For John Bowden, of Rockland, Year 2004 was pivotal. He was the chef at Peter Otts and decided it was time to move on after 10 years. At the time, Keith May, who owned Peter Otts in Camden, also owned the Park Street Grille, 179 Maine Street (corner of Park and Main) in Rockland, since 1999.

The same day John gave his notice at Peter Otts, he was offered ownership of the Parke Street Grille.

“It’s not often you get to quit and get offered a restaurant in the same day," said John. “He wanted someone to have it who would give it the love and care it deserved.”

While John was born and raised in Rhode Island, his wife, Jill, was raised in Rockport and is a graduate of the Camden Rockport High School Class of 1986.

“We met when I was at Peter Otts, Jill was working at Atlantica Restaurant," he said. "We married and in 2009 Jill came on board here, and it blossomed.”

Why Southwestern cuisine?

“We’ve kind of grown out of that," he said. "Now it’s more Southwestern meets the Northeast. We like to use anything fresh and local and then we take it around the world.”

Twin girls Zoe and Alyce Goodridge have been working at the restaurant for three years. The day we interviewed the family, it was the girls' 18th birthday. I asked why they were made to work on their birthday.

“We wanted to,” the twins answered in unison.

“They chose to do this,” their mother echoed. “There's a little surprise coming their way later on, but I’m not going to ruin it by talking about it.”

“Even our son, Steve, has worked here,” said Jill. “He’s done dishes. I think that’s what made him want to go to college. We have 19 tables to seat people at, but we turn them over a lot. It’s hard to be a family sometimes and work together. It’s a different dynamic.”

The twins are both seniors in high school. Alyce attends Oceanside in Rockland, while Zoe attends an alternative school online, the Christa McAuliffe Academy, based at Washington State.

“It’s a tough school,” said Zoe. “I spend a lot of time on the computer. You have to get 80 percent or better in a course to progress."

Alyce would like to go into computer design while Zoe is interested in equestrian sciences. She also said she wouldn’t mind marine biology or even veterinarian school.

The girls have three dogs, two cats, one horse, fish and two rescued turtles that live at the restaurant. When asked if they might like to go into the restaurant business, both answered simultaneously with a resounding, “no.”

The turtles (Clyde and Duke) have lived at the restaurant for 12 years. John said the customers love them.

“We see difficult kids come in," he said. "They are being temperamental and all of a sudden it’s ahhhh, turtles. The girls donate a lot of time at the animal shelter. That’s how we wound up with so many pets.”

The twins say they are definitely alike. “We finish each others sentences.” Asked if they have ever pulled any pranks as twins, they confided that once in eighth grade they switched classes.

“We think the teachers knew what was going on, but they didn’t say anything.”

John said his plan for the next five years is to keep the restaurant going as it is.

“We have a great staff and we’re pretty happy," he said. There has been a steady climb in business over the last four years.

“We’re going to do everything we can to keep it going in that direction.’"

Both John and Jill commented that they thought the city had done a great job with the downtown.

“They’ve done a great job cleaning it up,” said John. “The storefronts all look good. There is a lot of event planning where something is always going on. We rock during all the festivals. The Blue’s Festival this year was our best day on record. Cinco de Mayo was great. Lobster Festival and Maine Boats and Harbors were all excellent days.”