ATLANTA — New England Patriots fans in Atlanta ahead of Super Bowl LIII will find a taste of home outside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
Three Maine men will be serving up lobster from the Pine Tree State in the On the Roll Maine lobster food truck.
For owner, James Weferling, the ties to Maine run deeper than the food.
Weferling was born in Augusta, Georgia and was adopted when he was two weeks old by David and Marie Weferling, who brought him to Camden, Maine.
He got in contact with his birth family around age 13, and finally met them in person on his 16th birthday. He would live back and forth between Georgia and Maine for six months at a time.
“It was a lot,” Weferling said about meeting his birth family for the first time. “Day-to-day I bet I take it for granted, but I’m very fortunate.”
Weferling’s entire family in Maine is adopted, except for his father, David. So far, James is the only one to meet his birth parents.
“My parents know there’s no replacing anybody,” said Weferling. “I tell people that I have three moms and three dads. It’s not anything that anyone’s competing for.”
He graduated from Camden Hills Regional High School and moved down to live with his family and started attending college, but later went to culinary school at Southern Maine Community College and went on to work at Portland Lobster Company and Dutch’s in Portland.
His father is the captain of the Rockland ferry.
“We’ve been getting lobster brought to our house from people working in the harbor,” said Weferling. “It’s part of my whole life. It’s really all we know.”
He said most people in Atlanta have only tried Florida lobster, which he and his crew of Mainers are hoping to change: all of the lobster he serves comes from Maine.
“You can tell the difference,” Weferling said. “I’ve had so many people come up and say they’ve never tried lobster. It’s awesome to bring people that opportunity.”
His co-worker, Chris Merriner, is from Saco, and worked with Weferling at Portland Lobster Company. He just joined him down in Atlanta in November. They also enlisted another PLC employee, Choka Bikales, to come help them out ahead of Super Bowl LIII.
Weferling said they are not shy about being Patriots fans. They even have a phone number that begins with the area code 207.
“Whenever anyone hears we’re from Maine, we get a lot of negative things said about Tom Brady,” said Weferling. “People are still a little sour [about the Patriots’ win in Super Bowl LI.]”
Thursday night on NEWS CENTER Maine, watch how Weferling and his team are riffing on the classic Maine lobster roll.