HARPSWELL

After just two weeks of ownership, Jennifer Charboneau, who recently purchased Cook’s Lobster House on Bailey Island with her husband Nick, has described the experience as “a whirlwind.”

“We’re learning the ropes — we’re no strangers to the restaurant business so we know kind of what it takes,” she shared on Tuesday morning. “But taking ownership of a place of this magnitude is quite an undertaking, and we don’t regret it for a second. We’re having a great time.”

Charboneau said her father had sent her a flier about the sale of the restaurant as a joke, but after considering the restaurant on and off again for several months, the Vermont couple finally closed on the property on June 30 for $1.25 million.

This was the opportunity Charboneau, a Lewiston native, had been waiting for to move back home to Maine from Vermont, where she had attended college and started a family.

Charboneau said her husband was willing to move on the condition that she found them a restaurant to call their own.

“And so I did,” she said with a chuckle.

The restaurant, brokered by John Doyon of Malone Commercial Brokers in Portland, had been put on the market by previous restaurant owner Norman Parent in March 2014, the original price being $1.79 million.

In early May, Parent filed for bankruptcy and sought to sell the property to pay back creditors.

Jumping in, Charboneau was well aware of the influence the restaurant had in the community, as she and her family had dined there while she was growing up.

“This is such a landmark place in the community, and we thought we knew that, but this place is so much more to the area than we had thought,” she said. “There are so many amazing stories that involve Cook’s Lobster House and so it’s been really special to be a part of that history and create more memories for the next generation.”

And despite some initial wariness, Charboneau said the response from the local community has been overwhelming.

“The outpouring of love and support has been humbling. We couldn’t be more grateful to the people of this really amazing community for their love and support,” she said.

With tourist season in full swing, some short- and longterm changes have already been mapped out for the restaurant, which includes constructing a bigger deck on the front side of the building and expanding the current bar and lounge area.

Other projects will involve new flooring, painting the exterior of the building, adding fire pits and other landscaping projects.

Food quality, pricing and presentation will also be explored, while a new focus on Maine craft beer will be reflected through the restaurant’s name change to Cook’s Lobster and Ale House.

Although the changes will take some time, as the restaurant needs a lot more repair than originally anticipated, Charboneau was confident it would be worth the wait.

“If we want to do things better, we have to do things the right way,” she said, “and I think perhaps in the past, things haven’t been fixed or done the right way.”

Until then, they will continue to celebrate.

In honor of the restaurant’s 60th anniversary this year, the community will be invited to celebrate “where this place has been and where we’re going” on Aug. 15.

The Charboneaus plan to be a part of that future.

“We made a promise to ourselves and the staff, and we’re telling the community we’re bringing this place back to life, and so we’ll do it,” she said.

dkim@timesrecord.com