Corey T. Smith literally dreams about cooking and his friend, DJ and radio personality Charles Hollis, has watched the “inner workings” of restaurants and bars for 20 years.
So together the friends are combining that expertise to open One Bar+ Kitchen at 70 Union Place, behind Hartford’s Union Station.
“We want to bring a vibe where people can hang out, bring family,” Smith said. ” We want to make everyone feel welcome.”
Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant
Hartford’s historic Union Station, built in 1889.Hollis said they will work at, “Creating memorable moments for families and others alike.”
Smith said they expect to open in mid to late September, as they are awaiting city inspection.
Smith, 42, is employed as education coordinator at Compass Youth Collaborative and Hollis, 52, is a DJ and mid day personality on 93.7 FM, WZMX who has lots of performance experience in clubs, at weddings, corporate events and numerous other venues.
The men will keep their day jobs while running the restaurant.
Smith, who will serve as head chef, has been cooking for years, selling plates of food and holding pop up events. He’s also worked as a personal chef.
“I learned from my grandmother,” Smith said. “All she did was cook and I was always watching.”
Smith says with pride that his 2-year-old daughter asks excitedly every day what he’s making for lunch.
“It’s a passion,” Smith said of cooking. “I dream about cooking, I wake up thinking about cooking. It eases my my find. If I’m frustrated or upset I wake up, make something, post it on social media.”
Hollis said he will get a “birds eye” view of what makes customers tick both inside One Bar+ Kitchen and on the area scene.
“We’ve had a number of bars, restaurants that didn’t understand the nightlife,” Hollis said, noting they will ask themselves, “What do we do that separates us from the existing businesses?”
He and Smith will work to become “connected” with their customers and bring a “personal touch,” Hollis said.
As for the cuisine, Smith said they’ll serve American dishes with some West Indian food, including jerk chicken with rice and peas, curry and chick pea chow mien.
Smith said lobster mac and cheese is among his most popular dishes, as well as fried chicken and a meal of honey glazed salmon stuffed with crabmeat, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus.
They will also offer “lobster bites” — deep fried lobster meat with butter sauce, mini lobster rolls, salmon nuggets and chicken wings.
Specials will be offered every day and the menu will vary. Desserts will include carrot cake and cheese cake, he said.
The bar/restaurant seats about 150 people and has a black and white motif.
The bar/eatery will have 13 televisions for watching sports and other programming.
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September 05, 2023 at 05:16PM
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New CT restaurant to bring 'personal touch', array of dishes - Hartford Courant
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