Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • March 9, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 19 By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com T yler Anderson doesn't want to interrupt your meal. It's not that he's shy. The 42-year-old restaurateur, who runs Simsbury foodie destination Millwrights and the newly re-concept- ed Terreno in downtown Hartford, exudes a laid-back affability reflective of his Southern California roots. He just feels odd leaving the kitch- en to walk the dining room, greeting and talking to guests digging into their entrees. "I don't think I'm a big deal, so I don't think there's any reason for me to go out there," Anderson said. He knows that's not how many other people see it, though. Between his appearances on Bravo's "Top Chef," and shows on the Food Net- work, Anderson falls undeniably within the ranks of celebrity chefs, particular- ly in Connecticut. He debuted his first restaurant, Millwrights, eight years ago, and on the heels of its success has opened numerous other restaurants and bars and a catering business, run under his company, Tanda Hospitality. Anderson's involvement in restaurants like Square Peg Pizzeria in Glastonbury and Hamilton Park in New Haven drew the kind of buzz you can't buy. But celebrity status hasn't immu- nized him from market realities and growing pains. Last summer he and Bear's Smoke- house BBQ owner Jamie McDonald shut down the highly touted The Cook and the Bear joint venture restaurant they opened less than two years earlier in West Hartford's Blueback Square. Meanwhile, Anderson's Spanish tapas concept in Hartford's Goodwin Hotel — Restaurant Porrón — never gained much traction, leading him to shift gears and transform it into the new Cal-Italian-style Terreno. Those miscalculations taught Anderson and longtime business partner AJ Aurrichio that even name recognition and a top-quality prod- uct don't guarantee business success. It's also led them to put a laser focus on appealing to the largest possible customer base, a necessity in Connect- icut's restaurant industry, they say. As a result, Anderson is currently expanding Millwrights' menu to also include Cal-Italian motif pastas and steaks, which will appear alongside the locally sourced fare like venison osso bucco and beef tartare. "Millwrights has always been a real foodie restaurant, and that's not going to change, but I think maybe one of our failures is that it's too foodie," Anderson said. "If a group of four people is going and three of them are into food, and one of them just wants a steak with some french fries, then that might not have been here for them. But now it'll be here." In his younger days Anderson may have chafed at altering menus and dishes into which he poured his skill and creativity, but now he operates with a heavily customer-focused "yes-taurant" attitude. Introducing new food to diners is great, he's realized, but running myri- ad restaurants collectively employing 210 people and generating $15 million in annual revenue in a state with many eateries and far fewer people than neighboring Massachusetts and New York requires a clear-headed departure from a no-substitutions, chef-is-always-right attitude. And with some nudging from his wife, Melanie Stepka, Anderson's mak- ing more of an effort to meet and greet customers who crane their necks when he enters the dining room to catch a glimpse of TV's Chef Tyler Anderson. "Like the other night I was at Ter- reno, he came over and said 'hi' to me, and there was a table behind me that was freaking out, because he was there," Stepka said. "[They were] like, 'That's Tyler Anderson!' and Chef Tyler Anderson of "Top Chef" fame is introducing more casual items to his flagship fine- dining restaurant Millwrights in Simsbury. EXECUTIVE PROFILE CT's 'Top Chef' A maturing restaurateur, Tyler Anderson learns that being a celebrity chef doesn't guarantee success HBJ PHOTO | BILL MORGAN Continued on next page >> Tanda Hospitality's restaurants and bars Millwrights Simsbury Square Peg Pizzaria Glastonbury Terreno Hartford Bar Piña/Piña Donut Shop Hartford Events at the Goodwin Hartford Hamilton Park New Haven High George New Haven Tyler Anderson Catering Source: Tanda Hospitality

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