Muddy Waters to open on November 3

Jeff Green | Oct 26, 2016

After working as waitresses at the Rose and Crown in Kingston for 12 years, Denise Redmond and Judy Peters are coming home. More accurately, they will start staying home. Instead of driving to Kingston for work each day, they will be running their own restaurant in their home town of Verona.

On November 1, Redmond and Peters will take ownership of Martha's Restaurant on Road 38, which they are renaming Muddy Waters as much as a nod to the swampy terrain behind the restaurant as to the late Blues great.

“It just sounds right,” said Judy Peters of the name. “It fits with the down home, relaxed atmosphere we want to create.”

They are bringing Brad Miller, who until last week was a cook at the Rose and Crown, with them as their first employee. Miller, who will be commuting from nearby Enterprise, is excited about breaking out of some of the limitations that went with cooking pub food.

Miller plans to prepare daily specials, including pastas, roast beef and roast pork dinners, among others, but one thing he won't be making at first is pizza.

“There is a pizza oven in the kitchen, but I need to learn the oven, fine tune a recipe for pizza dough, and experiment for a while before we can put pizza on the menu. It will likely be in the spring before that happens,” he said.

The two new owners have purchased the building as well as the business. They said the jump into business ownership is a big step, but it is something they have been thinking about for a long time.

“It's definitely been on my bucket list to own a business, and it is best to own the building as well. It puts everything in our hands, as scary as that may be,” said Denise Redmond.

A lot of people have come together to help make the purchase of Martha's a smooth transition for Redmond and Peters, including their families, and Martha, the soon-to-be previous owner.

“We are going to be opening just two days after taking possession of the building,” said Redmond, “which is a very quick turnaround, but Martha has been really, really helpful. She has let us into the building to look at the kitchen, and take measurements to see what we want to do. She really wants the restaurant to carry on.”

Redmond and Peters mentioned that they feel the township has been supportive, as well as the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation and the St. Lawrence College Employment Centre in Sharbot Lake, who have helped them recruit staff.

Returning to the building has been interesting for the two new owners, since they both worked there when it was known as Bravo, before they went to work at the Rose and Crown.

“Some memories came back for me when I first went into the kitchen,” said Peters.

New memories will certainly be made starting on November 3 at 7 a.m., when breakfast will be served at Muddy Waters. The restaurant will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., seven days a week as of November 3.