Set sail without leaving the dock. The Spirit of Massachusetts, a 125-foot schooner bobbing in the Kennebunk River, opens Friday as Southern Maine’s most novel restaurant. The vest pocket DiMillo’s, run by the owners of Pilot House Restaurant, will be THE place to get naut-y on those precious summer nights. Who needs a sidewalk cafe when you can cocktail on deck and nosh below?
The tall ship, built in 1984 in Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard sailed the globe as an educational vessel. In 2014 The Spirit of Mass was restored and brought to her new home in Kennebunk. (Maine was Mass. before so hold the Masshole jokes).
With such a postcard-perfect location the menu doesn’t have to be this inventive. Lobster sushi and chicken satay tacos share small plate status with old-school escargot and oysters. A $21 lobster roll may throw your budget overboard, but your out-of-town guests will cheer the splurge.
Summer is fleeting in these parts, so chart a course and drop anchor on this resto rig ASAP. Open seven days 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.. No reservations. Get your sea legs on!