FORGET ALL YOUR PROBLEMS IN FARMINGTON

The team at Butchers & Bakers in Farmington wants guests to know that its name isn’t just a play on culinary terms.

It actually reflects the extra in-house work its staff does to keep things fresh: custom-butchered meats and whole fish broken down in the kitchen, a house made fennel sausage that tops one of its most popular pizzas, and an entire program of freshly baked breads, including sourdough ciabatta, focaccia, and soft pretzels.

“We buy whole cuts here and break it down ourselves – there’s no point in pre-cutting,” said executive chef Zachary Shuman. “With the name of our restaurant…we kind of have to butcher in-house.”

Locals 8 Restaurant Group, which also owns and operates the Plan B restaurants in Connecticut and Massachusetts, opened Butchers & Bakers in Farmington’s The Exchange development back in 2017. The plan was always to offer a fresh, “casual fine dining” take on American fare, with a lineup of salads, pastas, pizzas, comfort plates like chicken parmesan, and “butcher shop” entrees with assorted steaks, chops, and fish.

The large restaurant, which can seat about 300 guests between its dining room, bars, event spaces, and expansive outdoor patio, is “kind of run like a hotel,” said Shuman, who noted that he and general manager Paolo Middei both have hotel and country club experience. Middei’s background includes food and beverage manager and general manager roles at Morris’ Winvian Farm, and Shuman was a corporate chef and partner in the Bean Restaurant Group, the parent group of Union Kitchen in West Hartford and several other eateries in western Massachusetts.

Butchers & Bakers’ pastry chef Jackelin Valverde turns out daily breads, a la carte desserts, pizza dough, and pretzels, Shuman said, using the same sourdough starter from the restaurant’s 2017 opening. The focaccia is highlighted in appetizers like pan con tomate, with tomatoes cooked in the restaurant’s coal-fired oven, and its coal-fired garlic bread with rich gorgonzola cream and parsley oil. Soft pretzels are offered in savory and sweet preparations, with sea salt and beer cheese or cinnamon and sugar with crème anglaise.

Shuman keeps the menu seasonal, highlighting local products from purveyors like Young Farms in East Granby, Sub Edge Farm right in Farmington, and Seacoast Mushrooms of Mystic. Cheeses come from Cato Corner Farm in Colchester, Mystic Cheese in Groton, and Arethusa Farm in Bantam, and fresh seafood from Gulf Shrimp in Southington arrives six days a week, he said.

The ”butcher shop” section of the menu is where the house-cut beef, chicken, pork and fish shine. Each protein is simply prepared, lightly seasoned and either cast iron-seared or flame-grilled, served with one side and one sauce. Allen Brothers provides the beef, including a 14-ounce NY strip and a hand-cut filet mignon, with a bone-in pork porterhouse and center-cut swordfish, Wester Ross salmon, and seared tuna rounding out the menu. Sauces include chimichurri, au poivre, and “B-1” steak sauce, with side dishes like mac and cheese, mixed mushroom risotto, mashed potatoes, garlic spinach, and truffle parmesan fries.

The spring menu will feature some lighter fare with seasonal flavors, like beer-poached shrimp with citrus aioli, tuna nachos, a mushroom lasagna, gnocchi with baby shrimp and creamed corn, and a radiatore pasta with zucchini-based Genovese sauce and Butchers’ house made sweet fennel sausage. Fish dishes will get new preparations, featuring a miso-honey glazed salmon with polenta and pickled vegetables, and the brunch menu will include an asparagus pizza with mozzarella, ricotta, lemon, prosciutto, rocket greens, and coal-fired eggs.

“With the name of our restaurant… we kind of have to butcher in-house.” —Chef Zac Shuman

But certain dishes are year-round mainstays for a reason, Shuman said, noting the popularity of the roasted half-chicken entrée, the chicken parmesan with house made marinara, and the meatballs, served as an appetizer with whipped ricotta or as a spaghetti and meatballs main dish. The pizza menu also largely stays intact, he and Maddei said, because each of the pies sell fairly evenly.

Shuman joked that when Locals 8 co-founder Allie Gamble hired him two and a half years ago, he had just two requests: not to touch the pizza menu or the meatball recipe. The coalfired pies, with a sourdough-based dough, come in one nine-inch size and feature toppings like the house made sausage, sliced meatballs and assorted vegetables. Gourmet pies include an exotic mushroom blend with soubise and truffle oil, and a fig and Brie creation with pear, fig jam, mozzarella, baby arugula, and prosciutto.

A popular brunch menu is served Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with decadent items like a sticky cinnamon roll, chicken and waffles, and Challah French toast, along with flavored mimosas and margaritas. The restaurant’s outdoor patio seats about 80 guests and has its own bar and is a popular summertime destination with special events like a lobster bake.

“One of our goals is to provide all of our guests with a great value for food, exciting cocktails, attentive service, and fun, so whatever time they spend here, they kind of forget all their problems,” said Middei. “Butchers is a place of fun.”

Butchers and Bakers:
270 Farmington Avenue, Farmington
860-470-7414
butchersandbakers.com