Our Team

Collaboration is a central theme for the culinary team at Spruce Point Inn

Peter Stiles, Executive Chef

Though “collaboration” may be the latest trend in restaurants, Spruce Point Inn’s Executive Chef Peter Stiles is one of the concept’s pioneers. He has depended on locally fished, farmed and harvested ingredients for the Inn’s menus from the start and continues to work with the Spruce Point culinary team to cultivate sources for the freshest day boat fish and seafood, sun-warmed fruit and vegetables and the other ingredients that are the basis of his menus. Chef spends the winter building relationships with local farms and other food purveyors, sourcing ingredients like the fresh Aroostook beets and lavender-honey chevre from Tourmaline Hill Farm. Midcoast Maine is the beneficiary of a cornucopia of retired/relocated professionals who have left banking or IT to go back to the land. Chef Stiles grew up on a farm in local Lincolnville, Maine and now drives its backroads, stopping at the greenhouse built by a drummer from the band Phish and at the State of Maine Cheese Company created by a Manhattan banker in Rockland “The food purveyors who are collaborating on the midcoast today understand the business fundamentals but also have a passion for authentic foodstuffs, grown or raised here. They’re ready to move from farm to table,” said Chef Stiles. “It's an exciting time to be in the restaurant business and especially exciting to be part of what’s happening here.”

Mark Weinerth, Sous Chef

Trained at Le Cordon Bleu’s program at Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon, Mark Weinerth then interned with Chef David Machado at the Southpark Seafood Grill and Wine Bar. For the next decade he cooked for small family restaurants, fine dining, small cafes and nationally branded hotels and resorts. He joined Spruce Point Inn in 2012. His philosophy echoes Spruce Point Inn’s: “Fresh and local ingredients create the best meals. I believe it is a chef’s greatest responsibility to prepare honest food that pays homage to its producers and its region.”

Clara Kruger, Pastry Chef

Pastry Chef Clara Kruger interprets the Inn’s localvore emphasis in our bakeshop where she produces the signature bread baked fresh each day. Clara was raised on a small, organic maple farm in Shrewsbury, Vermont. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2012 with highest academic honors, studying with Chef Dieter Schorner, head of the Institute’s world-renowned pastry team. Her internship at Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse, near the Delaware River in Milford NJ, which specializes in cheeses made from raw, grass-fed milk and wood-fired, hearth-baked breads made from regionally-grown organic grains has brought great ideas and delicious flavors to Spruce Point, as have the collaborations she’s found throughout the Midcoast.                                                                                                                       

Ashley DiGiulian, Assistant Food and Beverage Manager

Ashley DiGiulian has grown up in the hospitality business as the daughter of innkeepers Angelo and Liz DiGiulian at Spruce Point Inn. After many seasons “interning” with the Inn in many capacities, she is now responsible for extending the family’s welcome to guests as Assistant Food and Beverage Manager, assisting Roman Nazar as the ambassador for the Inn’s three restaurants. She is currently also a Hospitality Program major  at Johnson & Wales in Providence RI.