Hartford Business Journal

22 Hartford Business Journal • March 9, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com SO MANY GREAT IDEAS, ONLY ONE PLACE TO TAKE IT ALL IN. TICKETS NOW ON SALE! GO TO HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/HBJ-EVENTS CLICK ON 90 IDEAS IN 90 MINUTES TO REGISTER! GOLD SPONSORS: SILVER SPONSOR: MARCH 26TH 8 AM - 10AM | Infinity Hall Hartford 32 Front Street, Hartford , CT OUR SPEAKERS! CARLOS MOUTA, Hartford Developer CLAUDIA REUTER, Managing Director, Stanley+Techstars Accelerator DANA NEVES, Vice President & General Manager, WFSB DAVID LEHMAN, Commissioner, Department of Economic and Community Development JAY WILLIAMS, President, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving JENNIFER DELMONICO, Managing Partner, Murtha Cullina CHEF TYLER ANDERSON, Millwright's Restaurant and Tavern COLEMAN LEVY, Consultant/Advisor, Coleman B. Levy LLC BETH SHLUGER, CEO & President, Hartford Marathon Foundation than manage restaurants within a larger organization, eluded him. That changed when the Copper Beech Inn in Essex, Conn., called An- derson to run their restaurant in 2007. Anderson comes to CT In terms of the size of the op- eration, Copper Beech was a huge step down. But being in charge of a standalone restaurant with about 15 employees allowed him autonomy he'd never before experienced. "At Copper Beech, I was truly able to operate it like it was my own restaurant," Anderson said. "I had a lot of practice when I came into it, but there's still literally nothing like knowing it's your own, and it's a scary, terrible, freaky thing." So in 2009 he called Aurrichio, whose own rise up the ranks with Marriott had stagnated, and asked him to join as general manager. The reunion proved fruitful, but a couple years in, Aurrichio said he noticed Copper Beech's owner wasn't paying all the bills, and the writing on the wall suggested they should start looking for their own restaurant. Around that same time, Land- works Development LLC had bought a parcel of land in Simsbury to build apartments. As part of the deal with seller Ensign-Bickford Co., the developer agreed to also buy a three- floor, 8,200-square-foot building that served as a mill in the 1600s and restaurant in the 1980s. By 2012 Anderson and Aurrichio had partnered with the developer and opened Millwrights, a fine-dining establishment serving New England- inspired cuisine sourced mostly from Sub Edge Farm in Farmington and Granby's Holcomb Farm. Anderson's profile was rising at this time, having appeared on and won Food Network's "Chopped," a fact that's mentioned in the first paragraph of a New York Times review of Millwrights, which called the menu "a brashly elegant take on … homey American classics." If it needs to be said, the New York Times doesn't usually review new restaurants in Simsbury. Trials and tribulations Sitting in Millwrights' picturesque dining room overlooking a waterfall on a Tuesday afternoon last month, head chef Niles Talbot said he knew the concept was something special when he joined the staff as a line cook a few months after it opened. "From the beginning, we knew that we were going to be a different kind of restaurant that Connecticut hasn't necessarily seen," said Talbot, who added that Anderson mentored and challenged him to expand his culinary horizons in the seven years he's worked at Millwrights. "If I wasn't intimidated and nervous every day when I walked in here, then it's not the place for me." Anderson and Aurrichio barely left Millwrights for the next four years, Aurrichio said, a gestation period for the duo's ambition. That changed near the beginning of 2017, when they decided to branch out. Anderson, Aurrichio and Bear's Smokehouse owner McDonald an- nounced a joint venture restaurant, >> Executive Profile continued EXECUTIVE PROFILE HBJ PHOTO | SEAN TEEHAN Terreno sous chef Jetzel Cruz chops onions before a Friday dinner service.

• Cover