Winfield’s Restaurant
The Narragansett Inn
Southeast Light Delights
“There are day visitors who take the ferry to Block Island for no other reason than to dine at one of the isle’s elegant restaurants. Perhaps this is because many of the island’s fine dining establishments boast views that are every bit as impressive as the food.” — About.com Pots & Kettles Food Truck
Marc and Katie Scortino, Owners Mohegan Café, Captain Nick’s and Harbor Grill
Marc, Katie and their dog, Lightning.
I came to Block Island in 1996 to work at a moped rental shop during the day and at Captain Nick’s as a bouncer at night. Katie showed up a few years later in 2002 and worked as a bartender at Ballard’s. As the years passed I ended up working more and more at Captain Nick’s and eventually took over as general manager in 2006. At that time, some mutual friends introduced Katie and I. Katie was looking for a change of pace, so she began bartending at Captain Nick’s. We hit it off and pretty www.blockislandinfo.com
soon we became an item. Katie’s knowledge of the bar business really brought the level of service up and allowed me to focus on promotions and entertainment. It soon became apparent we made a pretty good team. In 2009, the owner of Captain Nick’s approached me with an offer to assume the proprietorship of the business. We decided to take the plunge and spent that spring fixing the bathrooms, painting, cleaning and renovating. We turned the second floor into a lounge area that now hosts our Piano Bar on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Katie officially turned our Sunday afternoons on the deck into a family day where moms and dads could bring the kids, have a couple of drinks and enjoy sushi and live music. I popped the question to Katie in July of 2012 and thankfully she said yes. We planned our wedding for September of 2014. In the fall of 2013 we were presented with another offer to take over two more mainstay restaurants on the island. Surely it would be insane for us to take over two more businesses AND plan a wedding. But since running Captain Nick’s had made us
My Block Island
well versed in insanity, we figured we were up for the challenge. So in the Spring of 2014, just six months before we were to marry, we became proprietors of the Mohegan Café and the Harbor Grill. If it weren’t for our amazing staff we wouldn’t have made it through that summer. Thank goodness for people like Sarah Thayer, Dave Sniffen, Justin Dunlop and Andrew Brushett (to name only a few) who helped us keep the ship afloat throughout that season. Somehow we all pulled through and our reward for all that hard work was a beautifully sunny wedding day, where we were surrounded by many of those same staff members, who at this point had become family. Now in our fourth season at the helm of all three establishments, we still credit our amazing crew for any success we may enjoy. It’s truly a team effort in the truest sense of the word. Even more rewarding has been the greater sense of family we’ve encountered as a more integral part of the Block Island community. It’s truly a special place and we take great pride in serving those who live here and those who come to visit this magical island.
Close To Home, A World Away
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