White Barn Inn celebrating 50 years in Kennebunk with chefs of past: What you can expect

KENNEBUNK, Maine — White Barn Inn turns 50 this year, and the celebrations of half a century of fine dining and classy, cozy lodging are already well under way.

“We’re so excited about the entire anniversary,” Bethany Wade, the inn’s director of rooms, said during a recent interview. “You only get to celebrate this once.”

Events in the months ahead will highlight the inn’s long heritage, culinary legacy and coastal character, according to a press release from the inn. Daniel Braun, the general manager of the inn, hailed the site’s dining establishment as “one of the most sought-after culinary destinations in the Northeast.”

All throughout 2023, the chefs who led the inn’s kitchen at points during the past half century will return once more to offer guests an assortment of memorable meals, according to Braun.

“We're thrilled to recognize this anniversary of excellence by celebrating the chefs that helped place the resort on the national culinary map,” Braun said. “White Barn Inn Restaurant will continue to offer guests and locals alike a luxury experience that revels in a modern spirit that is both refined and fun-filled for years to come.”

Some of the chefs have returned already. On March 11, for example, chef Ed Gannon visited the Little Barn and White Barn Inn Restaurant and worked alongside Mathew Woolf, the current executive chef, to curate dishes that were among Gannon’s favorites when he commanded the kitchen from 1989 through 1992.

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On June 9, chef Jonathan Cartwright will be the one returning and teaming up with Woolf to offer diners his favorite dishes. Cartwright, now the owner and executive chef at Musette in Cape Porpoise, served as executive chef at White Barn Inn from 1995 through 2015.

According to Wade, the anniversary celebrations will culminate on Nov. 3 and 4 with a finale dinner in which all returning chefs will join Woolf to create a dining experience featuring plates inspired by each culinary master’s time at White Barn Inn.

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Big events planned for White Barn Inn's 50th

Other events at the White Barn Inn Restaurant will include a Mother’s Day Tea on May 13; oysters and wine tastings on May 27 and Nov. 24; weekly lobster bakes, all summer long; the return of Chef Matt Padilla, who recently helmed the kitchen, on Sept. 29; and specialty cocktails, whipped up and served, all year long.

Mark your calendar for May 20, otherwise known at the inn as Bananas Foster Night. This event will be a tribute to one of the classic dishes from the inn’s original menus. Served as a dessert on the premises years ago, the bananas Foster that day will be cooked and prepared in the dining room for guest viewing and at no extra charge. The old-fashioned dessert goes all the way back to the early 1950s and features sliced bananas and a flambéed rum sauce served with vanilla ice cream.

While the inn and restaurant is marking 50 years on Beach Avenue in Kennebunk, the barn itself has been around since the 1860s, when it first offered boarders hospitality. The property became known as White Barn Inn in 1973 and in 2018 became a part of the Auberge Resort Collection, a portfolio of hotels, resorts, residences and private clubs.

A redesign of the entire property, led by Jenny Wolf Interiors of New York, started with its unveiling in 2020 and is expected to be completed this month, according to Wade. Guest rooms and other spaces now will have “playful contemporary touches and elements from local Maine purveyors,” according to the inn.

The inn has 27 rooms and such amenities as an outdoor heated pool, a spa, coastal views, as well as access to the shops, eateries and galleries of Lower Kennebunk Village and Dock Square in Kennebunkport. And, of course, there are the inn’s two restaurants – The White Barn Inn Restaurant, which offers fine dining, and the new, adjacent Little Barn, with its casual fare for when you’re just craving “a good burger ... a good lobster roll,” according to Wade.

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Property dates back to the Civil War

The recent renovations at White Barn Inn are not the only ones made throughout its history. Truth be told, the property has seen many changes since the days of the Civil War, when it was known as the old Boothbay Boarding House.

Cora Toothaker, a daughter in the Boothbay family, owned and managed the site at one point in the early twentieth century, according to the history provided by the inn. Toothaker added the old farmhouse, which eventually became a hotel. She also built an annex next to the main building to accommodate many friends of her guests who visited the then-named Forest Hill House in the fall of 1937. In time, new cottages were built to accommodate even more families on the property.

The main house was remodeled in 1941. Guests were summoned to the dining room there by the ringing of the dinner bell – a tradition that continues to this day, by the way.

“Every day at 5, we still have that tradition for when the restaurant doors open,” Wade said. “The bell gets rung.”

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The original barn, now attached to the main house, at one time housed livestock, horses, and chickensto allow the working farm to continue. As modern times took shape, the barn found new uses as storage and even as an expansion of the kitchen on site. The barn also provided lodging for the boys who came to work on the property for the summer.

“The girls, of course, were discreetly housed in May’s Annex,” the inn reports in its history.

The barn was even an ice cream parlor for a short time – in fact, its sign is still posted inside the restaurant.

In 1973, the barn became the restaurant whose fiftieth anniversary is being celebrated today.

“One of the things that is really special about the White Barn Inn is that we’re part of a story,” Wade said. “It’s exciting for everyone. There’s a sense of place and family.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: White Barn Inn celebrating 50 years in Kennebunk, ME