Lakewood Inn has a history of both ups and downs

Lakewood Inn has a history of both ups and downs
BY DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel

MADISON -- The present Lakewood Inn Restaurant was built in 1927. During the winter of 1938-1939, the terrace dining room, formerly an outdoor eating place, was closed in. Later, the kitchen doubled in size.

In a far corner is the Bette Davis table. Davis never performed on the Lakewood Theater stage as far as anyone knows, and while she is believed to have visited friends at the theater, it can not be confirmed that she ever requested a table at the inn.

Legendary talents such as Betsy Palmer, Allen Ludden, Betty White, Gloria Swanson, Lloyd Bridges, Ginger Rogers, Peggy Cass, Van Johnson, Vincent Price, Tom Poston, Tallulah Bankhead, Keenan Wynn, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Merv Griffin, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jane Wyatt, Imogene Coca, Carol Channing, Patty Duke, Ethel Barrymore, Milton Berle, Dennis Weaver, John Travolta and Scott Bakula all wined and dined at the inn throughout the decades.

Attendance at the restaurant waned in the 1950s, as fewer people turned out for live theater in favor of motion pictures and television.

"In the late 1980s, the ladies in their colorful finery and the men in white dinner jackets faded into the pines," the restaurant's Web site notes. "The Inn was abandoned. The building was closed, forgotten, neglected through most of the 1990s.

"The roof over the kitchen collapsed under the weight of unshoveled snow, and the once glorious summer showcase became an icy prison. The passage of the years transformed the once elegant rooms into a landscape of rotten floors, peeling paint and leaky roofs."

What was left of the inn was acquired by Curtain Up Enterprises in December 1998 through a generous donation. Many suggested the structure should simply be leveled.

After a year of contemplation and consultation, the directors of Curtain Up Enterprises resolved to preserve the vision of Lakewood founder Herbert Swett and pressed forward with a restoration of the Lakewood Inn Restaurant, according to the Web site.

http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5143801.html

Their site: http://www.lakewoodtheater.org/page/page/1633870.htm

Cooking at Lakewood Inn a family affair
BY DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel

MADISON -- There is an exception to the notion that too many cooks spoil the broth.

The exception is when there are three cooks in the kitchen and they all are brothers -- boys who grew up together and learned to play nice.

In this case, it's the kitchen at the historic Lakewood Inn Restaurant off U.S. Route 201. It was built in 1927, opposite Lakewood Theater, the State Theater of Maine, now into its 108th season of summer stock.

The three brothers are Josh, Burke and Noah Weston -- one brother for each stage of bringing gourmet meals from the kitchen to the restaurant table.

And much of the food is locally grown and raised, the brothers said.

So how do three brothers manage to work as a team in a hot kitchen serving 80 to 100 meals on a busy theater night?

Brotherly love?

Well, maybe.

"We seem to flow well, we grew up together," Noah Weston said.

Brother Burke agreed.

"What's good is that we get along well, we know what each other's likes and dislikes are," Burke said. "And we're not afraid to criticize. If there is something that one of us thinks is being done wrong, we're not afraid to say something.

"We know how each other thinks. We're very intuitive as to what we need, what each other needs."

Burke, 23, is the head chef, responsible for the entrees, sauces, appetizers, vegetables that need to be grilled and the menu. He is one butcher's class shy of his culinary arts certificate from New England Culinary Institute in Vermont.

Among Burke's popular entrees is duck confit, in which the bird is cured in salt overnight and then washed and cooked in its own fat 3-4 hours to make it tender and juicy.

Noah, 25, is the baking and pastries chef. He graduated in March from the same culinary institute, where he learned how to make artisan breads and French and breakfast pastries.

All of the bread, rolls and pastries are made right there in the Lakewood kitchen, he said.

Rounding out the three-brother staff is Josh, 29, the sous chef, or under chef, who works as the "expediter," keeping the orders flowing, garnishing the plates and organizing "the pass," where the ready dishes are placed for the waitresses.

The restaurant is owned by Jeff and Susan Quinn.

The brothers are all part of the founding Weston family of Madison. Westons first came to the Madison-Skowhegan area in 1771 from the Lexington-Concord area of Massachusetts.

http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5147869.html


Staff photo by David Leaming