Brian Inman was a student at Telstar 17 years ago when he started working as a dishwasher at the Matterhorn restaurant in Newry.
He worked his way up to kitchen manager, where he has served for the past five years.
Now Inman and his wife, Erica, are making the leap to their own business with the purchase of a local institution: the former Bethel’s Best/Breau’s restaurant in Bethel.
“We hope to open in early October,” he said last week.
The new restaurant will be called “Inman’s Diner and Dairy Bar.”
“We deliberated for weeks about the name,” Brian said.
They decided on the family name in honor of Brian’s grandfather, who operated Inman’s Garage in Waterford years ago.
Brian credits Erica with giving the couple the opportunity to take a chance on their own business. She graduated from nursing school last spring, and her job now allows him to concentrate his efforts on the diner.
He’s working on sprucing up the exterior and interior with fresh paint, as well as doing other cosmetic work, but there will be no significant alterations in the layout.
He does plan one big change, however.
“We’re going to install central heat and air,” he said. “I expect to be the most comfortable restaurant in town. I’ve worked in enough restaurants that I know it’s no fun to go and sweat and eat.”
As for the menu, his offerings will be similar to his predecessors.
There will be pizza (with homemade dough), subs and a few dinner specials, along with clams, scallops, haddock and seafood baskets. Inman’s will also offer breakfasts, and provide delivery for everything on the menu.
Then there’s ice cream. “Everyone wants to know about ice cream,” said Brian.
He plans 30 to 40 flavors of hard serve in the warmer months, along with soft serve in chocolate and vanilla.
Because the restaurant will open at the start of the cold months, he will offer a small number of flavors initially.
Opening a restaurant is a lot of hard work, but Brian said he’s looking forward to the rewards.
“I enjoy cooking,” he said. “Maybe it’s the instant gratification – I like seeing the end result quickly. If people like the food, that’s satisfying to me.”
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