Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 21, 2022 35 Tyler Anderson, standing inside his Millwright's Restaurant in Simsbury, said post-Thanksgiving is the start of the corporate holiday season. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Seasonal Cheer As more companies plan in-person holiday parties, restaurants prep for much-needed business boost By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com A s the holiday season approaches, many local restaurants are seeing the return of in-person company parties after more than two years of maneu- vering through the pandemic. Hartford-area restaurateurs said they have seen an uptick in corporate holiday and event bookings this year after 2020 and 2021 led to restaurant shutdowns and remote or hybrid work for many companies. Seventy percent of Hartford Business Journal readers said their companies plan to have an in-person holiday party this year, according to a recent Flash Poll. The New York Post reported in October that restaurant holiday book- ings in New York City are up 34% compared with last year, according to data compiled by OpenTable. Numbers are still down from pre-pan- demic 2019, but restaurateurs think the upswing is a good sign that things are returning to normal. "I would say that it is not where it was pre-pandemic, especially for corporate events, but it is much better," said Tyler Anderson, owner of Terreno restaurant inside The Goodwin hotel in Hartford and Mill- wright's Restaurant in Simsbury. Holiday rush Two years after closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Terreno fully reopened in early November. Anderson — who now lives in down- town Hartford and also manages a barbecue/Mexican food truck brand called TA-Que — said he's seen the gradual return of in-person work in the city. At The Goodwin hotel, Anderson is responsible for all the food and beverage operations, which also includes Bar Pina and corporate catering for the hotel's banquet rooms. He said they can host groups anywhere from 10 to 800 people. Millwright's has a private dining room, too, that can seat up to 50 people. He said social events like baby showers and weddings are back "better than ever," while corpo- rate events are on the rise, but still lag 2019. "It is much better than last year. … I think generally people are feeling better about doing large tables and reservations again," Anderson said. That wasn't the case last year, said Mario Cardinale, manager of popular Hartford Italian restaurant and bar Peppercorn's, a Main Street anchor for more than two decades. "A lot of corporations or businesses that have end-of-year gatherings were remote and a lot of people were not going anywhere," Cardinale said. "A lot of people were too paranoid to even want to go out." Cardinale said Peppercorn's reservations have been maxed out recently as more businesses continue to return to the office, but the lunch hour can still be slow as workers only go into work certain days a week. The restaurant's new banquet room can host up to 80 people, he said, and the difference between the last few years and this year is night and day. "You can't even measure how different it is," Cardinale said. "It's going the way that it needs to go." Salute Restaurant Owner Jimmy Cosgrove said Tuesdays through Thursdays have been the busy days for corporate events this year, because of hybrid work schedules. He said he's seen insurance compa- nies return to the city and travel more, which results in more large groups booking reservations. "The other thing we're noticing is that they're spending more money," Cosgrove said. "They're spending a little more money than they have in years' past, and the same thing with other customers." Anderson said that post-Thanks- giving is usually the start of the holiday corporate party season and runs into the following year. Because they get so busy, some compa- nies host their year-end parties in January or February when bookings are available. "It's always fully-committed," Anderson said. "Around the holi- days if I don't have a Friday and Saturday booking at Millwright's, something's wrong." Cosgrove said his Trumbull Street restaurant has been busy since the spring, and nights have been especially active. "A lot of the corporate business is back," Cosgrove said recently, while preparing for a group of 70 people with an evening reservation. "With holiday parties, because so many people work like three days a week, a lot of parties are all congested in those three days." He said Salute did a lot of catering business and to-go orders last

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