Chef Mike Shea pounced at the opportunity to start his own café in Rollinsford. The Kittery, Maine, resident graduated from the Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover and had been working for a catering company until he got laid off in February. As he was considering his next move, he noticed a posting on Craig’s List advertising a space in the Salmon Falls Mills. Shea acquired the space, and Figtree Café & To Go was born.

The new café on the first floor of the lower mill building on Front Street officially opened in June. The kitchen and small dining area have a much brighter appearance than Mill River Pail Café, which closed at the same location this spring. Shea painted the rear wall a florescent green color and hung some artwork over a pair of chic tables with black tops and silver legs, accompanied by matching chairs with low backs.

“We tried to give a new look to it, a more upbeat look,” Shea said.

Shea offers a variety of reasonably priced sandwiches and comfort foods for lunch, including a meatloaf panini for $5.50 and a veggie quesadilla for $4.25. He also offers light breakfasts, salads, chips and snacks, including his immensely popular home-baked giant choco toffee cookies.

Shea has also begun to expand his menu to offer takeout dinner items. He thinks area residents will appreciate the option of grabbing a quality dinner-to-go and bringing it home instead of eating out or preparing meals themselves. The dinner menu is still a work in-progress, but Shea said customers can find out what’s on tap by sending an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Shea also intends to revive his catering career, expanding his business to cater dinner and cocktail parties and corporate lunches. Figtree Café is at 3 Front St. in Rollinsford in the lower mill. The café will be active in the outdoor Front Street Market, beginning Sunday, July 20.