Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X I V J U N E 2 9 , 2 0 2 0 12 H O S P I TA L I T Y / T O U R I S M Magical nights e Nonantum, which first opened July 4, 1884, has a huge lawn that slopes down to the Kennebunk River. In past summers it's been dotted with white Adirondack chairs. Now the chairs are sharing space with six dining cabanas. e six cabanas — each named for a Maine county by Hewett-Gordon's 12-year-old daughter — seat up to eight. ey've got mesh on three sides to allow for airflow while providing privacy and are decorated with white tulle and lanterns. ey also come with a blanket and bug spray. Dining isn't all that's done outdoors. Chef Steve Sicinski is also cooking at an outdoor kitchen. When Hewett-Gordon talked to Mainebiz in mid- June, the Nonantum had been serving outdoors for six nights, all sold out. "It's been six magical nights," Hewett-Gordon says. 'Now's the time' Lauren and Greg Soutiea, looking to get away from the corporate grind, bought the Craignair in late 2018. e 22-room inn, in St. George's Spruce Head village, was built in 1928, originally to house workers at the granite quarry on Clark Island, which it overlooks. It also has spectacular views of the Atlantic and the southern Penobscot Bay islands. A causeway leads to Clark Island and a path that loops around the old quarry and a pretty sand beach. e island is in the pro- cess of being preserved by Maine Coast Heritage Trust and it's had a lot of visitors this season. ey planned to renovate the restaurant and add a small cocktail bar in three to five years. ere were more pressing projects first. When they had to close in March, "We said, 'Now's the time,'" says Greg. F O C U S P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y O F N O N A N T U M P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Waterside dining at the Waterside dining at the Nonantum. Nonantum. Nonantum Resort's new cabanas in their expanded outdoor dining area in Kennebunkport INNside OUT Looking to salvage the lodging season, these inns took their dining outside B y M a u r e e n M i l l i k e n T he chef at the Nonantum Resort had long wanted to create an outdoor kitchen, but with ample indoor options, it hadn't happened at the venerable Kennebunkport inn. About 100 miles up the coast, on the St. George peninsula, the new owners of the Craignair Inn by the Sea planned to renovate the restaurant, but that was still a few years down the road. But, as with everything else in the hospitality industry, things are different now. Both the Nonantum and Craignair, facing a stripped-down tourist season this year did what many other businesses have since March, when COVID-19 restrictions were put in place – they called an audible. Outdoor dining is now a major feature at both inns, a way to draw customers and create revenue. "We just looked at all this beautiful space and said, 'Why not?'" says Tina Hewett-Gordon, general manager of the Nonantum. e COVID-19 quick pivot business model isn't unique to the two inns, says Steve Hewins, CEO of HospitalityMaine, which represents the state's lodg- ing and restaurant industries. "Right now, businesses are looking at any way to generate business that will help them survive," he says. "As they say, necessity is the mother of invention and, in light of the restrictions, Maine's restaurants and hotels are coming up with many new ways to use outdoor and indoor space more effectively and efficiently."

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