Dune Restaurant On Broad Street Sold To Florida Restaurateur

After 16 years on Broad Street, Dune restaurant completed its final service over the weekend and was sold on Tuesday by chef/owner Michael Getter to a Florida restauranteur with Nantucket connections.

While word of Dune’s impending closure had trickled out over the summer, the deal was officially signed on Tuesday.

The buyer of the restaurant is Lee Lyon, the owner of Kiki On The River, a Greek restaurant in Miami. Lyon’s mother, Rita Mignosa, owns a home on Main Street on Nantucket, and the family has connections to the island going back 40 years.

Lyon told the Current on Tuesday that the building at 20 Broad Street will undergo extensive renovations over the winter and reopen for the summer of 2025 as a modern steakhouse restaurant that will be called “Billie’s On Broad,” named after Lyon’s daughter.

Getter, 55, has worked as a chef for more than 30 years, including previous stints at the former 21 Federal and American Seasons on Nantucket, before he purchased Cioppino’s at 20 Broad Street and created Dune in 2009.

“Everything lined up, and it was good timing for us and him, and it seemed to make sense,” Getter told the Current on Tuesday. “I’d considered selling it before. Restaurants don’t last forever. They change. And I’m going to be 60 in a few years, and I knew I needed to get out at some point.”

Getter says he plans to stay on Nantucket with his wife, Lisa, but Dune will be his final venture in the restaurant industry. He intends to start a solo handyman business, taking on jobs that may be too small for the island’s larger building companies.

“I’m really thankful for having the wonderful staff I’ve had over the years and thankful for the customers that have come in,” Getter said. “I poured my heart and soul into this business, and I’ve been a chef for 30 years. It’s coming to an end for me. It’s been pretty emotional. Some staff have been with me since day one, 16 years ago. Many of them for 10-plus years, and they’ve become family. So I’m sad that I won’t be with them and spend as much time with them.”

For Lyon, the move to buy Dune was a full-circle moment. His family previously owned the building at 20 Broad Street from 1988 to 2000 before selling it to the current owner, Tracy Root. For now, the ownership of the building will remain with Root, he said.

His family had previously attempted to open a food market at the former Grand Union supermarket downtown when it closed in 2012, but ultimately got boxed out by Stop & Shop which secured a long-term lease for the building.

“Michael had reached out to us a couple of years ago, but the timing didn’t really work out,” Lyon said. “He called us back at the beginning of this summer and said he was ready to move on. He knew our history, and we’ve known him forever from American Seasons. He said, ‘You guys are who I feel comfortable taking over the location,’ and we felt that this was our chance to get back to the island. We’re excited to get back.”

Lyon said “Billie’s On Broad” will be a traditional-style steakhouse that will incorporate local seafood with a big oyster and raw bar component that he intends to keep open through Christmas each year.

“We want it to be available to everyone – for the summer crowd and for locals - to feel comfortable while giving it new life,” Lyon said “There will be a Miami flare, the music will be turned up a little, and we want it to be a fun atmosphere, a new type of dining experience.”