About Magnus on Water
Magnus on Water is an intimate cocktail bar and restaurant that encourages guests to connect with one another, their community, and other cultures through warm hospitality, nature-inspired cocktails, and crave-worthy comfort foods. Attention to detail, intentional care for guests and a soulful community spirit make Magnus on Water a beacon of hospitality—a home for visitors and locals to gather and celebrate.
Intimate seating along with a communal bar for meeting friends new and old, this is a setting to enjoy emerging flavors, make joyful discoveries, and spark lively conversation. Together, the inspired cocktails, humble science, welcoming atmosphere, and intentional design create a singular and memorable experience at Magnus on Water.
We can’t wait for you to join us.
Our Story
In August 2018, DC-based Julia was visiting family and sat down at a bar in Biddeford where Brian was bartending. They got to chatting about the entrepreneurial energy of Biddeford over mezcal-based drinks and by the end of the evening, they decided to have a follow-up conversation over coffee. There they talked about how to create community over cocktails, their favorite places to travel for food and wine, why livable wages and safe places for all matter in the industry, and what it was like for Julia to grow up just over the river in Saco, and why Brittany decided to leave the hospitality industry in New York for her home state of Maine. At the end of the conversation, they decided they would open a bar in Biddeford that reflects their ideas on community, family, and hospitality. We hope you experience similar kismet moments at Magnus on Water as we have at bars in Biddeford.
Cheers, Brian, Brittany, and Julia
Brian Catapang Director of Beverage
I got my first taste of working in the restaurant industry back in my early college days, where I worked behind the bar at a tourist haven restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard. After college I stepped away from the industry and found myself working behind a desk in a corporate bank job. After three years of staring at a computer monitor, I moved to Maine in search of who I wanted to be. I do not believe in coincidences, and truly believe that wherever you are in your path of life is exactly where the universe intends for you to be. Thus, I believe it's fitting that I found myself working as a Brand Ambassador for the Wiggly Bridge Distillery in York, Maine, where I was born. I became obsessed with how spirits are made, the science behind the distillation, the barrel-aging techniques, and even the smells. I quickly learned that in order to sell craft spirits to other bartenders, I needed to know how to use them in craft cocktails. So I dove head first into the world of craft cocktails and spirits. As my confidence grew, I started to seek out bartending jobs with the intention of executing my own cocktail lists. Running the bar at Elda was my shot. Out of all the books I have read, hours spent refining techniques, and countless youtube videos watched, Elda was where I learned to look at drinks from a chef's perspective. Thanks to Chef Bowman Brown, I began to look at balance and intention in a whole new light when it came to making cocktails.
Regardless of whether you cook with fire or with ice, the entire purpose is to breathe life into your art by allowing a little bit of yourself to reflect in the finished product. A great chef is able to tell you their story through fire. I hope to tell you mine through ice. I hope Magnus on Water is a place of creativity and learning for guests and staff. If there's one thing you can expect from the bar program at Magnus on Water, it's to expect the unexpected. ;)
Brittany Saliwanchik Wine & Hospitality
I’ve been working in the hospitality industry since I was a teenager and have always been drawn to people, food, and beverage. It was not until I started working with a small restaurant group in New York City, Happy Cooking Hospitality, that I learned restaurants can be a platform to build meaningful relationships and bridges within the community.
With that ethos in mind, I believe restaurants are more than a transactional service. Restaurant hospitality has the greatest impact on guests and staff when everyone feels loved and included in something special.
Through Magnus we aim to create a platform where we can share past experiences and hopes for the future. Where we can honor the precious life-giving ingredients that grow all around us, and where we can - connect - with each other, with our communities, with ourselves and with Mother Earth.
Julia Russell Owner, Managing Partner
I am from Maine and grew up across the river from 12 Water Street in Saco. Much of my young life was spent longing to escape the small-town feel of Maine. However, when I was denied entry into my preferred university, NYU, I found myself engaged in an unexpected journey down the east coast that eventually found me landing in Washington, DC. With absolutely no intention of staying long term after having graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in biology, I ended up discovering an amazing community in the DC area that enticed me to stay for 14 + years. It was not until a chance encounter during a vacation back home to Maine that I found myself drawn to the community-centric feel of a small town that I had run from so many years before.
With Magnus on Water, I have discovered a family who also wholeheartedly believes in the central premise that hospitality and exceptional experiences should not be exclusive to those who can afford lofty price tags. With the idea that warm and inviting places are created by the people who inhabit them, it is my greatest hope that all who visit will find Magnus on Water the type of place they look forward to returning to time and time again. A place where the food and the drinks are excellent, but where, more importantly, the experiences and connections are unparalleled.