Wandby Landing: New Italian restaurant pays homage to Kennebunk history

KENNEBUNK, Maine — It was 101 years ago the SS Wandby crashed on the rocks off the coast of the Kennebunks, its stranded crew to be showered with housing, food, and entertainment by locals.

“It was kind of like the beginning of hospitality here in Kennebunk,” said Matt Dyer, who with his wife, Mariah, opened Wandby Landing Restaurant this month.

The couple are the newest stewards of the 19th-century farmhouse at 46 Western Ave. that for the last 30 years has served as a restaurant, most recently On the Marsh Bistro.

The Dyers hope Wandby Landing can live up to the story behind its name with fine wines, cocktails and an Italian menu built around handmade pasta.

“That’s something we aspire to,” said Matt, 40, who with Mariah, 38, lives in Kennebunkport.

The couple have worked for the last 18 months to update the farmhouse that was built around 1850. Matt said they are expanding the restaurant's bar from eight seats to 22, maintaining its gardens and adding a pizza oven that will soon be up and running.

“We wanted to pay homage to what was here, but also create a space that was comfortable for us,” Matt said.

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Mariah, who also runs her own flower and garden business Wild Aster Farm, is building on the gardens around the farmhouse that overlooks the nearby marsh. The couple plans to use their two-floor, 144-seat restaurant for weddings and functions as well.

“It’s a beautiful space, beautiful gardens. We definitely want to take advantage of that,” Mariah said. “It’s really close to downtown, but also feels like you’re a world away for a bit.”

The Dyers have been together for about 15 years and have worked in other local restaurants like Earth at Hidden Pond in Kennebunkport. Wandby Landing is their first attempt as sole proprietors.

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A name with meaning

The Dyers learned about the SS Wandby while researching the history of the Kennebunks as they considered a name for their new restaurant. Mariah went to the local historical society and found an account of the ship’s crash and the town’s reception of the crew. She also found letters written 30 to 40 years after the crash from the crew thanking local families like the well-established Eldridge family for the hospitality until they could find a way home.

Bringing their vision to life took more time than they expected with the coronavirus pandemic slowing construction and driving up costs. The couple purchased the farmhouse in December 2020, and they said the pandemic set them back about 10 months in their effort to open.

To get by during those extra months, the Dyers took what Matt called “mercenary work” with their friends’ catering and hospitality businesses. Mariah also grew her garden business, which includes winter tulips she said brought customers joy in the pandemic’s cold months.

“I got a lot of comments, ‘Oh my god, your tulips are really getting me through some dark times,” Mariah said.

A 'staple in the community'

This summer, the Dyers still had a lot of work they wanted to complete but set an ambitious timeline to open July 1. Matt said there was still plenty to finish with two days left before opening.

“It was a race to the finish line, as these projects usually are,” Matt said. The reception in the last month has been encouraging, he said. Guests have returned over the course of the month, and Wandby Landing’s already has some weddings booked.

Wandby Landing’s chef, Michael Bergin, has worked in restaurants along the East Coast, including in New York where he worked under acclaimed chef Missy Robbins. He said he had a background in French cooking but comes from an Italian family. He said working in Italian kitchens in New York edged him back toward his Italian roots and refining his handmade pasta craft.

“People have been back three or four times for the same dish,” Matt said, “Which speaks volumes to the quality that he (Bergin) is producing.”

Bergin and the Dyers all say they know Kennebunk is a vacation town whose peak season is between July and August. They say the vision for Wandby Landing is to do more than serve the tourists, and they hope to become embedded in the community for locals to visit a few times a week or month year-round.

“I think we’re not looking at ourselves as a tourist destination,” Matt said, “But hope to be kind of a staple in the community.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Wandby Landing: New Italian restaurant opens in Kennebunk Maine