For decades, Mansion Clam House was a storied Saugatuck destination.
It closed in the mid-2010s. Its replacement, Parker Mansion, shut down last year, after a largely forgettable 6-year run.
The vacant property — prime real estate, in one of our town’s most vibrant restaurant destinations — is ready for its next incarnation.
If Doug Pardon’s plans work out, “The Bridge at Saugatuck” will be as beloved as Mansion Clam House, and more a part of the riverfront neighborhood than Parker Mansion ever was.
Doug Pardon
This is the Staples High School Class of 1997 graduate’s first restaurant venture. But after a career on Wall Street, Pardon knows how to research an investment.
The former football, basketball and baseball player (and statewide Scholar-Athlete honoree) has gotten input and feedback from seasoned professionals.
And as someone who grew up in town, then moved back 8 years ago to raise his family, Pardon knows what and where Westporters like to eat.
Food has always been part of his life. His father Edward — a noted financial advisor — loved to cook. He took lessons from Pietro Scotti, and on Sundays prepared memorable meals.
Pardon inherited his father’s passion. (His parents live in the same Guyer Road home they built in 1972, and enjoy babysitting their grandchildren.)
Pardon tried to purchase the Black Duck a few years ago. Despite many conversations with the owner and landlord, the deal was not completed.
This past January, through his friend Chuck Haberstroh’s uncle-in-law, commercial real estate broker Skip Lane, Pardon heard that the Parker Mansion space on the Riverside Avenue/Bridge Street corner was available.
Before it was Parker Mansion …
He and his wife Elizabeth took a look.
“There seemed to be a lot that prior management hadn’t focused on,” Pardon says.
“There’s the main building, with an upstairs and downstairs; a side patio that they built but never developed, and the riverfront, which was also not utilized.”
… the building was, for many years, The Mansion Clam House.
Pardon researched area restaurant rents.
He enlisted his friend, NBC News and MSNBC anchor/journalist Craig Melvin, as a partner. The men met while coaching their sons’ basketball team.
Pardon brought several restaurateurs through the property. (One was Matt Storch, owner of nearby Match Burger Lobster, who just wanted to help.) They thought the kitchen was small, but good. “You could open up tomorrow,” one said.
Not quite. They took their time. After diligent work — on the property, and getting it right — The Bridge will open in late July.
A “Coming Soon” banner is coming soon — Memorial Day weekend — to spread the word to folks passing by.
Coming soon: A “Bridge at Saugatuck Coming Soon” sign.
Pardon is not quitting his day job. He needed the right chef and operating partner.
Stephen Lewandowski was a great find. The Culinary Institute of America graduate opened Townhouse Greenwich (the former Gabriele’s), and Harlan Publick in South Norwalk.
He also served as executive chef at New York’s Tribeca Grill and corporate chef for the Myriad Restaurant Group, working alongside Drew Nieporent.
Pardon convened focus groups with 80 Westporters. He asked what they liked and disliked in 20 local restaurants.
“I know a lot of restaurants fail,” Pardon says. “It’s important to listen to people. You can’t just open up what you want.”
He’s using local talent to create “a nice place the town can be proud of.” They include architect Frederick Hoag, contractor Chris O’Dell of the O’Dell Group, interior designer Elizabeth Murstein, and Dennis Grimaldi of Westport Glass.
The Bridge will feature “upscale tavern American cuisine,” Pardon says. Part of his vision for the interior is the Gramercy Tavern bar — the site of his first date with his future wife.
The downstairs area will include a barroom feel, with high-top tables. There will be more formal dining upstairs. The side patio and waterfront are important elements in the design, perhaps with cabana-type structures.
Pardon also hopes to use the 5 boat slips on the Saugatuck River.
Boat slips and unused waterfront, behind the former Parker Mansion.
Yet as exciting as The Bridge’s location is, what about that other bridge — the one named for William Cribari, whose uncertain future includes the possibility of a much larger span being built just a few yards away?
“People keep asking me that,” Pardon says. “The town cares about Saugatuck. I’m not losing sleep over it.”
Westporters have debated “the Saugatuck bridge” for years. Doug Pardon hopes they’ll soon all agree that “The Bridge at Saugatuck” is a welcome addition to town.
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I can’t wait to come with Pietro! Best of luck!
Yippeeee! Sounds promising.
Good Luck Doug and team! Great read Dan…Townies!!! Seriously, nice to see this team has done their research, know the value of the location, water, and post Covid desire for outdoor dining.
We wish them all the luck on the new adventure! I remember the Mansion Clam House well growing up in Saugatuck.👏😁
I’m looking forward to this — I always loved Mansion, and we were regular patrons of Parker — but I hope Doug doesn’t lose sight of making the restaurant wheelchair accessible. The uneven gravel parking and the prospect of only high tops downstairs would leave us out.
Doug,
Love the name, all the best
Good Luck Doug! It is great to see a homegrown coming back to Westport and making it better.
Great spot with the big unknown variable of what will happen with the bridge potentially being rebuilt (most won’t want to dine next to a noisy, smelly, dusty active construction zone), hopefully that is being contemplated…
That said, as we now have kid(s), if different atmospheres within are being contemplated, hoping that one is more family friendly/oriented. The boat slips being available for diners / dinghies / tenders would also be very cool as sometimes that is our preferred transportation 🙂
I’d like to think they’ve researched the possibility of the property being eminently domained away…
Mansion was my favorite restaurant in town for many years and Parker Mansion never got it!. I wish Doug and his team well. We need a local spot for good fish & chips, fried clams, lobster, etc.
It will be a welcome addition to town! Cannot wait.
Sounds like a promising new restaurant. Can’t wait!
I am also with Larry P on making it wheelchair accessable/ada compliant. Many of us have elderly parents that we love to bring out and share the love of food with. The high top tables wouldn’t work and that limits who you can cater too.
Also as its very close to the water, windows with screens to let the fresh air in is always plus. Since the Pandemic, many new construction is done without the thinking of utilizing screens for windows and fresh air and ceiling fans – they would be great addition to the restaurant.
See you in July!
Great news, great spot, looking forward to August! Best wishes for success.
Very excited to read about this.
Looking forward to having another great saugatuck restaurant.
Good luck with The Bridge!
This is wonderful news! What a great location! I am very excited!
Way to go Bro! So excited for you!
Loved going to the Mansion Clam House!! Sat inside in the winter and outside in the warm weather. (I hope the focus group suggested they should include some good old seafood selections- ala the Mansion.)
Great news, congratulations! Looking forward to dining in soon!
Amazing News! Can’t wait for the great food, water views, and good times! Really excited for this to open.