Restaurant Revival: Mulligan's + The Green Door Pub + Snowfish Sushi

SNOWFISH SUSHI (FOUNDED 2017)

STRATTON MOUNTAIN RESORT

Pete Christy: “Outdoor dining isn’t going away.”

Heading into the winter of 2020, we were cruising along, on track for the best business season ever. We normally close down in mid-April and reopen in mid- June. But we closed on Sunday, March 15 and laid off the staff. Thanks to government funding, our unemployed staff were taken care of during that time.

Mulligan’s reopened in the middle of June 2020, at 50 percent capacity. Fortunately, we had outdoor seating on the two patios that allowed us to grind it out through the summer. The outdoor porch wasn’t covered at that point so we threw up a tent and created a beer to-go operation. We had to close the Green Door Pub due to restrictions, which was the saddest casualty, but we turned that space into an operations center for takeout orders so we could retain staff. We had three servers and a bartender down there answering the phones and taking orders that the kitchen staff prepared and bagged up. That to-go business saved our bacon.

Mulligan’s Stratton added a custom-built hot dog cart during winter 2021, a perfect touch for hungry skiers looking for a quick bite on the mountain

“We added some fun elements such as a custom-built hot dog cart that lived out front and sold beer and hot dogs, and we installed fire pits on the lower patio to keep everyone warm and happy. It was actually a great winter.” –Pete Christy

Skiing was still seen as a viable sport during Covid so the mountain was busy, and 10,000 people needed to be fed. We made it through the winter of 2020 into 2021 and added some fun elements such as a custom-built hot dog cart that lived out front and sold beer and hot dogs, and we installed fire pits on the lower patio to keep everyone warm and happy. It was actually a great winter. We closed down as normal in April 2021.

But that winter got us thinking, and the writing was on the wall: People wanted to be outside. Outdoor dining isn’t going away. So in summer 2021, we created The Drift, our covered and heated outdoor porch, perfect for après ski. It has a bar, a DJ, and two fire pits. People can order food from inside the restaurant and enjoy it on the porch. It’s been a wild success, a millennial phenomenon.

(left)Après-ski revelers keeping warm and happy on The Drift’s heated porch.; (right)The view from inside Mulligan’s Stratton, home to Snowfish Sushi and the Green Door Pub.

In retrospect, if the pandemic didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have done The Drift project. It was expensive but turned out worthwhile because it supplements our normal indoor dining rooms and the Green Door Pub. We can extend our fall season with the infrared heaters and even use them on cooler summer evenings. Now we’re ready for the future if something crops up.

I’m proud that our management team—my sister Patty, Erica DiPierro, and me—were able to put our heads down and quarterback the operation back to profitability. Persistence pays, and we’re still here, providing jobs and helping the resort community.