There used to be a restaurant down at Hampton Beach called the Old Salt, but in 1999 it burned to the ground. The owners, the Higgins family, did business for a while as The Whale's Tale at the Hampton Beach Casino, and in 2001 bought Lamie's Inn at the corner of Lafayette Road and Route 27 in Hampton. Parts of the Lamie's complex dated back to 1740, and the new Old Salt swiftly blended into the historic structure, creating a comfortable, family-oriented restaurant.
My favorite thing about The Old Salt is the sumptuous Sunday brunch that was a frequent guilty pleasure for us during our Exeter days. Our family would hook up with my folks and sometimes cousins and aunts and uncles and anybody else who liked to eat, and we'd pile into the place to devour eggs and waffles and bacon and drown ourselves in the flowing chocolate fountain. I miss those Sunday morning gustatory indulgences - the heaps of good food, the tepid wit of the piano player, the easy company of family. I can't wait to get back again and eat a week's worth of calories in one meal.