By Olivia Canny
Andrea and Dan Reny at the new bar inside The Anchor. (Olivia Canny photo) |
Round Pond’s The Anchor is entering the 2015 season with new owners Dan and Andrea Reny, who have brought major changes to the restaurant’s look and menu.
Entering customers will first notice the bar’s new design, complete with 10 taps, a back wall of recycled Renys wood pallets, an extended concrete counter, and mirrors to provide a glimpse of Muscongus Bay from any angle.
The front of the house also contains new tables of recycled, centuries-old wood from Dan Reny’s grandparents’ barn and a two-tiered deck overlooking the waterfront.
Dan and Andrea Reny rebuilt The Anchor’s entire kitchen with a higher ceiling, new windows, and state-of-the-art equipment. Overseeing the kitchen is new head chef Michael Quattrucci, a Johnson and Wales University graduate who has worked in Newport, R.I. and the Virgin Islands.
The menu includes shrimp and lobster ravioli, a crab and avocado wrap, grilled artichokes, and Maine lobster “popcorn.” Local meats and greens are an option, and Andrea Reny said that increasing the restaurant’s use of local vegetables is part of her five-year plan.
The property has been in the Reny family since the late 1950s to early 1960s, when Dan Reny’s grandfather, Robert Reny Sr., founder of R.H. Reny Inc., purchased it in collaboration with Carol Hanna, Dan Reny said. The original structure has stood on the property since 1948.
Robert Reny Sr. was a major force in its birth as the Anchor Inn Restaurant. Dan Reny worked at the restaurant as a teenager and bought the neighboring lobster shack, Muscongus Bay Lobster Co., over a decade ago.
A chef prepares a steak and cheese sandwich inside the new kitchen at The Anchor during lunch Monday, June 1. (Olivia Canny photo) |
When they bought the business, Dan and Andrea Reny wanted a new name to signify the restaurant’s new owners while preserving its history, so they shortened it to The Anchor.
July Fourth at The Anchor will be different from the past tradition of a cookout and live music. Dan and Andrea Reny are working on a new twist to the restaurant’s celebration this year. The restaurant’s opening on Memorial Day weekend brought a full house.
Most of the restaurant’s 27 employees are new this season, and Andrea Reny said the business is still on the hunt for kitchen staff.
The Anchor is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 529-2600 or visit www.theanchorrestaurant.com.
