Old-timer turns hip

Well, grandma, Wida's is gone.

But unlike the island's cedar-shingled bungalows that were torn down and replaced with vinyl-sided seamonsters, Wida's has undergone a face-lift, an update, and a name change.

Say hello to Daddy O.

Martin Grims, the restaurateur who owns the Moshulu and several Main Line bistros, has turned the old Brant Beach structure into a 22-room boutique hotel and dining room aimed at the hip, urbane patron. On an island loved for its windswept beauty and barefoot informality, Daddy O is an elegant, sophisticated contrast.

From the outside, the building looks much as it did before. Inside, there's a whole new skin. Villanova designer Barbara Balongue has transplanted a feeling of metropolitan luxury to the seaside inn, using wall-mounted, nautical LED lights along the halls and sand-colored wallpaper that sparkles like a sunlit beach. Faux mink pillows and throws are a whimsical complement to the lacquer mahogany headboards and nightstands in the rooms. Flat-screen TVs hang on the walls, and wireless Internet was to be installed earlier this month.

The restaurant and bar are decorated in retro chic, with Sputnik-like chrome chandeliers over circular red-velvet booths. Shelves of wines line climate-controlled alcoves in the passage linking reception area to bar, and another door leads to the take-out liquor and food service, aptly named Daddy O to Go.

The menu is short by Jersey Shore standards, but diverse and inventive. Executive chef/partner Al Vanesko, who formerly led the kitchens at Passerelle and Bravo Bistro in Radnor, offers appetizers such as sesame-crusted calamari with Vietnamese chili sauce and spicy mayo, pierogies with shiitake mushrooms and smoked bacon, and Philly cheesesteak with red wine-braised short rib and goat cheese. Dinner entrees include wasabi-crusted salmon, crispy lump crabcakes with chipotle corn puree, and Szechuan meat loaf with Kobe beef.

Besides the main dining room, private back room and bar area, there is an outdoor patio that will be sheltered by an awning. Up on the third floor is the roof deck, with teak furnishings and views of the ocean a half-block away and the bay just beyond the boatyard across the boulevard.

The restaurant was the impetus for the $5 million renovation of the building, explained general manager/partner Brian Sabarese, who oversaw Grims' Plantation restaurant in Harvey Cedars. "We saw the hotel as an added bonus."

The partners' goal, Sabarese said, was to create an upscale Shore alternative. "We could have gone with the seashell interiors and turquoise bedspreads," but they wanted to bring "a little more New York, a little more city" to the seaside.

New Yorkers won't blink at the hotel rates. Rooms on summer weekends run from $255 a night for a standard full to $375 for a semiprivate queen suite. Fall and spring rates go from $175 to $290 on weekend nights.

While the restaurant tries to cater to everyone, with senior citizens' early-bird specials and kids' menus, the hotel is meant to appeal to couples seeking a stylish escape, Sabarese said.

Daddy O's location at one of the narrow points on LBI has not kept visitors away since it opened last summer, even under threat of flooding. In fact, Sabarese said, when storm clouds gather, seasonal residents rush down to check on their million-dollar homes. "Every time there's a hurricane, we're packed."

If You Go

Daddy O is open year-round at 4401 Long Beach Blvd. in the Brant Beach section of Long Beach Island. For information and reservations, call 609-494-1300 or go to www.daddyohotel.com.