Inside Maine’s Retro Cannabis Bakery
Stepping into Pot + Pan Kitchen in Portland’s Woodford’s Corner feels more like visiting a retro cake shop than a dispensary — and that’s entirely the point. From the 1950s-inspired persimmon and cream awning to the Smeg refrigerator behind the counter, every detail is thoughtfully curated to shape a one-of-a-kind, food-forward cannabis experience. “What we’re doing is unique in the industry, not only in Maine but across the entire country,” CEO Dunia Khudairi says. “It feels really exciting.”
When you learn the details behind the organization, it all makes sense: Pastry-lover Tara Canaday, a Berklee alum and culinary school grad, ran her own cake shop on Boston’s North Shore before moving to Portland and opening a mobile macaron cart on the Eastern Prom. Around 2020, she saw a Craigslist ad for the Executive Chef position at Pot + Pan. Khudairi and the company’s founder, Keri-Jon Wilson, were seeking out a culinary mind to help lead product development for Pot + Pan’s line of low-dose edibles. With Canaday on board, the trio began wholesale production, first out of their current retail space in Woodford’s Corner — which they quickly outgrew for production purposes — then, out of a facility in Riverside near Allagash Brewing (they opened the retail storefront in June of 2024).
Each member of the Pot + Pan leadership team comes from a different background, and that’s part of what makes the dispensary unlike any other. Wilson is the group’s connection to Maine and the cannabis industry; she was producing small batches of edibles for medical cannabis companies starting in the early 2010s. Khudairi, a self-proclaimed “product geek,” hails from the fashion and design world in New York City. Her product and merchandising experience played a crucial role in developing Pot + Pan’s brand, from scaling and packaging to telling the story of responsible low-dose consumption. Tara Canaday is the friendly, approachable face of the company, taking center stage in the aforementioned storytelling (find her in videos on the company’s website and social media) and leading the culinary aspect of the business.
Having grown up on a farm in Florida, Canaday always felt drawn to the food world. “My mom was constantly in the kitchen, and I loved cooking and baking with her,” Canaday says. “When I went to [Berklee School of Music], I was always the one bringing snacks and wacky baked goods to rehearsal or studio sessions.” Upon finding out she was pregnant at the end of college, Canaday decided she didn’t want to raise her daughter while performing on the road. “The only other thing that I was passionate about was cooking and food, so I immediately went to culinary school and completed an accelerated pastry program where I fell in love with European and French-style baking in particular,” she explains. Working in several Boston kitchens — and running her own baking ventures in Boston and Portland — gave Canaday direct culinary experience that she could translate to the cannabis industry. In addition to high-quality chocolate bars, flavorful gummies, and intricate bonbons, she leads Pot + Pan in offering single-serving bundt cakes infused with 5 mg of rapid-release THC. “People are really excited about our cakes, and we’re looking into other fresh baked goods and some more shelf-stable treats,” Canaday teases, adding that some of these new products will make it onto shelves in the retail shop this year.
Instead of focusing solely on cannabis trends, Canaday and the Pot + Pan team follow food trends like seasonal flavors (the pumpkin spice chocolate bar was a huge success in the fall) and New England hits like iced coffee (“My friends down south don’t understand the concept of drinking iced coffee in the middle of winter,” Canaday laughs). The team takes flavor R&D seriously — it can take upwards of six months from a product’s inception until it’s signed off by leadership and can begin production. “I like to look through old cake books from when I owned my shop in Boston, and we’ll find something that sounds delicious,” Canaday says. “I’ll start by making the inspiration so we can taste it and really nail down what flavor profiles we want to hit. It usually takes multiple rounds of tweaking until we decide the world needs this product, and then we’ll infuse it with cannabis.” After that, the product goes through rigorous potency testing, followed by the design and packaging process.
Clearly, it’s not as simple as it seems on the surface. “At the end of the day, we’re really focused on the flavor, not just on getting people super stoned,” Canaday says.
“There’s a very specific cannabis culture that exists today, and there’s a large group of people that aren’t being spoken to,” Khudairi notes. “We’re trying to speak to them by using phrases like ‘Toss the Taboo,’ and eliminate the idea that there are things we can’t or shouldn’t talk about.” Education is key for the company because many people who have had a bad initial experience with cannabis are intimidated, hesitant, or unlikely to try consuming it again. Pot + Pan’s solution is to offer an indicia, sativa, 1:1, hybrid, and vegan option in every dosage (2.5 mg, 5 mg, and 10 mg), made from Maine-grown cannabis. The sheer number of options may seem overwhelming at first, but it means everyone can find their own appropriate dose and no one is limited to a specific flavor or product based on its potency.
“For the longest time, 10 mg was considered an entry dose,” Khudairi says. “When we started offering 2.5 mg doses, people laughed at us. They thought there wasn’t a market for it and that such a low dose wouldn’t do anything. Over the last five years, we’ve found that there are plenty of recreational consumers who prefer smaller doses.” Khudairi compares low dose edibles to low-ABV drinks like a session ale: “Some people like being able to consume more than one, and some people just truly enjoy how they feel after a single low dose.” Another key reason Pot + Pan emphasizes accessibility to low dose products is because, to put it simply, breaking a larger dose edible into pieces is a terrible food experience. “Years ago, people were buying 10 mg edibles and just taking a tiny bite at a time, which is no way to have a consistent experience,” Khudairi says.
Providing access to low dose edibles is only part of Pot + Pan’s approach; an equally important focus is on cultivating the feeling of nostalgia. The brand’s 1950s Americana aesthetic speaks especially to locals, since “Maine is a state where people have been living for eight or nine consecutive generations,” Khudiari says. Canaday’s connection to nostalgia is a direct result of her journey to the Pine Tree State: “I grew up in Florida, eventually moved to New England, and fell in love with refined, traditional European baking,” she explains. “Together, it translates into edibles that feel really familiar to people.” Her favorite product, the lemon bundt cake bar, is based on an old southern lemon cake with a tangy drizzle. “There’s something so comforting and nostalgic about it that brings me back to making cakes with my family as a kid,” Canaday says.
In addition to the infused cakes, the neon “Fresh Baked” sign in the window, and the Americana atmosphere, there’s something different about Pot + Pan’s retail shop: There are plenty of non-weed products. “There’s a huge opportunity to sell more than cannabis in a cannabis store,” says Khudairi. “Much like weed, baking can appear really overwhelming. Tara has this incredible baking background, so we’re stocking products like baking tools, cake boards, springform pans, and piping supplies that you can’t really find anywhere else in the area. We’re excited to get people excited about baking.”
What’s next for these innovators in food-forward edibles? “People need to just keep an eye on us. Our windows are going to keep changing; we’re growing and pushing and building what it means to have Pot + Pan in your life,” says Khudairi. Canaday adds, “As someone who was scared to talk about my cannabis consumption for a long time, I’m really excited to continue making it a joyful experience for others.”
After all, the worst thing that happens when consuming a 2.5 mg dose, Khudairi laughs, “is that you had an amazing dessert, and you want more.”
Pot + Pan
646 Forest Ave, Portland
