He became obsessed with driving around, searching for any local farm or fisherman on a dock and bugging them to see if they, too, wanted to help him with his vision.

His menu now, which reflects a reinvention, leans into a new way to present New England seafood for an old suburban fishing town, serving snacks like a smoked Rhode Island bluefish paté, raw New Bedford sea scallops with sesame and crispy shallots, chowder with quahogs and fermented hot sauce. He also makes his own pasta with milled local grains.

Today, Dion has largely taken over the business, although his mom can still be found in the kitchen.

“If you’ve had a piece of swordfish at S.S. Dion in the past 43 years, she’s grilled it. And she doesn’t want that to end,” said Dion. “She loves it, and wants to work forever.”

His father visits every day for an hour to keep track of “all of my numbers.”

“I do it all on a computer, and he’s got every, every penny of it on paper,” said Dion.

The reimagined version has had a lot of success, growing 300 percent over the last five years.

What to eat: Try any of the snacks to start with, but be sure to get at least one of their house-made pastas for the table to share: a black spaghetti puttanesca with fried squid, anchovies, Calabrian chilies, and braised tomato. A bowl of gemelli with house-made fish sausage, rapini, pangrattato, and aglio e olio. A roasted mushroom campanelle with sautéed leeks, Brussel sprouts, tarragon, and tender pea tendrils. A perfect bolognese. There are also comforting staples from S.S. Dion’s past life: “The chicken parmesan will be on that menu for my whole life,” said Dion. “But there’s a fermented hot sauce martini on there as well.”

“I want to have that spectrum of people who have always come into S.S. and ordered what they love and remember,” said Dion. “But also there might be something exciting for someone else in their party who is more adventurous.”

You can get three courses for just $40 per person if you order from their prix fixe menu. Your options include local crudos; a funky caesar with smoked Rhode Island bluefish and sourdough croutons, calamari from Point Judith, all sorts of scratch-made pastas, and plenty of desserts.

Dion said his fries take three days to prepare, and he makes every part of their burger from scratch (an “everything” milk bun, house bacon, crispy onions, a 21-day dry-aged burger bun from Blackbird Farm slathered in a special sauce) other than the cheddar cheese it is topped with.

“The world just seems to get more and more artificial, and there’s a really blurry line between what is human and what is manufactured,” he said. “It just feels good to be authentic to my place.”

What to drink: Start off with a bang and get the “Low Tide Hot N’ Dirty,” which uses a nori-infused Lime Rock gin, fermented green chili, yuzu, and topped with a spicy seaweed chip. Or their bacon fat-washed maple old fashioned. The beer list has a ton of local brews from around New England, while the wine list has some interesting choices for the area: a Primitivo from Puglia, an Austrian riesling, and a chenin blanc-viognier from Napa.

Don’t forget dessert: The bananas foster bread pudding is baked in a cast iron pan drizzled with rum caramel and topped with pecans and vanilla ice cream. The chocolate pot de creme uses miso caramel, beetroot meringue, salted cashew crumble, and fennel. Or you can order a basque cheesecake topped with flaky sea salt and orange zest, or a traditional affogato that’s drowned in a double shot of espresso from Borealis Coffee Company, a small-batch local specialty roaster.

Final say: S.S. Dion is one of those legacy restaurants that found further success after reinventing itself when the second generation took over. Dion has dreams of opening his own restaurant with a different concept and to potentially do it in Providence. He’s looking for locations, but isn’t ready to sign a lease yet.

“I’m really happy with where S.S. is now,” said Dion. “But what chef doesn’t have dreams of opening a dozen more restaurants?

“I’d say that’s what’s next,” he added. “I’d like to start something else soon.”

S.S. Dion, 520 Thames St., Bristol, R.I., 401-253-2884, ssdion.com. Raw bar $3.5-$165; salads $13-$18; snacks $9-$25; scratch pasta $14-$38; entrées $25-market price; Sides and sauces $1-$7.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.

Kevin Cassese has made his first big move as the head coach at Virginia, hiring Vermont head coach Chris Feifs as his defensive coordinator and top assistant. Inside Lacrosse first reported the news Wednesday, after which Vermont issued a formal announcement.

Feifs has previous experience in the ACC, having served as North Carolina’s defensive coordinator under Joe Breschi when the Tar Heels won the national championship in 2016. He left after that season to become the head coach at Vermont, where in 10 seasons he led the Catamounts to a 78-59 record and America East championships in 2021 and 2022.

“Chris poured his heart and soul into the program,” athletic director Jeff Schulman said.

Feifs was named the America East Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading Vermont to a regular season conference title.

“I will look back at the past 10 years as the single greatest growth period of my life,” he said.

Now he’ll play a key role in remodeling Virginia’s defense in his likeness. The Cavaliers ranked 39th in Division I last season allowing 11.12 goals per game. They do boast one of the best close defensemen in the country in John Schroter, who will be a redshirt senior next season. The goalie position is uncertain after Virginia turned to Air Force transfer Jake Marek as the starter this year and Kyle Morris entered the transfer portal.

Virginia has moved swiftly since making the surprise decision to part ways with Lars Tiffany on May 18 and issuing a terse press release announcing the departure of a head coach who led the Cavaliers to national championships in 2019 and 2021 and the ACC championship this year. Eight days later, they elevated Cassese — an offensive coordinator with extensive previous head coaching experience at Lehigh — to head coach.

Eight days after that, Cassese has his top lieutenant.