block island rhode island
Chris Sereno, president of Coastal Resorts International, was a culinary student at Johnson & Wales University when he got a summer job on Block Island, a resort island an hour ferry ride off the coast of Rhode Island. He met his (now former) business partner in the ownership of the historical National Hotel on Block Island and M Waterfront Grille in Naples. During the eight-week Block Island season in July and August, Sereno manages the hotel and restaurant, and during the busy season in Naples,
BLOCK ISLAND TOURISM COUNCIL/MICHAEL MELFORD
Southeast Lighthouse
Old Harbor
Jackie, Emery and Chris Sereno
Statue of Rebecca
Mohegan Bluffs 50 NAPLES ILLUSTRATED
he’s at M Waterfront Grille. Other Neapolitans who are there: Sereno has brought Neapolitans to Block Island, including more than 20 servers from M Waterfront Grille who work the summers in Rhode Island. Sereno has also enticed some Block Island residents to check out Naples, with a few buying homes. Neapolitan friends and clients visit him on Block Island. Who goes there: A lot of New Englanders. “It’s a car ride from New York, Boston, New Jersey, with an hour ferry ride. It’s also a big boating destination, with as many people staying on their boats as stay in the many hotels and inns on the island.” Surprising aspect: There’s not a single traffic light, no air conditioning and no franchises. Power is supplied by World War II generators. “If you miss the last ferry off the island, you have to spend the night,” Sereno says. “Usually there aren’t any hotel rooms, so I’ve given blankets to people to sleep on the beach.” Dress code: Very casual; shorts and T-shirts. Incomparable restaurant: In the National Hotel. When he’s not at his own restaurant, Sereno likes to eat at the Spring House Hotel. Favorite local food: “Ballard’s Inn for family-style lobster.” Best way to start the day: “We have an outside bar that doesn’t open until 12. Before it opens, my daughter Emery and I like to sit and have breakfast and watch the boats pulling in and out of the harbor.” Essential experience: Drink a mudslide and have lunch on the National’s porch overlooking the harbor. “It’s been written up in many magazines.” If you weren’t there, where you’d be: “In California, or the British Virgin Islands, where the weather is perfect all the time.”