Opening Soon!

There seems to be a lot of talk around here these days about the number of new restaurant openings in Chestertown and environs in the past few months, Brooks Tavern among them. Some people are of the opinion that there are too many, that there cannot be enough customers to support them all. Of course we disagree - we would be crazy not to - but unless the economy really tanks (which, with the price of oil reaching a record high once again, it could) we think the more the merrier. I have always been a believer in the fact that the more places there are in an area for people to eat, the more people will come there to eat. And not only does more restaurants bring more customers, I think it brings more employees as well, which we all need. The most important fact however, besides the number of new places, is that they ARE NOT CHAINS. They are independently owned restaurants, which we all should be supporting. These are your friends and neighbors in business, not someone from the Corporate Headquarters brought in to open a cookie cutter restaurant that can be found Anywhere, U.S.A. For instance, the CrossFire Cafe in downtown C'Town (which sort of started this string of openings) is owned and operated by Vickie Quimby, a past staffer from our own Ironstone Cafe, who continued on after we left to open the Kennedyville Inn. Vickie helped to manage the new operation there for Paul Hanley when he took over in 1997 and changed the name to the Blue Heron. The most recent entry is the Village Bakery, owned and run by Ruth Stoltzfus and her husband Jonas. They have been exceedingly busy since they opened only about a month ago - and they will continue to be so, IMO, since there is a major void left by the closing of the Black-eyed Susan and the change of venue for the Old Wharf. Those two major lunch institutions, one on the out-side of town, the other supported largely by the slightly older population, offered new opportunity for others when they closed, or in the case of the Wharf, morphed into Reiley's. Reiley's, which opened soon after we did, is owned by the same group who took over the Imperial Hotel not too long ago, another independent owner-operator. Finally, later this fall, Eliza Abby - formally of the aforementioned Hotel - will open her own place, Table One, in the town of Millington.

And of course there are many other dining choices as well, from Procolinos Pizza to the Chester River Yacht and Country Club to the AYCE meals held regularly at the FireHouse or the Church. We are all competing for the same dining dollar, that discretionary income that can become very elusive at the end of the month or with a change in the economy. Frankly, as long as people stay here, and don't feel they have to travel to Easton or Annapolis or Dover for a decent meal, I don't care where they eat. We have customers who tell us they ate at the Kennedyville Inn Friday night, had lunch at the Blue Heron on Saturday and joined us at Brooks Tavern for their Saturday night meal - all because the B&B where they are staying told them that we had a hand in all three places! While I of course deny any relationship with the Blue Heron (don't you want me to, Paul?), I do appreciate the fact that these diners can go out to three very different places for good food within a 15 minute drive: this is a good thing. This will keep them coming, and keep our local diners home. We could look at this as simply more of the trendy trend to eat locally - both in the food you buy and also in the restaurants you support! Stay in Kent County and eat out. Often.