BETHEL — Cody Gordon and his wife, Lina, were in the market for a ski condominium when they came to Bethel last fall. Their friend, Michael Boland, gave them a place to stay: the turreted room on the the third floor of The Elizabeth Guest House and Restaurant on Main Street.

Out their window and directly across the street was the former Brian’s Restaurant, at 43 Main Street, off the market but still for sale.

The Gordons couldn’t resist taking a look. “It was really well taken care of by the old owners. It was clean. It was nice. And we immediately had visions of what we wanted to do here. And we got our ski condo,” said Cody Gordon. They bought both the restaurant and their “ski condo” apartment above the restaurant on Nov. 2, 2022. Since then, they have been making improvements to ready the restaurant for the quiet opening that was last week.

All four restaurant owners, The Gordons and The Elizabeth owners, Boland and wife, Deirdre Artemis Swords have Bar Harbor roots. The Gordons have two restaurants on the island and the Boland’s have several in the Bar Harbor area along with a cafe and coffee roasting company.  The Bolands also own a natural history shop and Swords’ owns and operates the Artemis Art Gallery in Bar Harbor.

Mountain Social

Cody Gordon was a bartender and Lina was a server when they first met in Bar Harbor. They lived separately in Vail, Colorado and New York City at different jobs.  Then they lived together in Maui, and Sarasota.  They’ve been to Ireland and travel back to Bulgaria where Lina is from. Mountain Social will have no particular food genre. Instead will use what they have gleaned from their extensive travels to create their menu.

For this winter season, the Gordons are living above Mountain Social with their six year old daughter, Simona, who has taken a leave from kindergarten to go to ski school. In Bar Harbor, they live above Leary’s Landing Irish Pub. Their other Bar Harbor restaurant, Project Social, is what they are crafting Mountain Social after.

While Clean Cut, of Bethel, did all of the painting, Cody Gordon did most of the carpentry not just because of the cost, but because it takes a long time to find people. They like to antique, and currently Gordon is putting together a bar stool with found parts.

Lina does the back office–payroll, invoicing, etc. work while Cody does the floor. Three Brian’s workers were hired by the Gordons and their Bar Harbor chef came with them for the winter, too.

They will bring oysters from Bar Harbor to do Oysters Rockefeller this winter. They hope to cook roasted bone marrow and their chef who trained in Italy, will make homemade pastas.

The menu pricing is high, Appetizers are $13-$19; cocktails are $15-$16 Entrees are $30-$40. They dehydrate fruits for all of their cocktails. They infuse pineapple and use fresh herbs, too.

“Everyone here (the other restaurants) has something to offer…the thing we’re bringing to town that’s not really here is a cocktail program.”

There will be 65 inside seats and closer to ninety in all when the patio is in use.

They plan to be open five days a week and year round.

Gordon doesn’t expect to take breaks for mud season unless the staff asks for one, “If staff wants to work year round, we will.” The Gordons bought a house for staff on Chandler Hill in Bethel with four bedrooms, and potential for a fifth.

“I did almost 30 interviews. We’re really happy, I’m hoping that it is the case for everyone, that people are ready to come back and start to work,” said Cody Gordon.

The Elizabeth

Michael Boland has hundreds of antique dinner plates, some grace the tables in the dining room of The Elizabeth Guest House and Restaurant. “It will be formal service but not stuffy, not pretentious. More like 22 Broad,” he said.

He and his family, including daughters, Zoe, a student at Gould, and Juno, 13, are renting the former restaurant, 22 Broad, for the next several months. Additionally, their chef worked at 22 Broad before joining The Elizabeth staff.

Michael Boland confirmed that they paid less than $790,000, which was the listing price for the 32 Main Street business.

Besides the several businesses they own on Mount Desert Island, the Boland’s also own the Sunday River Brewing Company, purchased in June, 2021 from Ron and Rick Savage who had lost their license. “They (The Savage brothers) did a good job rebuilding it: the brand, the food quality and the infrastructure.” said Michael Boland, of the Sunday River Road restaurant that has been there since 1992.

Before they opened The Elizabeth, they had the building painted and a new heating system installed. Many cosmetic renovations are underway in the rooms with more in the works for the future. One of the plans for The Elizabeth is a new patio that will be on the right side of the building starting in the Spring.

Other features Boland will leave intact, like the leaded glass in the windows. Walking through the Victorian home, from the front porch entry is the dining room, next is a room they call the card room, also for dining, and finally a bar. Some of rooms in the Carriage House in the back of the inn have vaulted wood ceilings and feel less Victorian and more ski chalet-like with kitchens and lofts for bigger groups.

All together there are 14 rooms for rent. Three additional rooms on the third floor are for staff. Boland also bought the five-bedroom Barstow house on Railroad Street, where four of the rooms are already occupied by staff.

The menu pricing, like Mountain Social, is on the high side.  The menu lists “starters” in the range of $16-$23. Their “Mains” with seafood, beef and vegetarian options are $29-$42. They plan to serve their own coffee that they roast at their own roasting facility.

“We’ve got the lodging and then we’ve got the restaurant. I’m excited about both of them. We’re going to have an amazing wine list…that’s been one of my passions. People are going to come just for that,” said Boland.

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