The state’s recently named Connecticut Restaurant of the Year stays so true to supporting local farms, and products that even the tables and dishware are crafted nearby.
“We serve everything with purpose,” said Joann Makovitzky, managing partner at Community Table Restaurant & Bar.
“I feel almost like I’m a conductor putting all the pieces together down to seating guests (whether to seat kids near a young couple celebrating their anniversary),” she said. “It’s all the little details put together to make one magical evening, I want them to feel happiness.”
The restaurant in a clapboard building that looks like a house seats 75, including 15 at the bar, and is located in what some call the most beautiful part of the state: rural, scenic Washington in Litchfield County. The restaurant off the beaten path in the New Preston section and is near Lake Waramaug and New Preston Falls.
While the restaurant model stresses everything local, many of the regulars aren’t local all year, they come from other states to weekend homes. Others drive from as far away as Boston and New York City just to dine.
As for the food quality, their current chef, Bolivar Hilario was recently named as a semi-finalist for a prestigious James Beard Award for best chef northeast. He’s a native of Puebla, Mexico and spent years working in top New York kitchens.
The restaurant was recently named overall Connecticut Restaurant of the Year at the Crazies Awards put on by Connecticut Restaurant Association. Scott Dolch, president and CEO and president of the CRA said the Beard nomination is huge (that came after the Crazies award)and that he’s happy for Community Table’s win. Dolch does not have a vote in the Crazies..
“Their goal of supporting the local community really shines through,” he said. ‘It’s a destination. you have to know when you want to go there. What she has done at Community Table is truly farm to table and she has a huge customer base.’
The restaurant’s guest reviews online are over the top with superlatives.
Guests call the food “magnificent,” “incredible, “exquisite” and the experience “stellar.”
One guest review says, “We had been meaning to come here since the Litchfield Jazz fest – OMG, why did we wait?!?”
“This is a gem in Litchfield County,” wrote another.
Another wrote, “Incredible eatery on all accounts!!! This restaurant expertly serves up locally sourced dishes that satiate your taste buds and appetite.”
Here is an example of some of their menu items: Poached black cod, brussels sprouts, pee wee potatoes, leeks, sauce bourride; seared scallops, butternut squash risotto, white miso,whipped ricotta, white wine, sage; homemade lumache pasta bolognese, beef and pork, marzano tomatoes, pecorino romano; pan roasted Pekin duck breast, castelfranco, caramelized fennel, orange, persimmon; coffee rubbed pork loin, caramelized celery root, poached pear, radicchio, jus; blue corn flour Tlayuda, mushrooms, mesclun mix, roasted cauliflower, salsa macha, and queso fresco.
Guests will never find chicken parmesan on the menu, Makovitzky said.
Makovitzky said their customers are “passionate about food” and many of them great cooks themselves. The menu rotates with new dishes being added.
“They’re not going to enjoy if they’re not foodies,” she said.
The restaurant is often called “cozy’” and the three rooms for dining help that vibe, she said.
The original restaurant was opened in 2010 by Keith and Peggy Anderson who had a mission and vision: to move small businesses to the area, create jobs and support farmers. But they didn’t have a managing partner to run things day to day so they closed in May of 2017.
Then in 2018 they connected with Makovitzky, a Michelin-starred chef who had moved to Washington from New York City to slow down after running her four successful restaurants in Manhattan. She is a Culinary Institute of America graduate.
So much for relaxation after 40 years in the business, Makovitzky says with a chuckle. She fell in love with the mission and people.
“I felt I did what I set out to do and needed a break,” she said. “I fell in love with the area.”
Makovitzky said the restaurant has a “strong relationship” with 10 local farms for vegetables and some meats.
They have venison from a farm in New York on the menu often and it’s popular. On Mondays only they sell a burger made of beef from Whippoorwill Farm in Lakewood.
Their coffee is roasted by Zero Profit Coffee in Washington, their beer is from Kent Fall Brewing in Kent, their lettuce is grown in Warren, their bourbon is from a distillery Litchfield. Their fish is from Hudson Valley, N.Y. They don’t serve any fish from outside the northeast.
“They inspire us and we inspire them,” she said of the farms and local businesses.
In March she and the restaurant’s renowned chef meet with the farmers about what they want to put on the menu and what the farmers will be growing.
The restaurant may want a certain type of beet or radish. This year her chef asked for a pepper that’s rarely gown outside of Mexico.
If she’s visiting the farm and sees a spectacular batch of cucumbers, she’ll buy them and put a dish on the menu.
Community Table Restaurant & Bar is considered casual fine dining, Makovitzky said.
While there are no tablecloths, the tables are beautiful, she said, because they are black walnut tables made by a local woodworker from trees that grew on the property, she said.
The dinner ware is made by potters and artisans from the area.
Dinner ware and plating are important, she said.
“A chef is an artist. It’s a craft. You could work your whole life and not be great,” she said.
A good chef designs a plate by texture, color, geometry, she said.
“You eat with your eyes first,” she said. “It all comes down to the quality. They have to be delicious too.”
While Makovitzky collaborates with the chef she spends most of her open time perusing the dining room, talking to guests and getting the pulse on their level of satisfaction.
The same philosophy goes at their busy bar.
Many ask why they don’t carry widely liked Tanqueray gin. Instead she offers “artisanal” less known gins.
“We want to introduce them to new products,” she said.
They carry wines from farms near and far as well.
She said the restaurant is building a space across the lot that includes a 36-seat dining room for events and to expand the catering end of the business.
She said after hearing they were nominated for a Crazies award, “I didn’t think we were going to win because it’s such a small restaurant.”
“The team is so happy about it,” she said. “We kind of live in a vacuum here.”
But she counts her blessings.
“I’m very thankful I landed in a great place, ” Makovitzky.