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RIVERSIDE REVIVAL Port Kinsale gets a boost

June 13, 2006 12:50 am

TWO NEW arrivals are changing the experience for those who come by boat or car to Point Kinsale Marina and Resort on the shore of the Yeocomico River.

The first is Charles Santangelo, a native New Yorker who's the new general manager of the complex that offers a restaurant, marina and more just a stone's throw from the Westmoreland County town of Kinsale.

Having worked, owned or managed businesses ranging from New York's Studio 54 to a successful "Floribbean" restaurant in Florida, not to mention a string of hot dog carts in St. Louis, Santangelo is determined to create a fine-dining seafood restaurant for customers who arrive by land and sea.

The other new arrival isn't a who but a what--a boat named The Lucky Lady, which for years sat in a slip at the nearby Sandy Point Marina.

Since late spring, the 29-foot Henry Luhrs cruiser has been set in perpetual dry dock, becoming a fixture on the deck outside The Mooring Restaurant at the marina.

Stripped of its engine and most of its other metal parts, the 1956 boat has had its mahogany hull, deck and transom refinished by the Point Kinsale staff until it gleams in the sun.

Outfitted with a cooler where its engine used to be, the boat that once belonged to a mayor of Winchester now stands on secure pilings and has become the Northern Neck's most unusual outdoor bar.

"We were looking for something to give the outdoor deck an interesting nautical look and feel," said Santangelo. "We think it provides a neat feeling of warmth and waterside style."

Regular readers will remember columns about other incarnations of Point Kinsale, starting with its renovation by a Stafford County resident in the '90s.

Santangelo's sister Georgia Derrico and brother-in-law Rod Porter have included him in the facility as a managing partner. Over the years, Santangelo has worked as a chef, club manager and even did a stint with a traveling circus.

"You name it and at one time or another, I've probably done it," said Santangelo, who trained at a culinary school in the Big Apple and ran a restaurant there that was one of the first to serve wraps to carb-concerned patrons.

As the general manager at Point Kinsale, Santangelo has overseen everything from the addition of The Lucky Lady--bought for $700 and put shipshape by the marina's boat shop--to a decision to reduce the number of campers in the facility's small campground.

"We were at 60 and now we're down to about 15," he said. "We were sorry to see some of those longtime folks go, but we made a business decision to focus on the marina and restaurant, serving the people who come to us because of them."

To that end, Santangelo and marketing specialist Diane Smith have brought in a new line of wines, jellies, made-in-Virginia products and other niceties to appeal to those who step off their yachts and/or stay in the facility's several bed-and-breakfast or cottage rooms along the water.

"And we've been working with nearby Ingleside Winery to have their wine available here, as well as to plan some wine-tasting dinners here," said Santangelo.

He counts on his marina staff and a new yard manager to take care of the dockside operation. Santangelo has 32 years in the restaurant industry, so overseeing the kitchen and working with a new chef are comfortably familiar tasks.

"We've come up with a menu that mixes local favorites with dishes we know and love," he said, noting that the menu and specials range from blackened prime rib to rockfish with crab imperial and a loaded oyster Po' Boy sandwich.

Santangelo added, "If you're claiming to be a good, local seafood restaurant, you'd better have the local specialties. It's one of the reasons we'll be offering steamed crabs on the deck, Maryland style with paper on the tables."

While he knows that the summer crowd of visitors and boaters will be critical to the business, the patronage of locals who are still around in the winter months will be just as important.

With several different rooms at the Mooring and now the Lucky Lady deck to serve patrons outdoors, the Northern Neck manager who customers call "that guy from New York" thinks he's got the mix that will suit customers' fancies.

"Toss in jazz on the deck one weekend, bluegrass the next and then a little country or classic rock on another, and we hope the package we offer here will make Point Kinsale a destination," he said. "That's our hope."

For more information on Point Kinsale, call 804/472-2044 or go online to portkinsale.com.

To reach ROB HEDELT: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com