🔒On the Record: For GM of the Lockwood Hotel in Waterville, the role was too good to ignore

Jordan Rowan, who has a long history with Charlestowne Hotels, which is managing Colby College’s Lockwood Hotel, came on board in Waterville in in August 2020. He and his wife bought a house in Winslow, sight unseen. Mainebiz recently caught up with Rowan in the Front & Main restaurant at the hotel, which will open for guests next spring.

Mainebiz: What about the job made you and your family decide to move to Waterville, Maine, sight unseen?

Jordan Rowan: There is something really exciting going on in Waterville right now. Besides the excitement that comes with a new property, the opportunity to be at the helm of the Lockwood Hotel — the heart of the changes happening in Waterville right now — was too good an opportunity to pass up. The Lockwood Hotel and Front & Main are positioned to be Waterville’s “living room” and provide a friendly, welcoming place to relax for a cocktail or a bite to eat, and this is exactly where I want to be.

MB: What role do you see the Lockwood Hotel and the Front and Main Restaurant playing in the city?

JR: I was across the street at the Silver Street Tavern, where they have these wonderful black and white photographs of the time when the Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town, and there were elephants and musicians walking down the street. I would love to see a return to that vibrant downtown. Waterville is undergoing a transformation due to the numerous investments made by Colby, the city of Waterville and private investors, and I’m excited to see the downtown area return to its glory days and become a vibrant, commercial city center like it once was.

MB: What challenges did the COVID-19 pandemic bring to the restaurant and hotel openings?

JR: The pandemic has pushed back our opening date a few times, both for the restaurant and for the hotel. For the most, though, we have been fortunate and avoided much of the struggles that other hotels and restaurants endured over the past year and a half. We feel like we are opening at the perfect time as guest confidence returns and pent-up demand for travel and dining is high.

MB: You’ve mentioned the menu at Front & Maine goes beyond “farm to table,” how would you describe the connection at both the restaurant and bar with local products?

JR: Our goal was to ensure that the property celebrated the bounty that exists in Maine, so we went pretty deep with our menu ingredients and menu items themselves. You’ll see Allen’s Coffee Brandy in our take on an Old Fashioned, all Maine beers on draft, and Maine spirits from Tree Spirits, Cold River and other great distilleries on our cocktail menu.

On the food side, we’ve got classics like ployes on our brunch menu, and on the dinner menu, we take the classic New England Supper dish, pork and beans, and elevate it a bit, with Marfax beans from Maine Grains, pork belly from Broad Arrow Farm and our own homemade brown bread, steamed in a can the old-fashioned way. Our burger uses delicious grass-fed beef from Rowbottom Farms and smoked gouda from Crooked Face Creamery, and even our kid’s menu takes advantage of local ingredients, like WA Beans red hot dogs and macaroni and cheese made with Nomad Pasta and topped with a Fox Family Farms potato chip crust.

MB: With a little one and another on the way, you probably haven’t been around the state much, but, aside from Waterville, have your travels uncovered any hidden gems you and your wife have enjoyed visiting in Maine?

JR: My wife and I are avid travelers and despite our short time here, we’ve done our best to explore with short day trips around the state. Early favorites are the Belfast Farmer’s Market, Camden Hills State Park, skiing at Sugarloaf and of course, eating (and drinking) our way through Portland. We’re new, so everything to us seems like a hidden gem!