Photo by George and Linda Smith

Thank you to the Travelin’ Maine(rs), George and Linda Smith, for their kind words about our first ever Chef’s Table Dinner. We are pleased you enjoyed your meal, as well as your stay. In addition, a BIG thank you to Chef Montes for creating this beautiful meal!

Please read their article, TRAVELIN’ MAINE(RS): Chef Arturo Montes brings his kitchen artistry to Orono’s Black Bear Inn

Join us on December 14, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. for a Community Christmas Party.  Purchase seats for $30 each.

• Enjoy an exquisite holiday buffet by award-winning Executive Chef Arturo Montes
• Guest DJ Mike Dow
• Cash bar
• Discounted hotel rooms, and more

Please call our front desk for reservations at 207-866-7120.

UMaine Sports Promotion

Attention U Maine Sports Fans: The Black Bear Inn is offering great game day discounts on our fantastic hotel rooms. Just show us your ticket on game day and receive a discount. Restrictions may apply. Call us today to make your reservation!

View our other great Orono, Maine Hotel Packages (including a Collins Center for the Arts Package and a Stay 3 nights Get the 4th free Special)

Click the Image to Download a Menu

Please join us for a Grand Easter Brunch at the Black Bear Inn
$22.95 adults, children 12 and under $12.95 ages 5 and under free

Sunday April 8^th, 2012 from 10:00-2:00 pm
Special Jazz Quartet from State Street Music Studio in Bangor

Some of the great menu items you can expect are:

Fresh Egg Station
Omelets made to order - A variety of fresh vegetables and condiments for you to choose from to create your own omelet

Variety of Breakfast Items to Include
Crisp bacon ~ Sausage ~ Pancakes ~ Crab Cakes Benedict ~ Fresh Fruit Toppings ~ Assorted Breads and Pastries and Muffins

Pasta Station
A variety of condiments for you to choose from that our chef will prepare for you. Then you can top it off with your choice of one of our homemade sauces.

Carving Station
Carved Slow Roasted Pork Loin with Fresh Apple Sage Sauce
Carved N.Y. Strip Steak with Roasted Onion Balsamic Sauce
Grilled Chicken with Fresh Pear Tarragon Sauce

Just for our tiny diner-ages 5 and under
Our ages 5 and under buffet is sure to please every tiny diner. At just their height a self serve buffet to include many items they are familiar with and won’t be able to wait to get their hands on. They’ll have a selection of mini muffins and fresh fruits to crust less sandwiches and jello cups, cheese cubes and crackers to cookies.

The Grand Finale to Include a Spectacular Array of Homemade Desserts

Fresh Brewed Coffees, Hot Tea, Milk and Juices are Included with the Brunch.

Easter Egg Hunt for Ages 10 and Under at 11:00 am

For Reservations Please Call 207-866-7120

It features locally designed and produced handsculpted art tiles from Antiquity Tile of Hampden, Maine. The tiles were crafted by owners Brad Wiseman and Paul Spaulding. Then each tile was glazed using a proprietary formulation and fired using Antiquity’s wood firing ‘olde world’ process, resulting in unique variations and antique surfaces in each handmade piece. Thank you to installers Kimberly Bassett, Duane Blanchard, and Gabe Poulin for helping our vision become reality.

Our vanity features sea foam glazed sinks and tiles accented with burnt umber sculpted tiles. Your ‘faucets’ feature Persephone, the goddess of spring’s bounty. The sculpted maidens on the posts represent musicians. The vessel sinks are rimmed with laurel leaves, which have long been associated with celebrations. The burnt umber columns, border tiles, and the light fixtures feature acanthus leaves. Acanthus leaves were common on Greek soil and have been chosen for many centuries as decorative elements because of the beauty of the leaves.

Antiquity Tiles have been used throughout the United States, and the world, by folks as well known as Glen Campbell, Nora Roberts, Calvin Klein, Dale Earnhardt, and now the Black Bear Inn.

We are happy to show what can be creating using locally produced, exceptional quality products with a local designer and local installers. We invite you to ‘shop local’ – visit Antiquity Tiles at 12 Shaw Hill Road in Hampden, Maine or visit their website: www.antiquitytile.com.

The Black Bear Café is open 5PM to 8PM – Monday through Saturday.

Come in and enjoy our great selection of sandwiches, pizza, rack of ribs and much more!

With Arturo and Carmen Montes of Montes International Catering in the kitchen, you know the food will be great!

Lafayette Hotels offering ‘Home for Holidays’ for those in need

Lafayette Hotels, owner of 27 hotels in Maine, New Hampshire and Michigan, is offering free rooms to families who have children or relatives in the hospital over the holidays.  The program, called ‘Home for the Holidays’ is offered over Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Visitors are first screened by the hospital and then referred to the hotel by the hospital.  The program is also available to families facing an emergency or extreme hardship such as a death in the family or having their home destroyed by fire.

The Home for the Holidays also offers rooms to military personnel who are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan and to their families.

“Our company has been doing this program for 14 years,” said Peter Daigle, chief operating officer of Lafayette Hotels.  “Each year we hear so many touching stories.   The program was originally developed for families, particularly those with children, but we’ve expanded it over the years to include people who have suffered emergencies such as losing their home to a fire,” says Daigle.

The Black Bear Inn here in Orono, owned by Lafayette Hotels is participating in the program.  “Our company has been doing this program for 14 years,” said Tom Palmer, general manager.  “Our Home for the Holidays program insures that the cost of a hotel room doesn’t stand in the way of visiting a child or relative in the hospital during this special time of year.  We hope that the program makes things a bit easier for those in need and that it can help a patient feel better sooner.”

Lafayette Hotels properties sponsoring the program are the Comfort Inn Ocean’s Edge, Belfast, Maine, the Black Bear Inn, Orono, the Fireside Inn & Suites, Bangor, the Best Western White House Inn, Bangor, the Best Western Waterville Inn, Waterville, the Fireside Inn & Suites, Auburn, the Best Western Merry Manor Inn, South Portland, Lafayette’s Oceanfront Resort, Wells Beach,  the Senator Inn & Spa, Augusta, Fireside  Inn & Suites, Gilford, New Hampshire, Fireside Inn & Suites in West Lebanon, New Hampshire and the Best Western Greenfield Inn in Allen Park Michigan.  Several Lafayette Hotels offer special year-round rates for families and parents at area hospitals.  Families may make reservations for “Home for the Holidays” by contacting their hospital or calling the hotel directly.

Tom Palmer, General Manager of the Black Bear Inn Conference Center and Suites, is proud to announce the appointment of Carmen Montes as Food and Beverage Director and Arturo Montes as the Executive Chef to our award winning staff.

Since 1992, the Montes’ have built their business, Montes International Catering, into a staple of the greater Bangor culinary scene. Their café is located on Columbia St. in Bangor and they have catered events throughout eastern Maine with distinction.

Prior to their arrival in Bangor, Carmen and Arturo both worked for Hilton Hotels in Chicago. Carmen, a silver medalist in the International Chef Olympics, is a Garde Manger Chef and a Pastry Chef. Arturo trained under two master chefs and specializes in Saucier. As a banquet chef for Hilton, he prepared meals for up to 5000 people. Both are members of the ACF New England and they bring over 50 years experience and expertise to the Black Bear Inn. Arturo Montes is also the Executive Chef at the Looking Glass Restaurant in Bar Harbor which is also a Lafayette Hotel property.

Tom Palmer/General Manager/Partner Lafayette Hotels