Noepe

Thursday, September 25, 2025

The Ocean Club

Fine dining in Vineyard Haven took a firm step forward with the recent opening of Sam Dunn's newest restaurant, The Ocean Club, at the stone bank operated for nearly a century by the Martha's Vineyard National Bank at 75 Main Street in Vineyard Haven.

Dunn, an architect and developer, previously owned the restaurant Saltwater on the lagoon by the Tisbury Marketplace before selling it to Mary and Jackson Kenworth in 2014, owners of State Road Restaurant, which they reopened as Beach Road Restaurant.

Dunn, a spry 84-years-old, was watering the plants by the bank's entrance the day after its official opening.

Dunn's team has designed a handsome interior, including repurposing the Mosler Safe as a wine cellar, and the 9000-pound safe door as a 10-seat dining table. The kitchen and menu are managed by Chef Marc Orfaly.

Dunn pays special homage to William Barry Owen, a Vineyard Haven native and son of a whaling captain, who bought a majority share in the Martha's Vineyard National Bank and relocated it from Edgartown to the newly built stone building in 1905.

Owen, an entrepreneur, started The Gramaphone Company in England near the turn of the 20th Century. The recording company's label featured a fox terrier with its ear cocked toward the Gramaphone's horn speaker.

The fox terrier, which Owen named Nipper, eventually became well known as the RCA brand.

Nipper now resides to the right of the bar at The Ocean Club.