New Lobster Pound owners are 'taking a different direction'

Weirs Beach restaurant will feature Italian fare and many seating options

The Weirs Beach Lobster Pound changed ownership in October and since then it has been completely renovated and expanded.

If you've been a fan of the Weirs Beach locale and Bike Week hub, then the new owners hope that you'll enjoy the new restaurant as much as the old. If you had been avoiding the place, then the owners think the greatly expanded seating and diversified cuisine will change your mind about it.

Whether fans of the old or not, patrons will have a chance to make up their minds starting Monday, June 2, at the restaurant's grand re-opening. The eatery will be opened seven days a week, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.daily and close for the winter at the end of October.

The history of the Weirs Beach Lobster Pound began 35 years ago when it was a tavern for a Howard Johnson's hotel. The tavern was called the Gandy Dancer (a term referring to railroad workers. It was purchased 24 years ago by Lou Gaynor and Harvey Chernin, who developed the property into the Lobster Pound.

The Lobster Pound of 1984-2008 was a small facility that specialized in traditional New England seafood. Many of the old favorite dishes will stay but the new owners, brothers Michael Ray and Richard Ray, Jr., and their father Richard Ray Sr., are part owners of Fiore, an Italian restaurant in Boston's North End and they plan to bring some of their favorite dishes with them. Their plan was solidified when they met Carol Clancy, who was the chef/owner of Nadia's Trattoria in Gilford, which was known for its fine Italian cuisine. Clancy recently sold her restaurant and liked the idea of working for half of the year for someone else.

Clancy learned how to cook in the North End so her skills should be in concert with the new owners' visions. Diners who try out the new place will find not only the usual steamed lobster, clam chowder and raw bar but also steaks, pork chops and some traditional Italian choices.

The old Lobster Pound sat 170 people but the new one will seat about twice that. "The entire building is new," said Richard Ray Jr. The renovations not only add more seating but more varied seating. The new place features two indoor dining rooms, a large lounge with a screened porch, a wrap-around deck and a rooftop bar the looks out toward Weirs Beach - perhaps be the best spot in town to watch Saturday nights' fireworks.

And, of course, the renovation in the Italian direction would be suspect without a good wine list. Towards that end the Lobster Pound will now offer more than 40 choices of vino. An extensive list of martinis and specialty drinks will also be offered as well as 30 different bottled beers including six choices that will be on tap.

Richard Ray Jr. said his family's goal was to develop a diverse menu with a quality of food more typical of the North End than The Weirs, "We will have a quality of food that is above and beyond," and "create an environment that is welcoming to everyone."

The Rays plan to have frequent live entertainment at the restaurant and hope to attract a more diverse clientele while keeping a casual, fun atmosphere.

"We're taking a different approach," said Richard Ray Jr. Whereas previous owners Chernin and Gaynor focused primarily on Bike Week operations, he said, "We're are focusing on having a nice restaurant for the rest of the summer with Bike Week being the 'golden egg.'"

If the Rays' plan works out they'll have more business during the regular season and much more business during Bike Week. During a good year the property has seen more than 30,000 people visit the grounds of the restaurant, which rents parking spaces for motorcycles and spaces for about 90 vendors. During that time, business will be booming at the restaurant. "They would have lines out the door," said Richard Ray Jr.

With about double the seating capacity he hopes that Bike Week will be even more of a boon for the new restaurant.

Chernin and Gaynor will remain on the scene for at least this year as they've been hired as "Bike Week Consultants" to manage the non-restaurant activities on the site.

The Bike Week fervor that surrounds the restaurant once a year is the reason for one of the design elements of the new eatery: a 30-foot tall lighthouse on the front of the building. The lighthouse will be complete with a rotating light. Richard Ray Jr. said there are so many vendors in the parking lot during Bike Week that it can be difficult to tell there's a restaurant in the middle of it all so the lighthouse was added to poke above the tents.

The Ray family has been vacationing in the Lakes Region for 15 years and in the process became friends with Gaynor and Chernin. While chatting about business in general about a year ago, Gaynor and Chernin mentioned that they were thinking about selling the local business. At the same time the Rays were getting ready for a new business challenge. "They were looking to retire, we were looking to do the next thing... It just seemed to work well," said Richard Ray Jr.

With the newly expanded building and offerings, and with the distinctive lighthouse, the Rays hope the Weirs Beach Lobster Pound will become all summer what is has been for years during Bike Week: an institution and a landmark. Whether they are successful is for the diners to decide.