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Adding to the legend of The Old Grist Mill Tavern ...
One of my cerebral snapshots of the Sixties conjures my mother, sister, and I locking up the house, the three of us all set for those lazy, hazy days of summer Nat King Cole alluded to as we day tripped to Scarborough Beach and other points south in Rhode Island. The progression of time wrought life changes, forever affecting our landscape to embrace new traditions.
One perpetuated by my sister on the West Coast, is that of mailing each of us a gift card for The Old Grist Mill Tavern, an upscale restaurant in Seekonk, Massachusetts, where my mother and I frequently dine to the point of receiving a warm welcome every time we step over the threshold onto historic turf.
Built in 1745, The Old Grist Mill Tavern is a renowned pre-revolutionary site in New England, having provided nearby colonial farmers a place to grind the grain they produced. Not only a food-production mill, the establishment was also a sawmill and an ice house. Restaurant owner and operator since 2000, Greg Esmay stated the Grist Mill stopped working as an actual mill and opened as a restaurant in the mid-1930s, though it is not known when the changeover occurred due to record discrepancies.
In the summer of 2012, a fire destroyed the establishment when a tractor-trailer truck overturned near the building. Esmay said it was not the first time the structure was rebuilt as there were fires in the 1950s and 1970s. Open for business in 2015 after a price tag of $3.5 million, Esmay points out that the roof is copper-lined as in the past. The signs which hung on the walls are back. The bay windows are the same as before. The building’s old Tiffany lamps were also salvaged from the ruins.
‘Seekonk Patch’ article: http://tinyurl.com/h6fxsod
‘The Sun Chronicle’ article: http://tinyurl.com/z49dx6l
A week before the fire, my mother and I had dined there by a window overlooking the waterfall on Burr’s Pond which pours into the Runnins’ River. The memory of savoring a mushroom & cheddar burger sustained me until the restaurant’s reopening when my sister mailed Tavern gift cards in earnest.
This past holiday, one of the gift cards never arrived for Christmas or New Year’s, so she placed a call to the restaurant, and informed me “someone” would stop by my residence and hand deliver a new gift card.
Impressed by such gallantry, and motivated to tell this story, I conducted preliminary background research on The Old Grist Mill Tavern, discovering that the gentleman who rang was none other than Greg Esmay! It was the icing on the cake for a fine establishment which has risen from the ashes to carry on its traditions uncompromised: personable hostesses, top-notch chefs, and the courteous and efficient wait staff who serve delicious food!
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Web Site:
The Old Grist Mill Tavern
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what an interesting tale, enjoyed the read.
Never Stop Writing!!
m
Looks like a great place to have lunch or dinner by the water.
Ron