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V O L . X X I X N O. I I JA N UA R Y 2 3 , 2 0 2 3 14 S O U T H E R N M A I N E e restaurant, which has no plans to bring back outdoor dining, seats about 60 and was nominated for a James Beard Award last year. It was also the only Maine name on the New York Times' list of America's 50 best restaurants, published in September. Stevens financed the venture mainly from bank loans, supplemented by personal savings and small loans from family members, and employs around 26 people he pays competitively using a profit-sharing model for untipped, back-of-house employees. e company also offers a health care plan for all employees working more than 25 hours a week and an employer- matched 401K for everyone on its payroll. "You're seeing a lot more of that industry-wide, which is helping to erase the stigma the restaurant industry has for being a haven for nomadic types who don't like to wake up early," Stevens says. His advice to today's aspiring restaurateurs: "It's important to be well-capitalized, and to always build in more of a con- tingency than you think you're going to need, especially for any new construction and fit-out." From EVO to Twelve Speaking of capital contingencies, the Prentice Hospitality Group shifted gears during the pandemic at EVO Kitchen + Bar with takeout and outdoor dining chalets that proved to be a hit. e group also launched a food truck based at the Fore Points Marina selling food and drink and branded as the EVO X marina bar that brought in a little over $1.3 million in gross revenue between July and October 2020, accord- ing to Prentice. "e marina bar quite literally saved the company and the whole development project," he says. Besides EVO and Twelve, Prentice Hospitality Group owns the Chebeague Island Inn, which Prentice bought in 2009 at age 21 while tending bar there with no prior hotel experience. e previous owner, who had leased the property to someone to operate from 2007 to 2009, opted not to renew the lease after 2009, and was prepared for the business to be shuttered in 2010 if it wasn't sold, according to Prentice. "At the stroke of a pen," he recalls, "I owned the Chebeague Island Inn." Fast forward to today, and the Middlebury College political science grad is leading the $750 million Portland Foreside development on a property he says is as big as the entire Old Port. While the original idea was to move EVO to the waterfront brick building that now houses Twelve, that plan changed after Prentice connected with Wyatt via EVO's chef, Matt Ginn. He decided instead to extend » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E The marina bar quite literally saved the company and the whole development project. — Casey Prentice developer F O C U S Casey Prentice is a Portland-based developer of the $750 million Portland Foreside project on the city's East End. He's sitting inside Twelve, located in a historic building he paid $5 million to purchase and another $5 million to convert into a restaurant. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY

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