Roost Café and Bistro brings an eclectic flair to regional cuisine in a cozy atmosphere, using local products as much as possible. Our affordable menu is reminiscent of European plates, and Roost Café and Bistro gives our guests the option of selecting just an entrée or sampling multiple courses.
About the staff
Proprietors – Aldo Vallecillo and Rob Pinkham
Chefs Extraordinaire – Michael Spain and Gretchen Shortway
About Aldo and Rob
Aldo and Rob have been working in the food industry since 1992, but have always had an interest in food and cooking since their youth. Their long tenure of 14 years owning and managing a restaurant has taught them many things about self-employment, employees, customer service and the need for always re-creating for the customer, a value-added experience.
A great part of their success is the balance of skills and strengths in the relationship with his partner, Aldo. Aldo is the partner who has the artistic talent; his vision of colors, sounds, trends and peoples’ ooohs and aaaaahs lays the huge visual foundation and overall ambiance of the work, home, restaurant and rental environments he has created. Aldo’s implementation of ideas and creativity not only includes the interior décor and ambiance, but also spreads outside to the garden and oasis atmosphere of landscape and landscape design. To appreciate Roost’s oasis on Route 1, one must come and enjoy our Alfresco European Style Biergarten.
During these years in Boston, they renovated 2 houses. One house was an 18 room 1872 Victorian and the other was an 1842 Greek Revival. The Victorian house and its’ garden were on many home tours including a sub-tour of the famed Beacon Hill House and Garden Tours. They have also renovated a house in Kennebunk, Maine and another in Ogunquit, Maine, where they now reside.
It then became time for Rob and Aldo to combine their talents and develop a new venture based on each of their interests, experience, talents and passions. This is where Cliff Lodge Restaurant was developed and implemented in 1992 after finding a 100 year old lake house renovating it and converting it into a food establishment with 60 interior seats and 100 exterior deck seats. Their first Chef was with them for 6 years and their Lead Waitperson, Heidi was with them for 13 years. Another wait staff person, Norma, was with them 11 years. Many of the seasonal wait and kitchen staff returned summer after summer to earn money for college. Rob managed the kitchen and front of the house and Aldo took care of all the maintenance, gardens and bartending 7 nights a week, keeping the Cheers style bar animated. All of the combined efforts garnered them, among others, 2 respectable travel recommendations. One was from Travelocity.com and the other was from Yankee Magazine. None of the awards nor travel book entries was solicited. Each was earned by customer satisfaction, referrals and their comments.
After 14 successfull years, Aldo and Rob decided to close the restaurant and move the the Maine Seacoast where they had been vacationing for over 20 years and where they owned a summer home.
About Chef Douglas Wood
We take great pleasure in announcing as our new Chef de Cuisine, Douglas Edwin Wood, formerly of the restaurant Cruz Bay Prime of the Westin St John, in the US Virgin Islands. Chef Wood has worked from Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, and Las Vegas, to Cape Cod. He received his classic training in the world renowned resort the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, in Phoenix, Arizona. He also worked variously at the equally famous resorts, the Wigwam, the Phoenician, and at Caesars’ Palace. His career has taken him throughout the Pacific Rim, the Southwest, California, and the Caribbean, and fortuitously, now to our doorstep in New England. Douglas has learned a variety of cuisine and techniques, and continues to increase his skill where Fortune has lead. His passion is to invite those who come to table at Roost Café and Bistro to have the best Bistro dining experience we can provide, to consider each guest as unique and special and to ensure the finest quality food offered.
“When a plate is presented to our guest the first time, and the anticipation expected is delightfully realized, and the look , the glow of pleasant surprise, is achieved….then we have done our job. Says Douglas “there is no greater compliment, from child to gourmand, than to see an appreciation for our efforts.”
We look forward to welcoming Douglas to our restaurant and to our community, especially to our Foodie Community. And we thank all of you for your support and our continued success at Roost Café and Bistro.
Catering
As we prefer to prepare our catering menus to our customer’s desires and requirements, all of our proposals are custom-developed and prepared. Please call us at 207.363.0266 or email us at [email protected] to discuss any plans you might have in the future.
We also have a private dining space that holds up to 25 people – and is available for small gatherings from Birthdays, Bridal Showers,and Rehearsal Dinners to Corporate Training, Breakfasts