It’s been a long ride, but Hole in the Wall, a waterfront restaurant overlooking Milford Haven at the Gwynn’s Island bridge, is just about ready to open.
Staff training begins on June 11, and the only two things keeping the door closed are delivery of an outdoor elevator for handicapped access to the now-higher structure and installation of braided stainless steel railings on the new dining deck. Mac Casale, who owns the business along with his partner, Dean Tsamouras, said he expects those things to be completed within a week or two.
With a rustic décor that features recycled boards from various old buildings as the wall covering, accented by sea-oriented artwork, the reinvented dining room feels fresh but familiar. The ceiling is higher than it was when locals frequented the former Seabreeze Restaurant, so the original windows on two sides are higher, but that wasn’t a problem, said Casale. He simply used the taller tables that appeal to today’s younger crowd. There are regular-height tables in the center, and three large picture windows on the haven side offer an expansive view of the water.
A woodstove by the entry will warm up customers in the winter, and a long, weather beaten wood table sits nearby, reminiscent of the community table that once greeted visitors to the Seabreeze. But now the table is next to a long bar lined with bar stools, broadening the opportunity to mingle with friends. The state-of-the-art kitchen is open to the dining room, so executive chef Heather Minter and her staff can mingle with guests, as well. Picnic tables are planned for the deck outside, where guests can look across the water through an old reconditioned viewfinder from a state park.
Minter, whose family ritual growing up was to eat at the Seabreeze on Sundays, said the restaurant will still offer casual dining at reasonable prices. But the menu that she, Tsamouras, and Casale’s wife J.C. developed together also reflects a degree of sophistication. Along with hushpuppies for $4.95 and chicken tenders for $7.95, the starter menu offers stuffed onion rings for $10.95, and there will be a raw bar with prices ranging from $8.95 for a half dozen oysters to $21.95 for a steamed seafood sampler platter.
Soup will be available for as little as $3.95 a cup, while the salads top out at $8.95 (more with chicken or shrimp added), and a sandwich with a side will cost anything from $7.95 for a Hole in the Wall burger to $16.95 for a double fried oyster sandwich. Entrees range from a veggie stir-fry or glazed pork chops for $10.95 to a fried seafood platter for $21.95.
Sunday breakfast will be a flat $6.95, with options ranging from pancakes to eggs and toast.
Minter said the menu is seafood-heavy, but there will be regular dinner specials on steaks and other meats, and that the menu could change over time as she sees what customers like.
The restaurant will be open seven days a week, said Casale. Opening time is 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. on Sunday for breakfast. Closing times will be flexible, he said, depending on the customers.
Minter knows the restaurant business from the bottom up. She started out as a dishwasher at the former Lynne’s Family Restaurant in Mathews, moved up to cook, and worked there for five years while attending culinary school at Rappahannock Community College. She did a 6,000-hour apprenticeship under Culinary Institute of America Chef David Coontz at Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury, then served as the general manager and executive chef at Kilmarnock Inn before accepting a position as sous chef at Casale’s White Dog Bistro in 2014.