel loved and welcomed, where introductions across the fancy dinnerware became the beginnings of new friendships.
“I love the challenge of making food that works for everyone,” Laninga had said in that January press release. “Food should make people feel cared for and at home.”
That happened at the fundraising event, too.
Since it was founded, Open Table MDI has given 100,000 meals through its Tuesday night suppers and food deliveries.
The organization’s Quietside Supper in Southwest Harbor was piloted and began this year.
“Bringing our community table to the Quietside has been a long-held intention of Open Table MDI, and this pilot program brings us one step closer to fulfilling that dream,” Singh said at the time. “With D at the helm, our board by her side, and the generosity of St. John’s Church, Southwest Harbor will soon have a new place where neighbors gather, share a meal, and know they are not alone.”
There were five courses Friday night, and there were flowers on the tables and music in the room, and there were farmers who had given food and artists who had given beauty and cooks and servers who had given their time.
However, what Open Table MDI has been building since 2018 cannot be measured in courses.
It is there in the 100,000 meals already served, in the people who keep coming back, in the strangers who sit down and leave knowing one another’s names.
Singh once said the organization was about feeding people and giving the community a chance to inspire one another. Kaur echoed and embodied that message Friday night, too. With Laninga and Singh in the kitchen and a room full of people gathered around table after table, the truth of their words was in the action and the faces and the very best meal of the year.
SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
NOURISH was Open Table MDI’s first event like this. McKay’s Public House, Sea Princess Scenic Nature Cruises, Flying Mountain Massage, Side Street Cafe, Bar Harbor Oyster Company, Fogtown Brewing Company, Havana, Choco-Latté Café, House Wine, and Local Lobster (F/V Brian J) all sponsored the event.
WAYS TO HELP AND LINKS TO LEARN MORE
If you are inspired to help us continue this work, please reach out to Open Table MDI at opentablemdi@gmail.com or make a gift on its website.
Open Table MDI’s Facebook, Instagram, and website.
A Letter to the Community from Mahandeva Singh
Photos: Bar Harbor Story.
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