Striped Bass is Back!

Entering its 18 season on the waterfront, has had its share of issues with the water.

“All we really need is one good rainstorm at high tide and it's a big blow,” said general manager Kristin Ozanian of the flooding they've endured through the years. Then there was Hurricane Irene which submerged the area and “hit us hard,” she said.

Since the storm, back in August, 2011 (and ), the place was able to open and continue the season, but barely. They decided to use the slower winter months to close altogether for renovations. They would open up the walls to investigate and repair the damage, and – while they were at it – give the place a cosmetic facelift.

The previous décor – only a few years old itself – was already tired with its dated gray and dark motif. The dining room and bar is all nautical-inspired now, with boats on the wallpaper, rope circling the posts, and compasses stencilled on the floor. Ozanian desribed it as “very Cape Cod. Lighter. Blue. Bringing the outside in.” They had hoped to open by mid-March but as with all major jobs, the timeline went longer than expected. That short stretch of unseasonably warm weather we had a while back, “was just killing us,” Ozanian said.

Striped Bass is open at last.

On Friday April 6, the bar enjoyed a “soft” opening with appetizers available to a ring of patrons at the bar. As of yesterday, the whole place is accessible, with full service, regular hours and the same seafood-centric menu and head chef. The popular cabana bar will open in early May as usual; dining is permitted outside depending on the weather.

Other good news: the fish in the tank behind the bar, which the staff were worried wouldn't survive the winter (so they made sure the tank was heated when the place wasn't), have lived and thrived. They've all mated.