July 21st, 2021

Summer is in full swing. The weather has been slightly grey and wet but we are taking it in stride and enjoying our beach, lake, gardening and grilling time.
Summer in Maine always proves glorious no matter the color of the sky. My Thea Ann had a saying that goes back to her Scandinavian roots, ‘if you see enough blue sky to make a Dutchman’s pants the sun will come out.’ Keep that in mind next time you look up to the sky hoping for some sun.
Getting the restaurant ‘back to normal’ has been anything but normal. We have spent so much of the last 18 months pivoting and adapting, that we thought getting back to ‘normal’ would be comparatively easy. We thought wrong.
As everyone has seen, across the board, there is a shortage of labor. The inability to staff our restaurant to its capacity, of course, is the biggest way we’ve been affected. If you’ve visited, you noticed the smaller staff in the front of the house, the kitchen is also understaffed.
Everyone who is working is working hard. Most days doing the job that 2 years ago 2 people would have done. Their dedication and spirit is admirable. We are handling many more shortages, product once easily sourced is impossible to procure. Maine crabmeat usually abundant this time of year, is hard to come by due to the lack of pickers, same holds for lobster meat. Wine and the ability to get it shipped to our distributors has kept our wine list ever changing. And these are just a couple of examples. We, along with every other restaurant in Maine, are still pivoting.
I would be untruthful if I said its getting easier, because truly, it is not. We are seeing the fallout of these shortages all around us. Beloved businesses struggling to stay open, cutting hours of service, slashing menus or choosing to close all together. We in the restaurant industry are working hard to give happiness, but we are weary. My hope is that everyone practices patience. And being kind. 
At The GT we are blessed, our customer base is the best and most generous people around. Most have eaten with us so often over the years that they can recognize and appreciate how hard we are working. My thanks to you.
I, we all, appreciate your kindness.
Take listen to Tim McGraw’s song, Humble and Kind, it says it all.
                                           Lisa                           
 ‘the cure for anything is salt water..sweat, tears or the sea’                                  
​isak dinesen