About Axel & Harry's
Twisting the engraved gold
signet ring on his right hand, Bill Blumensaadt looked out over the crowded
dining room in July of 2005.
“I really have nothing to compare it to,” he said, “But I think we’re doing pretty well.”
Bill was talking about his then new restaurant, Axel & Harry’s Waterfront Grille, located in the former Ladd’s Landing building on Put-in-Bay’s gorgeous waterfront.
“We’ve had a steady dinner crowd this summer and people are finding us for breakfast and lunch as well,” he added.
That was four years and a major renovation and addition ago.
Axel and Harry’s is taking full advantage of the restaurant’s location and just about every bit of available outdoor space. Comfortable teak chairs and tables dot the front brick patio that offers a relaxing view of the marina and the bay area.
All-weather wicker chairs and glass top tables for two line the restaurant’s eastern porch that offers an unobstructed view of the Perry Memorial. Many people, Bill says, request to eat outside.
A couple enjoying a cool breeze and a bottle of cabernet relax at a white table cloth covered table for two and watch the large black Bass dart through the sea grass in the water below them.
The menus are simple and uncomplicated and the food is good. This is reflected in both the main restaurant and the 2008 addition of High Tide, and indoor-outdoor patio bar and grille.
“We continue to try new things and keep open to new ideas for the menu,” Bill said. He also has taken his turn at cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“I love to cook and I love to
entertain,” he said, “this is just a dream come true for me.”
Bill’s love of cooking and entertaining, and, of course, eating and drinking is probably inherited and his history is reflected in the restaurant’s name.
“Axel Blumensaadt is my great-grandfather,” he said looking down at the ring Axel gave to his son and Bill’s grandfather gave to him.
Axel was a chef working in Europe and he came to New York on ocean liner in the late 1890’s to see the World’s Fair. On his trip home to Europe he met Josephine Kramb from Oak Harbor, Ohio who was traveling to Europe with her older sister, Edith, for their annual vacation. Axel was smitten, but Edith intervened and ended the budding romance.
“Ten years later, Axel returned to the states where he had been invited to work as the summer chef at the Hotel Philadelphia,” Bill recounts. “At the end of the season he was on the same ship returning home to Europe and once again he meets Josephine.”
This time, Edith had no affect on the relationship and the two were married. Axel, who had worked at Maxim’s in Paris for several years moved back to the states and worked for a short period of time in Boston and later in the Northwest Ohio area where Josephine could be close to her family.
Bill points to a small framed photograph of his great-grandfather dressed in his chef uniform with the tools of his trade. “I think the story of Axel and Josephine is a romantic one,” he said. “I wanted to bring some of that romance into this restaurant.”
The other half of the duo is Harry, Bill’s maternal grandfather who lived on Put-in-Bay's East Point. Harry owned a deli at Put-in-Bay for a short period of time, but what Bill remembers most is his grandmother Dorothy remarking that Harry was probably down at Tony’s “hiding” from her again.
It just made sense, he said, to call the lounge “Harry’s Hideaway.” And Harry’s favorite place to hide is a casual chic, island-style swanky little harbor view bar with an outdoor side cocktail deck.
Harry, who emigrated from Berlin, Germany began working in the quarries at Kelleys Island and later spent most of his life working in the vineyards of South Bass Island for the E&K Wine Company. Harry’s cousin, Dr. Heinz Boker, sponsored him for his immigration to the states.
The restaurant has a European flair and the staff is mostly International employees who, Bill says with a smile, remind him that Axel and Harry were both once Europeans looking for work in the United States.
Bill is smiling and friendly and makes a great effort to visit each table and speak to his customers. Music is playing in the background. Bill says he and his wife, Dana, enjoy the more subdued background music and they have hired Buddy Griebel and his wife, Ruth, to play at the restaurant on Monday evenings.
Dana divides her time between her Thursday through Sunday hours at the Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau and hosting several nights a week at Axel and Harry’s.
“We both really enjoy talking with people,” Bill says. “And although the restaurant business is hard work and requires a tremendous amount of time each day, it still is a fun business and I’m enjoying myself.”
No stranger to hard work, Bill is a fourth generation islander who landed his first job making toast at the Boathouse on Hartford Avenue when he was 11 years old.
“I probably got the job through nepotism,” he says with a chuckle, “Because my Aunt Carol (Sweeney), my mother and my sister Andrea also worked there. I had a great time. Becky Ohlemacher worked in the kitchen and Barbi Barnhill was the hostess.”
Bill moved onto the Dairy Queen and began managing the business there when he was about 14.
“That’s where I learned a lot about managing people,” Bill said. He worked for the Thwaites for about nine years, six of them in management. At the age of 23, Bill was hired by the new Put-in-Bay Boat Line owners to get the Jet Express up and running. He was Vice President of the company for 15 years.
“I worked in food service until I was about 21,” he said. “And looking back toward Bay View Avenue, I’ve gotten about 15 feet away from where I really got my feet wet.”
Axel and Harry’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Breakfast is served from 7 to 11 a.m., lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m.
“Axel’s and Harry’s is the type of restaurant where people come to spend some time and enjoy the experience of dining,” said Bill. “We’re not a fast food restaurant. Where is the romance in that.”