The Place in Camden is the latest Maine bakery to receive national praise, as the New York Times has included the venue in their list of “22 of the best bakeries across the U.S. right now.”

“At the Place, a tiny bakery in Camden, Maine, the ethereally flaky croissant dough (made with local flour and butter) appears in many forms and flavors — swirled into cinnamon buns, folded and sugared into kouign-amanns, layered into loaves,” the writeup from columnist and interim restaurant critic Melissa Clark states. “The offerings change weekly, in tune with the seasons and available produce.”

The Place was the only New England bakery to make the list, which also included acclaimed shops like Bakers Bench in Los Angeles, Evergreen Butcher + Baker in Atlanta, and New York City venues Lysée and Radio Bakery.

The Place is closed for winter break, and will reopen Saturday, Jan. 18. Owners Chelsea Kravitz and Chris Dawson — who launched The Place on Route 1 in July 2023 — wrote in their Instagram account in late December that they were “genuinely shocked” to hear from a customer on Christmas Eve that their bakery was included in the New York Times’ list.

“At first we were fairly certain she was mistaken lol,” their social media post reads in part. “We’re honored and blown away to receive such wonderful recognition for being a little bakery of two people, in what was once our garage, ten feet from our little house.”

Last June, Portland bakeries had a fantastic showing in the national categories at the annual James Beard Awards. Owner-baker Atsuko Fujimoto of Norimoto Bakery won Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, and ZUbakery won Outstanding Bakery.