THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701210418
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY ELLEN RIDDLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 83 lines
Ginger Tramontano is ready for a new beginning.
Last week, she reopened the doors to Manteo's only downtown pub. The Green Dolphin had been closed for two months. And Tramontano said she used the time off to have some necessary surgery and . . . to think.
The recent closing of the Green Dolphin Pub was a test for Tramontano - one she probably wouldn't have taken if the state hadn't temporarily suspended her liquor license Sept. 13. The 120-day revocation occurred because a since-fired employee was found on the premises with a marijuana cigarette. If the liquor license had been revoked during the pub's busy summer months, Tramontano said she easily could have kept the place open because food sales alone would have paid the bills. But with the seasonal slowing of business, the loss of beer and wine sales forced the pub owner to shut down during November and December.
Tramontano believes that ``a lot of good always comes out of bad.'' She came back to reopen the pub - located in the heart of no-liquor-by-the-drink territory - knowing that after 12 years of holding down the fort at the Sir Walter Raleigh St. eatery, she still wants to own and operate the neighborhood pub.
Since it reopened, Tramontano says she's been fighting the misconception that the Dolphin - as locals call it - is a wild club. The place was formerly Fernando's Ale House. ``People who don't come in here think of it as Fernando's,'' Tramontano said. ``Fernando's was a pretty wild place.
``We have our nice little clientele and have fun,'' she said of the Dolphin atmosphere. ``We have far less problems than any place on the beach.''
Folks say Tramontano's soft-spoken ways help her keep the peace at the Dolphin.
``People really listen to her,'' says Genna Miles, who has been cooking at the wood-panneled pub for four years. ``All those customers really respect her. I think it's because she does give people a chance so when they go over the line, they know it - and so does everybody else in there. If she bans them forever, that's it. Barred for life. It's kind of a joke. But it really stands.''
Tramontano gives some regular patrons a one beer limit, some two, some none. Brown bagging is out because she can't control the booze intake. She stops the Friday night entertainment at midnight to control the neighborhood noise factor. And for this same reason, she doesn't hire bands but generally books single acts instead.
Built on the site of a 1940's gas station, Fernando's lives on in some locals' minds - and in the memorabilia that still hangs from the Dolphin's walls. A recently-restored, 15-foot-long photograph of Hatteras Island's Albatross Fleet hangs near the pool table. A handmade ship model is inset in the wall flanking the bar. An old photo of the gas station is among among other artifacts at the pub, including dangling fishing paraphernalia, a billfish mount and an authentic huge red and round Coca-Cola sign.
The Green Dolphin's bar top came from a bowling lane. The back bar has a colorful history, too. Tramontano says the carved wooden structure, that was pulled out of a hunting club in Buffalo City, dates back to prohibition days and belonged to Al Capone.
Despite the memory of legendary pizzas (Tramontano says theirs can definitely compete), Fernando's is gone. Capone is gone. And the gasoline station repair shop, that's now a massive kitchen, is history. Patrons sit in the dining area that Tramontano believes used to be the filling station's oil pits.
By day, the Dolphin is alive with an abundance of judges and lawyers and townsfolk who make the quick walk from the courthouse and county offices for lunch. Miles concocts specials such as jambalaya, spinach rollups and red beans and rice. Dinner specials, including pepper steak over rice, Moussaka and all-you-can-eat spaghetti tempt evening patrons. Many late nights the place is packed with employees from local restaurants looking to kick back at the end of their shifts.
``With the seasons, we have different types of people,'' Tramontano said. ``It makes it interesting.'' She's met archaeologists searching for the Lost Colony and commercial fishermen from the north who float in.
During the last two months, Tramontano painted and scoured the Dolphin from stem to stern. Some more changes that she's looking to make within the next few months include adding smoke-eating units to help clear the air, putting more vegetarian choices on the menu, adding more Thai and Greek food, and possibly closing by midnight during the week.
Also look for the addition of a craft shop to open up in the Dolphin's back room. ILLUSTRATION: Photo MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Ginger Tramontano has been operating The Green Dolphin pub for 12
years. It was forced to close in November and December because of a
liquor lae violation.