“Charm beats trendy.”
By Colin W. Sargent
In November 1980, Nancy and I stopped for supper at the endearing and fun Old Village Inn in Ogunquit during our honeymoon. What I wore that night is thankfully lost to time, because she wore a vivid garnet shade that flashed like the dazzling beaches on Prince Edward Island. During our fabled first visit to this inn, we sensed the future watching us (“Now wait a minute. Isn’t that presque vu?”). Five years later, we would take another plunge. We launched Portland Monthly in 1985.
Tonight, just four short decades later, we’re back for dinner before a show at Ogunquit Playhouse. Seated near the brick fireplace (is this where we sat before?), we sip Monte Antico Sangiovese red wine ($6 per glass) while we enjoy the feeling of ‘then’ cutting in for a romantic dance with ‘now.’
A charmed attraction on the King’s Highway (U.S. Route 1) since 1833, this lucky spot has been a favorite stop for travelers including Paul Newman and Joanne Woodword, Kitty Carlisle, Maureen O’Sullivan, Sally Struthers. The Inn is so romantic it made the front cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1947.
When Nancy says, “I always wanted to run away with you and still do,” I admit I’m having a great time! The bacon-wrapped scallops are delicious over a salad served on a six-inch scallop shell. A real shell. “It’s a diver-scallop dish we got from friends in Gloucester,” says our server Marcia Goodman, a member of the ownership team who’s worked here for “37 years. The bar is in a different position from when you came in the first time, but everything else is very much the same.” I know we’ve stumbled into Shangri-La (except there’s parking here out back!) when she says, “We don’t embrace change here.” What a place to shoot a Quentin Tarantino film. Remember those wonderful days of décor when using a ship model as a room divider was the style? More magic: Tonight’s special is a Twin Lobster Dinner ($28) for the price of a single lobster roll outside these doors.
“Is there such a thing as neo-retro?” Nancy asks. “All these things like blue-cheese and bacon-stuffed mushroom caps–nobody serves mushroom caps!” I order them instantly and savor them. They’re served piping hot in a steel au gratin dish–straight from the 1970s. Our entrées are Prime Rib served with horseradish and a heavenly popover ($23) and Seafood Stuffed Haddock ($22) with green beans and carrots. A lemon slice tucked in a cheesecloth sachet to catch the seeds still says “we care.”
We finish by splitting the Chocolate Lava Cake. Cost for the entire meal is $103–a pomegranate cocktail, two glasses of wine, two appetizers, two entrées, a shared desert, and coffee with refills.
We almost order a split of Cliquot as a toast to 39 years but decide to do that the next time we’re here. Believe me, we won’t wait so long for our next visit.
Sounds like a fantastic experience! As soon as we “really” retire, we will be down to try it out!