A family-run restaurant group from Nantucket is opening a new seasonal restaurant called the Wave Restaurant & Bar later this month.
Owner of the restaurant, Milan Basnet, said the new location is scheduled to open Friday, May 15, and will be taking over Garde East’s prime location on the water with a roof deck, operating from 10 am to 10 pm.
“Everytime I come to Martha’s Vineyard, I love it, and I always wanted to be connected somehow,” said Basnet. “We were thinking of growing and expanding, and all of sudden, we found this opportunity, and we just fell in love with that place, and we were like, ‘This is it,’ and that’s how it came to life.”
Basnet, who’s been in the restaurant business since 2008, also operates two popular Nantucket restaurants, the Easy Street Restaurant and Island Blend. Basnet said the move to Martha’s Vineyard just felt like a natural expansion.
The kitchen will be led by Kieren Thornton, a 10-year veteran chef of Nantucket’s well-known Galley Beach Restaurant. The Wave plans launch with a small, focused menu that will change seasonally and utilize local ingredients from small businesses around the Island. Signature dishes that Islanders can keep an eye out for include a lobster roll, which is already a favorite among Nantucket customers, and a housemade clam chowder, featuring fresh clams and local ingredients. The seasonal eatery will be open until the end of September.
Basnet said the goal is to live up to Garde East’s strong reputation for quality, while also making the restaurant more accessible to locals.
“Everytime somebody mentioned Garde East, everyone had a lot of good things to say, they had a good reputation, and we will keep up that reputation,” said Basnet. “But I also found an opportunity. A couple townspeople said they wished it was a little cheaper, so for me, my plan is to be an all-time, anytime place, the food will be top notch … But it has to be for everyone.”
Basnet said he wanted to thank Tisbury officials and residents for their support throughout the approval process. The Wave Restaurant and Bar was also approved for a liquor license by the Tisbury Select Board earlier this month.
“Everybody has been super nice. I want to thank the whole town of Tisbury, the people who are working in the town, town select board, town administrator. I want to thank everybody because everybody, they were all so supportive and worked with me to get this going, and there wasn’t much of a challenge. It was a learning experience,” Basnet said.
Basnet said he will announce their soft launch soon to friends and family. They plan to give back to the community by offering discounted meals during the soft launch and donating a portion of proceeds from the event to local organizations that are interested. Any business interested in participating can reach out to Basnet at milan@tamandco.ca or 617-800-3837.