Quarterdeck Resort unveiled its new Jake's Beach Grill lakefront restaurant on the west shore of Gull Lake.
Resort patrons and locals on the lake have been begging resort owners to bring the restaurant back to the water's edge after a previous restaurant building was destroyed by fire in 1997, Ryan Klohn, resort manager, stated in a news release.
Klohn said the resort's principals began a major renovation to the resort's lakefront three-story lodge building in October of 2015. To capitalize on the wide water vista of Gull Lake, significant fill was excavated from the hillside in front of the east face of the building to allow the addition of expansive glass windows on the lower level of the new restaurant and bar.
The former conference center was demolished to make way for an all new lakefront dining venue where nearly all of the 100 indoor dining seats have views of the action on the lake, Klohn stated. During the excavation process, an outdoor dining patio that seats 100 was designed to be lower than the indoor dining windows, which allows the indoor dining patrons to see the lake over the outdoor dining patrons.
Rob and Tony Jacob, friends of resort principals, were selected to manage all food, beverage, and special events operations for the resort. The name, Jake's Beach Grill, was chosen to accentuate the beach-front dining venue.
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During the design process with local architect, Travis Miller, the Jacobs insisted on a bar venue that would be outdoor friendly and inviting to those coming off the boat after a day of wakeboarding for a cold beer. The design outcome is an indoor/outdoor bar seating up to 40 patrons inside and out.
The resort principals were after a design motif that was a combination of northwoods with a nautical flair of Nantucket Cape Cod, Miller reported. To execute the theme Miller selected local interior designer Kaylin Stawarski of The Great Furniture Gallery.
"It has been a fun project." Starwarski said. "Everyone knew what they wanted so the guesswork was eliminated. The colors are light and airy but the northwoods flavor is visible with the fieldstone fireplace with reclaimed wood mantel at the head of the dining room. You can definitely feel the nautical side when the gals hang their purses on boat cleats."
"Jeff Hanson of Hy-Tec Construction has done a terrific job in executing the project renovation," Miller said. "Renovations can be tricky and sometimes full of surprises in an old lodge building but this has gone pretty well and Hy-Tec definitely has the value engineering solutions to keep the project on budget."
The outdoor dining and bar venue is surrounded by creative landscape designs by Backyard Reflections to include winding granite stairs and rock gardens filled with colorful annual and perennial plants.
"The wide expansive garden areas on the lake gave us an opportunity to get truly creative," said Andrew Raisanen of Backyard Reflections.
The restaurant's grand opening was June 23. Jake's Beach Grill is open for lunch and dinner, inside and out.
The menu will consist of freshly prepared selections featuring fresh fish daily, aged prime rib and steaks, lobster tacos, salads,appetizers, as well as casual items such as the JakeWings, Black Angus burgers and fish and chips.
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The Jacobs said they were lucky to have chef Pauly, who has been with them for many years sharing his passion for satisfying customer's palates.
With over 90 boat slips at the resort, expectations are many customers will arrive by boat. The Jacobs said it's been it's been quite amazing to get calls from parents who were dockboys or dockgirls when they were teenagers and now their children are vying for a job on the docks. Applications are being gathered and more are welcome.
