The past few weeks have seen a flurry of new Fairfield County eateries that have either opened or are being readied for a near-future debut. But while this new wave of restaurants and grab-and-go establishments brings greater dining choices to the region, many businesses within the local restaurant industry are still feeling the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic”™s economic effects on the sector.
First, the good news. The Glenville section of Greenwich will be the home of The Country Table, which opening this month at 1 Glenville St. This will be the inaugural brick-and-mortar retail store operated by the hospitality company Geoff Lazlo Food, which operates Greenwich”™s Mill Street Bar & Table restaurant.
According to the company”™s website, The Country Table will offer a “handmade selection of gourmet sandwiches, made-to-order salads, family-friendly prepared entrees, premium coffee, house-made baked goods, and scoop-able ice cream.”
Chef Geoff Lazlo, founder and managing partner of Geoff Lazlo Food, was previously at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester County and at The Farm and The Whelk in Westport before launching Mill Street Bar & Table in 2015.
Further east along the shoreline, Salsa Fresca Mexican Grill opened its 12th location in Playhouse Square at 275 Post Road East in Westport. The restaurant launched on Nov. 8 and hosted a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 13 at 11 a.m. with Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe presiding over a ceremony that included free food and Salsa Fresca gear giveaways along with double rewards points awarded to all Salsa Rewards program members in attendance.
Salsa Fresca is also busy with construction on another Fairfield County location, at the 2222 Black Rock Turnpike site in Fairfield that was occupied by Qdoba Mexican Eats until that chain shut down its Connecticut operations in 2018. No opening date has been set for the new restaurant.
“This is an exciting time for the entire Salsa Fresca team,” said Eric Friedman, chief operating officer at Salsa Fresca.
Salsa Fresca has Connecticut locations in Danbury, New Haven and West Hartford; it also maintains New York locations in Bedford Hills, Carmel, Cross River, LaGrange, Mamaroneck, Peekskill, Poughkeepsie and Yorktown.
Another regional chain is also becoming more ubiquitous in Fairfield County. Gofer Ice Cream chain held a grand opening ceremony on Nov. 21 for its seventh location at 407 Main St. in Ridgefield, taking over the space vacated last year by the lingerie store Candlelight Shoppe, which moved to another location in the town.
Gofer Ice Cream also announced its plans for two more locations in early 2022: at the Turkey Hill Shopping Center at 1240 Post Road in Westport and the Ridgeway Shopping Center 2367 Summer St. in Stamford; the company, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in business in 2022, has another Stamford location at 869 High Ridge Road and stores in Cos Cob, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan and Wilton.
An expansion mode is being experienced by Green & Tonic, a plant-based eatery that is celebrating its 10th anniversary next year, opened its sixth location on Nov. 29 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its 21 Forest St. location in New Canaan. The chain stresses clean eating with a gluten-free, vegan and organic menu of salads, wraps, snacks and cold-pressed juices; Green & Tonic also offers nutritional meal programs and detox cleanse programs.
Green & Tonic also operates eateries in Darien, Cos Cob, Westport, Fairfield and across the Westchester border in Rye while maintaining its chief commissary in Stamford.
“Green & Tonic is rooted in plant-based superfood ingredients, and we are thrilled to be able to answer the call for how people are eating today, said Gabriel Sorgi, the chain”™s president, who added its “menu is chef-designed, seasonally inspired and constantly evolving.”
However, not every restaurant-based news in Fairfield County is positive: The owners of the popular Mackenzie”™s Bar & Grill announced on Facebook that the American cuisine restaurant at 970 High Ridge Road in Stamford ceased on Nov. 24.
“For the past 15 years we have had the pleasure of being not only your ”˜go to”™ neighborhood bar and restaurant, but also your place to share memories and friendships with those you care about the most,” the Facebook announcement said. “You have all been like family to us and we felt it was important to let you know now, so that you have the time to stop by, enjoy your favorite dishes and see the staff that have been here to brighten your day and whom you have welcomed into your hearts over the years.”
The Mackenzie”™s management added that they were “embracing a glimmer of hope because there are a few operators that have showed an interest in leasing the space and possibly continuing on with the Mackenzie”™s name and spirit. We will be keeping our social media accounts and website alive so that we can help spread the word if anything comes of this because we know how important this place has become to so many.”
The restaurant industry is still struggling to get back to its pre-pandemic activity, with more than 600 restaurants statewide closed since Covid-19 took root.
“We”™re still 23,000 jobs short of pre-pandemic in our industry,” Connecticut Restaurant Association President and CEO Scott Dolch recently told the Business Journal, noting that jobseekers “are taking the position that they can just go to the restaurant next door and find the salary they want ”” which is only sometimes the case. Even some of the best restaurants in Connecticut are having to cut hours, or are now closed on certain days.”
