AUBURN – Somehow, running a popular bed-and-breakfast, restoring a historic Victorian home and caring for 1-year-old twins isn’t enough for Connie and Clint Zimmerman.
The pair, proprietors of the Munroe Inn on Pleasant Street, is opening a restaurant on the first floor of the Queen Anne-style house that is both their home and workplace. The restaurant, with its damask table linens, old-fashioned bone china and ornate cutlery, will bring a fine-dining option to the area.
“There has always been this draw for us,” said Connie Zimmerman as she gestured around the dining room, listing all the restaurant jobs she and her husband performed for others over the years. “We said, Let’s make this happen for ourselves.'”
The couple opened the Munroe Inn five years ago, offering travelers the option of staying in a Victorian “painted lady” that is on the National Register of Historic Places. They intended at some point to open their dining room to the public, but found restoring the 1899 home, running the B&B and hosting a multitude of social functions such as wine-tasting dinners and bridal showers kept them hopping.
Never mind the twins.
But in the last year, two things happened to bring the restaurant idea back to the front burner: an off-street parking lot was created next door, and Clint – head chef, host and handyman – nearly finished creating a common area for overnight guests in the attached carriage house. The new common area allows the Zimmermans to convert the home’s original parlor and sitting room into dining space for the restaurant, but maintains privacy and amenities for their overnight guests.
“We’re working back toward the original goal,” said Clint of the restaurant.
And now it’s in sight. Twelve dining tables are scattered throughout the first floor, united by table linens, china and silverware tailored to each setting. The home’s original Victorian woodwork, stained-glass windows and period furnishings create a gracious atmosphere.
“We wanted to make sure that we created a relaxed, not crowded, atmosphere and take a little more traditional, leisurely approach to dining,” said Connie.
To that end, seating is by reservation only and limited to parties of up to six, although they will accept more at the manager’s discretion. The menu offers a six-course meal for a fixed price. (They don’t count bread and coffee as a “course,” joked Connie.) Depending on the entree choice, prices run from $26 to $39 for the entire meal.
Diners will have a choice of two appetizers, two soups, two salads, two desserts, two palate cleansers and 11 entrees. The menu features many of the dishes Clint has become known for, such as his homemade grapefruit sorbet, chicken Marsala and carmelized onion soup, featuring seven different kinds of onions.
The pair purchases as much of its food locally as possible and offers many vegetarian dishes.
The restaurant opens June 1, but Connie said they already have several reservations. She’s pleased that the bed-and-breakfast has done so well, virtually by word of mouth, and hopes the same will happen with the restaurant.
“I think once people try us, the word will spread like wildfire,” she said.
And she’s proud that local people looking for a fine-dining experience don’t have to head to Fore Street in Portland or the Harraseeket in Freeport.
“We can be that option in town,” she said.
What: Munroe Inn Restaurant
Where: 123 Pleasant St., Auburn
Contact: 782-4984; www.munroeinn.com
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m.
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