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Fine Dining and Lodgings in an Out-of-the-Way Spot
In the early days
of the Surry Inn, guests came by steamship and stagecoach. Now
guests come by plane and car, but still they come to find good food
and cozy lodgings in this out-of-the-way corner of Downeast Maine.
The Surry Inn
overlooks Contention Cove on Route 172 just east of Surry Village.
Originally built as a private home, the Surry Inn has been run as an
inn on and off since the 1830s. The inn is now owned by Peter and
Annelise Krinsky, who run it with the help of a small staff.
Born in upstate New
York, Peter camped with his family in Stonington as a child and came
to Surry as an adult after living in Portland and Blue Hill where he
worked in construction and in restaurants and managed the Blue Hill
Inn. He bought the Surry Inn in 1981, when it was a five-unit
apartment building, and renovated it.
Originally from the
San Francisco
Bay area, Annelise met Peter when she came as a guest to the Surry
Inn in the early 1990s. They were married in 1994, and have been
running the inn together since. They have two young sons, and trade
off taking care of them as they do work at the inn.
In addition to its
eight guestrooms, the inn offers dining in its restaurant. Peter,
the inn’s chef who has twice won awards in the Governor’s Taste of
Maine Lobster contest, had no formal culinary training but gained
his experience from working in restaurants.
Among his
specialties are lobster and corncakes, salmon with walnuts and
blueberries, scallops with almonds and mango, and Mayan-style red
snapper.
Annelise described
the food as “more food than art” and “innovative, but focused on the
basic quality of good ingredients.”
Peter said running
an inn that welcomes an international clientele is “a great way to
bring the world to our door,” that “right here in little Surry,
Maine, we meet people from Europe, all corners of the country, from
Canada.” (Annelise said she is amazed how often she has cause to use
her French and “fledgling Spanish” with patrons.)
In the fall, when
most of the tourists “from away” have gone, more Mainers come, and
the Krinskys find them an “especially appreciative clientele.” |
