Millwright’s Helped Put Connecticut Dining on the Map
The first time Chef Tyler Anderson saw the space that would become Millwright's Restaurant he fell in love. The historic building beside a waterfall had been a mill dating back to 1680. More recently it had served as a restaurant but had been vacant for several years and was in some disrepair. Tyler saw beyond all that.
“The bones were beautiful,” he says.
In 2012 Millwright’s opened and the building with lofty ceilings and huge glass windows became a cathedral of chef- and ingredient-driven cuisine that helped put fine dining in Connecticut on the map. Twelve years, one global pandemic, several national TV appearances, and countless meals later, Tyler and his team continue to evolve in an effort to bring high-quality cuisine to patrons in a setting that is impressive but never stiff or snobby.
“We want to do really nice things, but we don't want to take ourselves too seriously, and we don't want to be too intense about what we're doing. We just want guests to be happy and have a nice time,” Tyler says.
The latest efforts toward continuing to achieve those goals is a renovation converting a bridge space over the waterfall that flourished as an outdoor dining destination during the pandemic into an indoor dining space, as well as tripling the restaurant's wine storage and making other updates to the building.
The bridge renovation gives guests water views from both sides while the increased wine storage provides opportunities for a greater variety of wines at reduced prices because Millwright’s can now purchase in bulk and pass that savings on to customers, Tyler says.
A view from the bridge seating
Additionally, the restaurant has updated its menu, so items that were once only available in the restaurant’s tavern space, are now available regardless of where visitors sit. These changes are all part of Tyler’s effort to, “give guests what they want,” he says. “We were never a restaurant that was really based on ego, but in changes we make, we think about the guest experience first. I think, if a restaurant doesn't adapt to those needs, then they get left behind.”
Today visitors will find items like the tavern chicken wings and Millwright’s burger alongside more typically Millwright-esque dishes that keep with their history of mixing New England comfort food and high-end cuisine. These dishes include creative gems such as roasted acorn squash or the cashew pimento dip.
The renovations and restaurant-wide availability of formerly tavern- only items are all part of Tyler and his team’s effort to go even further in meeting customers where they are. “We may have a party of four or five that comes in and one person is just a simple eater and just wants a burger, and we were too restrictive with that before, and so now our burger is available everywhere,” Tyler says. “It’s just like little things like that. Spending money for more water view seating, increasing the wine list, and offering better value with our wine because we have more space to store it now.”
The expanded wine list also features some natural and biodynamic wines — these wines often use natural fermentation and unusual heirloom grapes to create more vibrant flavors that can sometimes make traditional wine lovers cringe but also get new people interested in wine. “That's part of what transitioned me into wine,” Tyler says. “I call them fun hipster wines. They're from small producers who are putting their heart and soul into everything, but they don't come with this huge price tag.”
Tyler also likes that many natural winemakers produce high-quality products without taking themselves too seriously, which is what Millwright’s and Tyler’s career in general has been all about.
A native of Southern California, Tyler started working in restaurants at age 16 while still in high school and fell in love with the industry. After working for a time as a chef in Chicago, he took a job working for a luxury hotel group called Rock Resorts, he was lured by the promise of more money, better benefits, and he enjoyed the work. “I cooked in California, I cooked in Chicago, I cooked in Vermont, Colorado, New Mexico, all over the place,” he says. Eventually, he and his family got tired of the constant traveling and decided they wanted to settle down in New England. He moved to Connecticut to work as the chef at Copper Beech Inn in Ivoryton. But he had always dreamed of opening his own restaurant and after a few years, with the help of investors, he had that opportunity at Millwright’s.
(left) a table of delicious options; (top right) Kristin Eddy ready for service; (bottom right) Chef Tyler Anderson
Once the restaurant opened, Tyler quickly became a star on the Connecticut restaurant scene both in and beyond Connecticut. Millwright’s was featured in The New York Times, Tyler received multiple nominations for the James Beard Best Chef Northeast award and appeared on season 15 of Bravo’s Top Chef in 2017. In 2020 he turned over daily chef duties to Ashley Flagg who has earned many accolades in her own right. She was featured on the PBS series Moveable Feast. “Ashley is one of the best chefs I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” Tyler says. “Aside from her obvious cooking talents, she has created a kitchen work environment that is extremely positive and constructive.”
Tyler remains highly involved, of course. And he regularly hosts special event dinners in Millwright’s loft space, an intimate event space with an open kitchen separate from the main dining areas. Beyond Millwright’s, Tyler has opened a number of other restaurants in the state. Though many have received critical acclaim, they haven’t all been successes. His hotel project Terreno and Bar Pina recently closed in Hartford. Currently, in addition to Millwright’s, in Connecticut Tyler runs Ore Hill & Swyft in Kent and the taco and barbecue food truck TA-Que, which he hopes to open as a brick-and-mortar location sometime in 2024. But throughout his various projects, Millwright’s has always been his focus.
“I never lost sight of this place. This place is always the flagship will always be my baby and is number one,” he says.
A view from the interior to the water
Continuing on with his second decade at Millwright’s, Tyler is excited about the way food culture has evolved both in Connecticut and throughout the country. “A lot of that has to do with people being more educated on what food is and, and more interested in it than they ever have been, and as a chef, that's awesome to see,” Tyler says. “When Millwright’s started, there was a lot of education involved in what we're doing, and we had some obscure things on the menu. But I think now people know those things.”
But even if they don’t, Tyler says, his goal at Millwright’s is not to push people down new culinary avenues. “We're not here to educate, we're not,” he says. “We're here to give people a nice time, and we really just live and breathe to make people happy, and at the end of the day, we hope that you enjoy your experience in our restaurant.”
Millwright’s is located at 77 West Street in Simsbury.
