This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/22/2018 12:00 AMGiven the choice between sitting down to an amazing meal or preparing one, Colt Taylor emphatically chooses the latter.
Not surprising for a veteran chef, perhaps, but Taylor's passion for providing people with culinary "wow moments" emerged early, when 13-year-old Taylor took a job at the original Saybrook Fish House.
Fast forward more than 20 years, and Taylor remains committed to creating those special tableside moments in his latest venture as executive chef of The Essex in Centerbrook. He's just upped the ante over the years, armed with insight from working in kitchens large and small—from Halvorson's Upstreet Café in Burlington, Vermont, to One If By Land, Two If By Sea in New York City. Yes, Taylor wants to prepare memorable meals at the Essex, but he also wants to encourage sustainable food production methods and educate his customers about those methods, one dish at a time.
"Our vision is to say, it is 2018: it's a new dawn in the food scene," Taylor says. "My generation, we do care about where we get our food from. For me, it's not about is it local; that's not my first look. My first look is, is it sustainable? Is the product that we're getting and using raised humanely? Is the quality of that product at my standard or higher?"
That's why Taylor prepares as much as possible in-house—from the burger buns to the gelato. Meats are dry-aged in house; greens come from the on-site hydroponic garden; and all juices used in Essex cocktails and dishes are fresh-squeezed daily. On a recent day, kitchen staffers were preparing homemade marshmallows; kimchi is also produced in-house.
Taylor's high standards also extend to his staff. He dismisses the trope of the chef-as-dictator as counterproductive. Instead, he invests in his staff by paying them well and treating them with respect.
"I'm lucky to have cooks in the kitchen and floor people who genuinely care about how the customer feels, and part of it is the environment in which they work," he says.
There are no walls blocking the view into the kitchen, and that's because Taylor encourages both patron and staffer to be aware of the other's experience because ultimately one informs the other.
"The environment here is happy. It's peaceful. People don't get berated," Taylor notes. "We have an open kitchen because we want you to see the conditions under which our staff works to give you what you want. ... We've built a family and it keeps growing, and there are incredibly important people here."
The Journey
His own family drew Taylor back his hometown of Essex after successful turns at fine-dining establishments in destination cities like Miami, Los Angeles, and New York.
Before he hit the big cities, Taylor attended college at UVM and graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in business and biology; studies that continue to inform his roles as business owner and chef. Ask him how to prepare, say, chicken in the style of Peking duck, and Taylor will explain every step of the process, including the finer points of the chemistry involved, such as ideal steam time and temp (38 minutes, 165 degrees).
Post-college, Taylor continued to work as a cook and later trained formally at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.
He landed his first executive chef job at the age of 26 when he was hired away from Gotham Steak at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami to take over at the historic One if By Land, Two if By Sea in Manhattan. He stayed there for more than four years, developing the culinary strategy he would employ at The Essex.
"The whole game was how do you take this old-school, very classic style restaurant, with such a long, deep rooted name-association behind it, and how do you reinvent it while staying true to the classics, and it brought me back to my culinary training," Taylor says. At CIA, Taylor's mentor, famed chef Dominick Cerrone, taught him classic culinary methods from which Taylor learned to build his brand "eclectic regional American" cuisine.
"No matter how far forward we push the envelope, we still hold true to the old-school techniques," Taylor notes.
So, alongside The Essex's more exotic fare like the duo of octopus and pork belly, customers also will find standbys like steak frites and Caesar salad on the menu updated to reflect Taylor's standards and, often, his mastery—and mixing—of flavor profiles from around the world. Think bacon and clam ramen, or squid ink brioche, or fusilli and lobster served with beets and mascarpone cheese.
When he returned to Essex, Taylor saw it as an opportunity to start a new phase of his career and launch his own restaurant, while taking the time to "breathe and enjoy life" after hectic years in high demand. When it came time to choose a location, Taylor and his father and business partner, Michael Hannifin, looked at sites in New Haven, Mystic, and West Hartford, towns with clientele similar to Taylor's in New York.
In the end, though, they kept it all in the family, so to speak.
"At the end of the day we said how do we give back to a community where we live? So, we chose Essex because we believe in the greatness of this town," Taylor says.
Community investment is another offshoot of Taylor's mission toward sustainability.
"If you want this area to flourish, you have to support your local businesses," he says. "The point [at The Essex] to serve every possible need of the community and work with them and work for them and help bring people to an area where there are so many great people."
The Market and The Hearth
Home chefs with a preference for local ingredients will find a literal marketplace at The Essex. The Market adjoins the main dining area and is open to retail customers during restaurant hours. Taylor envisions the Market as a year-round farmers market and is actively seeking goods and produce from local producers to stock. House-made goods like kimchi, pasta, spice mixes, and more also are available in the Market, as well as fresh fish shipped in daily from Browne Trading Company out of Portland, Maine, (also what's served in house) and cuts of beef. Prepared foods like soups, sandwiches, and salads offer a quick lunch or dinner option, as well.
The Hearth at The Essex will offer patrons a more intimate dining experience in a room just off the main dining area. Tables are situated around a pass-through fireplace, with cozy views of the kitchen and bar area. When it opens—likely this fall—The Hearth will be available for private parties and offer a unique menu.