Couple renovates inn, opens restaurant

Dec 03, 2008 (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- AXP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Maxime's at the Inn LOCATION: 112 West Main St., Kingwood PHONE: 329-2220 WEB SITE: Preston countyinn.com HOURS: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. lunch Monday-Saturday, 4-9 p.m. dinner Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday brunch, 4-8 p.m. Sunday prime rib buffet. SPECIALS: All-you-caneat snow crab legs for $21.95 Thursdays and specially priced entrees for senior citizens on Wednesdays DRESS: Casual SMOKING: Non-smoking, but there is a front porch area where people may smoke PAYMENT: Cash, checks, Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express

It was at the 2007 Buckwheat Festival that chef Jean-Manuel Guillot and his wife, Deborah, discovered that the Preston County Inn in Kingwood was for sale.

The couple couldn't resist the pull of the Federal brick house, which was built in 1857. (An addition to the back side of the inn was built in 1948.) A huge yard sits along West Main Street, a path cutting through the it leading to a large front porch adorned with white columns.

The building had 10,400 square feet and sat on two acres in the middle of downtown. Being history buffs, the couple jumped on the opportunity.

After purchasing the inn in April, Jean-Manuel Guillot opened his restaurant Maxime's at the Inn on Mother's Day and now the restaurant offers a lunch and dinner menu, as well as daily lunch buffets, a Sunday brunch and a Sunday prime rib buffet (from 4-8 p.m.).

It is the first time that food service has been available at the inn in about five years, Guillot said.

He added, although it may seem like visitors to the restaurant at the inn must dress up, he's trying to change that mindset. Hoping to draw in more people, Guillot encourages casual clothes, including blue jeans. A restaurant can't survive being formal-only, he said, especially in a small town and with a questionable national economy.

The restaurant includes a main dining room, a lounge, a side room and a bar, decorated with books and Marilyn Monroe memorabilia.

Guillot said he recently bought a 50-inch big screen to hopefully draw people in on game days. He'll even turn the TV on to "Spongebob Squarepants" for children to keep them occupied so their parents can enjoy a good meal.

Guillot started out as a high school teacher, but soon found out that's not where he wanted to be.

"Teaching high school history wasn't my thing," he said. "It was like baby sitting."

While working at several different restaurants in Seattle, he decided he wanted to attend the Culinary Institute of America in New York and then the one in California. After that, he worked as an executive chef at a golf club in Washington, where he said he received some banquet experience, and opened his own restaurant called Maxime's Global Cui- sine. He named it Maxime's after his great uncle.

Maxime's offered what Guillot calls mix-and-match flavors; he took foods from all over the world and put them on his menu.

When he opened Maxime's at the Inn in Kingwood, he brought that menu from his Washington restaurant.

He said there are steaks, seafood and pasta on the restaurant's dinner menu, as well as specialties such as blackberry pork chops and sweet potato chops.

"My goal is to try to keep the people from Kingwood and Preston County here for dinner," he said, adding that he doesn't want residents to have to travel miles upon miles to go to dinner.

"Just because you're in a small town doesn't mean you have to eat at McDonald's," he said.

For lunch, Guillot recently began a buffet, offering a variety of salads, wraps, croissants, hoagies, paninis, fruit, vegetables, soups, fried chicken and meatloaf.

He said the buffet has become a hit among businesspeople in town. For $6.95, they can come to the inn, grab a plate and fill up on food before returning to work.

"That's gone over really well because there's so many business people. They only have an hour for lunch," Guillot said.

His mother-in-law Alix Evans bakes pies, cakes and cookies from scratch that are also offered at the buffet.

Recently retired, Evans volunteers her baking skills for the restaurant, making pumpkin, pecan and mince meat pies, among others. And, she also makes the biscuits for the restaurant.

"I had always said when I retired, I just want to bake," she said. "It just kind of fell into place."

"I feel that it's a good thing for the community. It's centered right in downtown," she said. "The food he's putting out is very gourmet.

In addition to the restaurant, Evans said the Guillots are hoping to increase the awareness of a great, historic building.

"It's got a quaintness to it because it's old. It's not like going to a hotel," she said. "They really are trying to promote the uniqueness of that place."

After many renovations (The first walls of the Preston County Inn were built with horsehair and plaster.), Guillot said he's put flat-screen TVs, hi-def TVs and WiFi in the rooms upstairs for rent. They've also expanded their continental breakfast. And the kitchen itself needed a ton of renovations.

Guillot has also started online booking for the Preston County Inn, which has been drawing more overnight visitors.

Although it's been a lot of work -- Guillot said the house wasn't in great condition when they bought it -- the result has been helping a beautiful, historic building get the treatment it deserves.

"It's got a lot of character and history," he said. "You have modern conveniences but still stay in a quaint place."

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