ABOUT | The Millstone Cafe
The much anticipated opening of the Millstone Café, co-owned by John Cummins and Carol Hawran, arrived last month with several unique elements to meet the ever-evolving needs of Litchfield County residents: A warm atmosphere, casual elegance, delicious, healthy foods created in part from the region’s locally-grown produce, meat, dairy and grains, and served in a family friendly environment. It’s all about “celebrating honest food, mindfully prepared, locally sourced.”
“In passionate pursuit of our mission, we will combine our proven skills for success in food service with our commitment to produce and sell consistently delicious, healthful foods with excitement, integrity and customer empathy,” Mr. Cummins said. “Whenever possible, we will maintain an awareness to consciously practice sustainability in our business. We define sustainability as renewable, continual and profitable. … Central to our passion is the opportunity to educate, inform and share in the value and pleasure of preparing and eating healthy, real food.”
The café menus feature regional, seasonal ingredients as often as possible, not only for making delicious dishes, but also helping to ensure the survival of local producers and artisans, so as to make distinctively superior foods and bringing back a food culture that revolves around family and community eating.”
The lunch and dinner menus will be geared toward traditional al a carte service, consisting of small course plates, entrée style meals, soups, salads, breads and desserts. While there are fixed menus, there is also flexibility within daily specials that rely on products available locally.
Mr. Cummins, a resident of Kent, and Ms. Hawran, a resident of Sharon, have both trained at the Culinary Institute, where Ms. Hawran taught for years. Mr. Cummins, for the last 16 years, owned and ran his own catering company in New York City. Their mutual appreciation for delicious, healthful foods and shared sensibilities have created a unique atmosphere in Kent, offering residents a casual yet elegant lunch and dinner café featuring a full service bar and outdoor dining on the porch and adjacent deck.
Phase Two for The Millstone will be the opening of the bakery at the end of this year, which the owners envision as an extension of the café and a community gathering place for all, serving artisan breads, pastries, tarts and home-style offerings, as well as premium coffee. The bakery will occupy the space directly adjacent to the café, the former home to Stroble’s Baking and Catering Company where, for 27 years, Patsy Stroble loyally and compassionately served the community. Stroble's was a town institution, and The Millstone hopes to reconstruct that town tradition, making it a community-based bakery.
Mr. Cummins and Ms. Hawran hope to offer instructional classes in food preparation and preservation, while phase three of the business plan is to introduce a special events catering service, perhaps in the spring/summer of next year.
“Our mission is to be the best café, bakery and catering company in the Northwest Connecticut region,” Mr. Cummins said. “We pride ourselves on selling house-made, distinctively superior foods and bringing back a food culture that revolves around family and community eating.”
Hours of Operation
BRUNCH | Saturday & Sunday 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
DINNER | Wednesday through Sunday 6:00 - 9:00 PM
The Millstone Café | John Cummins and Carol Hawran, co-owners
14 North Main Street
Kent, Connecticut 06757
Phone: 860.592.0500
eMail:
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Website: www.themillstonecafe.com