Boothbay Harbor restaurateur buys Bartley's Dockside Restaurant in Kennebunk
Photo / Courtesy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty
Bartley's Dockside Restaurant in Kennebunk
A Boothbay Harbor restaurant owner and New York City chef have purchased the former Bartley’s Dockside Restaurant, a central spot in Kennebunk that was known for having President George H.W. Bush and his family as longtime customers.
The 4 Western Ave. building was sold for $1.15 million to Sante Calandri, owner of the Ports of Italy restaurant in Boothbay Harbor, and German Lucarelli, according to broker John McCarthy of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty. The deal closed on Jan. 15.
The buildings’ sellers were the Dockside Restaurant’s longtime owners, Dorothy Bartley, her son, Brian Bartley, and her husband, the late Jim Bartley. The restaurant was known for attracting the Bush family and other dignitaries, including some staff members working for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited in 2007 for talks with President George W. Bush.
Calandri told Mainebiz in a phone interview that he purchased the building mainly for its central location in Kennebunk and that he plans to turn the restaurant into another Ports of Italy restaurant.The restaurateur said he and Lucarelli, who he worked with at Bice Ristorante in New York, plan to invest $600,000 in renovating the 2,100-square-foot space.
Construction began this week, Calandri said, with the Italian restaurant slated to open in April or May. He said the Kennebunk location will offer an experience similar to his restaurant in Boothbay Harbor, which he bought in 2010.
Laura Dolce, executive director of the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce, told Mainebiz on Monday that Calandri has already visited her chamber a couple times, noting that coincidentally a Boothbay Chamber staff member had recently visited Kennebunk and couldn't stop raving about Calandri’s restaurant.
“We are thrilled about the addition to the community,” she said.
Dolce said the location is a prime spot in Kennebunk, located near the town’s iconic Clam Shack and near the bridge leading into Kennebunkport.
“It is literally in the center of the action,” she said.
This story was originally published in the Mainebiz Real Estate Insider.
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