Trina’s Starlite Lounge Owners Are Bringing a New Concept to Newburyport

(L to R) Trina’s, Parlor, Audubon & The Paddle Inn executive chef Suzi Maitland, partners Beau Sturm and Joshua Childs. / Photos provided (Childs photo by Brian Samuels)

Here’s hoping for extended summer weather this year: In a few months, the Trina’s Starlite Lounge team plans to debut the Paddle Inn, a beachy new concept on the North Shore.

Executive chef and partner Suzi Maitland is drawing inspiration from her “love for coastal foods from countries around the world,” with a lot of fare from the Caribbean islands. Josh Childs and Beau Sturm are creating a “beach-inspired” cocktail program, and are currently experimenting with an Americano riff (traditionally Campari, sweet vermouth, and club soda) with Jamaican Ting soda.

The Paddle Inn has prime downtown real estate, just a few blocks from Newburyport’s waterfront park on bustling State Street. It is taking over the space next door to Nancy Batista-Caswell’s oyster bar and chophouse, Brine. The restaurant was most recently Loretta’s, which moved last summer to a larger spot just off State Street.

Sturm and his family moved to neighboring Newbury last year, and the ownership trio loves the area, Maitland says. “Newburyport has a thriving year-round community that we’re very excited to become a part of,” she says.

In addition to Trina’s in Inman Square and its award-winning sister bar, Parlor Sports, Maitland, Childs, and Sturm also operate Audubon with partner Jay Bellao. The restaurant group is known for craft cocktails and Miller High Life—Childs is probably the reason the beer is a Boston industry favorite—and creative, elevated junk food at its somerville spots (loaded dogs, tater tot poutine, spicy pepperoni roll), and bar snacks (pork potstickers, dirty potatoes with chorizo and coffee barbecue sauce), sandwiches (carne asada torta), and other casual fare near Fenway.

The Paddle Inn is on track to open early this fall. Keep an eye on the progress with @ThePaddleInn on Instagram and Twitter.

The Paddle Inn, slated for a fall 2016 debut at 27 State St., Newburyport.