At Gather55 Everyone Can Enjoy an All-Star Menu Curated by Elite Chefs

Gather55 is the only restaurant of its kind...well...anywhere.

Launched by Hands on Hartford in 2022 in the space that formerly served as the nonprofit's soup kitchen, Gather55 essentially operates as two restaurants in one. By day it's a pay-what-you-want/participation restaurant that allows visitors to make a minimum donation of $2 or volunteer to work a half hour in exchange for food. Those who can't pay, or volunteer are never turned away are instead given a voucher for a free meal. "We don't want anyone leaving hungry," says Molly Reynolds, Gather55's manager. "When you're receiving a voucher, you're still participating and at that time you're just working on yourself."

By night Gather55 transforms into an upscale restaurant with white tablecloths and a prix fixe menu overseen by renowned Connecticut chef Tyler Anderson, owner of Millwright’s in Simsbury. The restaurant features recipes contributed by Tyler and a rotating cast of acclaimed guest chefs from Connecticut. Twenty percent of the seating at the restaurant is reserved for non-paying guests who could not normally afford to dine in this type of restaurant.

The daytime program was inspired by restaurants outside Connecticut with similar models, but the evening concept is a new model developed by the Hands on Hartford team and Tyler.

Gather 55 Chef Jeremy Williams and sous chef Patty Meza

Hands on Hartford has operated for more than half a century and serves economically challenged Hartford residents focusing on food, housing, and health. For more than 40 years, the organization ran a soup kitchen for the community. During the pandemic, the leadership at Gather 55 began exploring the idea of updating the soup kitchen concept to a more collaborative model that could bring the community together. They approached Tyler about helping them and he agreed to spearhead the evening program. As Tyler came up with a dining concept, he knew the worst thing he could do would be to create a program that wasn’t economically sound.

“This place can’t lose money, it had to be viable from the start,” he says. “The best way to make a restaurant viable from the start is to offer limited menu items.”

Tyler developed a three-course prix fixe featuring his recipes and recipes submitted by top chefs from around the state. Each month a new guest chef contributes an appetizer and main course dish and attends the restaurant for a launch event. The resulting menu is a best of collection of top dishes. A recent meal at Gather55 featured a beets and burrata appetizer from Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern on State and Fairhaven Oyster Co., classic pasta bolognese from Chef Billy Grant of Restaurant Bricco and Bricco Trattoria, and a yogurt creme brulee from Chef Xavier Santiago of The Place 2 Be.

This type of all-star menu creation approach would never work in a commercial restaurant because chefs wouldn’t be willing to share their great recipes with a for profit restaurant, Tyler says. That, paired with the 20 percent free dining model makes Gather55 a restaurant that is truly worthy of the term unique. Tyler notes, “I believe we are the only place in the world that’s doing this.”

The diners who receive the free meal receive the same service and food as everyone else and they are brought a bill at the end of the night so there is no distinction between guests. “For both the daytime and the evening models our mission is harnessing the power of food to bring community together,” Molly says. “We want to create a space where you're going to have a mix of people dining.”

“I believe we are the only place in the world that’s doing this.”
—Chef Tyler Anderson

(left)Braised Lamb Tangine by Emily Mingrone with basmati rice, vandouvan cream, cilantro, and mint; (middle)diners enjoying a meal; (right)Eggplant Caponata from Xavier Santiago. piquillo polenta, fontina cheese, brown butter bread crumbs 

While this vision was created by Tyler and the leadership team at Gather55, it’s brought to delicious perfection each night by head chef Jeremy Williams. A longtime veteran of the restaurant industry, Williams was the owner of Even Stephens Restaurant in Berlin, which opened in 2006 and closed during the pandemic. Burnt out by the business side of the restaurant world, Jeremy had decided to leave the industry.  en he heard about the opportunity at Gather55.

“This is a company whose ultimate goal, their ultimate mission, is to help others,” Jeremy says.  e idea of putting his chopping, cooking, and other culinary skills to use in support of that mission appealed to him. “The not-for-profit model is a very different model than a traditional restaurant. When you go into meetings, it's not about how much money we can make. It's about how much we can help.”

During the interview process, Tyler was impressed by Jeremy’s experience, work ethic and kindness. “He has a big heart,” Tyler says. Tyler also knew he needed a chef who was willing to check their ego at the door and commit themselves to recreating other people’s visions.

To Jeremy, working with other chefs was a plus, not a drawback.

“I was excited to work with these new chefs,” Jeremy says. “Because each chef is so unique, the way they look at food, the way they talk about food, the way they envision food, the way they create the art. For me, working with chefs like that is such a wonderful thing, because it opens my eyes to so many new perspectives. One of the most beautiful things that I love about cooking is that the day I die, I will still not have learned everything.”

Diners in need, are able to attend the restaurant twice a year and just need to make a reservation 24 hours in advance. People have not tried to attend more than twice, Molly notes. In fact, she’s had to work to encourage some community members to come out and enjoy the experience, as for some this type of dining is entirely new.

Whether they are charged at the end of their meal or not, guests have responded well to the restaurant.  e constantly rotating menu encourages people to come back and try new dishes and the restaurant already has dedicated regulars. At the time this article was written, chefs Ashley Flagg and Kristin Eddy, who work at Tyler’s restaurants, and Chef Prasad Chirnomula, of Chef Prasad in New Canaan, were scheduled to participate, and Tyler has a large list of other chefs eager to donate their time and recipes.

“The biggest challenge is its only one chef a month and there are so many chefs that we want to be involved in it,” Tyler says. He adds that he is not surprised by the generosity of his colleagues who have dedicated their lives to preparing food for others. “By nature, chefs are giving people.”

• Gather55 is located at 55 Bartholomew Avenue in Hartford www.gather55.com