The newest entry to the Newburyport dining scene washed ashore last week just in time to welcome holiday shoppers with a sunny, beachy vibe. Executive chef Suzi Maitland, along with partners and mixologists Beau Sturm and Josh Childs, the team behind the hip casual Cambridge trio Trina’s Starlite Lounge, Parlor Sports, and Audubon, hope to create a similar vibe, with a new theme, in the former Loretta’s restaurant space.
“We hope that The Paddle Inn becomes a casual, neighborhood hangout – somewhere you could go out with your girlfriends, your parents, or on a date,” says co-owner Sturm.
The menu will bring a taste of the exotic to town, featuring beach cuisine from around the world. Offerings may include anything from a Cambodian dish of coconut beef skewers with charred scallion and Thai chili sauce to Brazilian half roast chicken with piri piri and orange pepper jam, along with heavy influences from chef Maitland’s family home off Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Maitland, whose background includes Boston’s The Metropolitan Club and Todd English’s Olives, says the team set their sights on Newburyport after partner Sturm, who, along with Childs, will oversee the drinks program, moved his family to Newbury a year ago.
“We all fell in love with charm and natural beauty of the area,” Maitland explains. “Newburyport has a thriving year-round community that we’re very excited to become a part of.”
Look for the drinks list to feature hyper-local brews alongside a creative cocktail list with reimagined classic beach drinks like the The Drunken Monkey, made with The Paddle Inn’s three-rum blend, dry orange curacao, almond syrup, velvet falernum, and lime. Just in time to toast the first snowfall.
The Paddle Inn, 27 State St., Newburyport, (978) 572-1242, will be open from 4 p.m. daily, with the kitchen open until 11 p.m. nightly. No reservations. Follow The Paddle Inn on Instagram at @thepaddleinn or like them on Facebook.