Robinson's Wharf has long been a favorite among locals and visitors from away. It is known for its location, at the Southport end of the Southport swing bridge, and its fresh-out-of-the-water lobsters and other seafood. There are a few different choices of where to enjoy your meal, in dining rooms with decks upstairs and down, or at picnic tables on the large dock.

And there's a new chef already in place who’s bringing some exciting new ideas to the table.

Michael Shirley, originally from Jamaica, was a private chef for a home on Islesboro for seven years. “It was next door to Kirsti Alley,” he said. “It was a great gig.”

From there Shirley went back to Hollywood, Florida, where he has a home, and worked in a few different restaurants there. He said that in May a friend from Maine called and asked him to come to Portland to help out in a restaurant there, Ri Ra's. “So I jumped on a train and came back to Maine.”

The hours weren't enough to keep Shirley busy so he got a second job, at Joe's Boathouse in South Portland. Joe's closed down in October, and he went to a new restaurant in the Old Port in Portland, Tomaso's, described as a friendly neighborhood bar and grill. “I designed a menu for them, and put out high-end food,” he said.

Shirley said a friend from Boothbay Harbor, Billy Hall, called him in November and asked him to come to Boothbay Harbor. A mutual friend, Nate Chalaby, had died, and Hall was having a hard time. “I had never been here,” Shirley said. “Billy took me on a tour of the harbor, and I thought it was beautiful.”

Shirley came to the harbor again in January and he and Hall drove around town and picked up some applications from restaurants. He emailed resumes to two or three of the places, and got a couple of immediate responses. “I came and interviewed with Tugboat and Robinson's. I really liked both places, but Robinson's is open year-round, where Tugboat is seasonal.” He decided to go with the full-time job.

The chef started cooking at a young age, and has been in the business for 37 years. He is experienced in several different cuisines: French, Italian, Caribbean and a little German. “Spaetzle is good with some caramelized onion,” he said.

Shirley said he'll be keeping the original menu at Robinson's with some additions and changes. He has already made a few, and he'll continue to slowly continue to incorporate some of his ideas into the menu.

One of his new menu items is the crab club. It's crabmeat, Swiss cheese, avocado, tomato and bacon on marble rye. “It's a beautiful sandwich,” he said.

Another original of Shirley's is a salmon rosette — salmon seared and baked with salsa verde, served over sauteed shallot scented spinach and mashed potato. That looked pretty beautiful, too. It's at least partly about the presentation.

Shirley has added a Rachel (a variation of the Reuben, with cole slaw instead of sauerkraut). And he uses pastrami instead of corned beef, because he said there's more flavor.

And mozzarella balls. “I take fresh buffalo mozzarella balls and dredge them in pesto, then bread them and serve them with a pomodoro sauce in a martini glass.”

Other new menu items include house-made french fries and potato chips, chicken bruschetta, spicy Caribbean jerk wings, coconut shrimp, “Drunken Half Chicken” — served with garlic potatoes and a rosemary savory Veloute sauce — prawn baked haddock topped with cheesy bread crumbs and served with three grilled pesto prawns, a stuffed grilled lobster with fresh-picked crabmeat, and a “207 Burger” — a grass-fed beef burger served with fresh lobster meat and brie cheese.

Shirley is looking to hire a couple of cooks to help him in the kitchen at Robinson's. Call 207-633-3830 or visit the website.