CHARLESTOWN — The historic General Stanton Inn is aiming to elevate its dining experience with the addition of new executive chef Sean Lawton, a Rhode Island culinary veteran with years of fine dining experience.
On Tuesday, the General Stanton Inn unveiled their new menu, and Lawton said the historic inn had infinite potential given the rich historic nature, fine dining, and countless events that are held there. He wants people to have a memorable experience and be “blown away” by the food.
“To me, my goal is to raise the food profile to be almost like a destination for people, but also to embrace all the little nuances of this place,” he said. “Another branch is having events like bridal showers and even weddings on the property: to me that’s what seemed like such a great opportunity.”
For Lawton, the type of food at the General Stanton Inn will embrace upscale seafood, as well as other balanced options such as a bacon-wrapped filet mignon with seared sea scallops and champagne cream sauce.
Lawton said that he and his wife had been interested in moving down to South County, especially Charlestown, for a while now to find their forever home.
“As soon as I put out my interest in looking for a new job, believe it or not, this was the very first one that I came across,” he said. “I took the interview and saw the facility they have here, and how much potential it had and felt like it would be a perfect fit for someone like me to try and bring this place to the next level.
Lawton’s love for cooking came from taking a dishwashing job at a restaurant in his hometown of Coventry during high school. He went to Rhode Island College to initially begin a career in nursing, and realized his passion for cooking after two semesters and began pursuing the culinary path.
He began as a dishwasher, moved up to a line cook from there, and began steadily increasing his position with each new job. Lawton has been all over the state working in restaurants, ranging as far as Block Island, Portofino’s Tuscan Grille in Warwick for two years, Parkside Rotisserie & Bar in Providence for six years, Basta Italian Restaurant in Cranston for two years, and was the Executive Chef at Siena in Providence for two years, in which the restaurant was named the best in Rhode Island six times under his leadership.
“At Parkside Rotisserie, I truly felt like I found my home and I stayed there for about six years, and between the culinary staff they had and the owner, I learned so much about cooking and how to do things from scratch: just really high level culinary things,” Lawton said.
Dining and Cooking