Mill Street Bar and Table may be new to Byram, but for executive chef Geoff Lazlo, the opening of the restaurant marks a special homecoming of his own.
In his childhood, Lazlo and his family would frequently visit the spot once called That Little Italian Restaurant on Mill Street for Sunday meals.
Now Lazlo serves his own fresh locally sourced menu in Byram’s brand new Mill Street Bar and Table.
“There’s so much unique history in this part of town that I love,” Lazlo said. “This has always been a food place. It was a little Italian restaurant for 30 years that I used to come to as a kid. If we ate out as a family, we always came here. This was our place.”
Now, it’s their place.
Officially open in September, the American restaurant features a season-based menu of local foods, thanks to a partnership with Back 40 Farms in Washington, Conn.
“We can create our own version of what we love, which is having fresh food delivered from a farm to the restaurant and having this real direct connection,” Lazlo said. “It really fell in line with what I was doing.”
As a former executive chef at The Whelk in Westport, Lazlo returns to his roots in Greenwich and hopes to grow his restaurant the only way he knows how—organically.
“For me, to walk out in the garden and to watch something grow is beautiful,” Lazlo said. “To then pick that and go home and eat it, there’s a couple different things about it. It’s alive. If you cut lettuce and eat it right away, it’s the crispiest and juiciest it’s going to be.
“There’s also that idea of wholesomeness knowing that you didn’t spray pesticides on it and knowing that it was cared for. The closer you are to your food, just the science of it, the fresher it’s going to be.”
The menu will change with the seasons at Mill Street.
Complete with an oyster bar, two dining rooms, a full service bar, and a lounge area, the restaurant uses only ingredients that are in season.
While tomatoes won’t be on the menu in January, a different kind of vegetable or meat in season will be featured.
“We like to say that we’re celebrating the season,” Lazlo said. “For example, asparagus comes in the spring time. We’ll have asparagus for anywhere from a four to eight–week period when you can harvest it.”
The local chef mentioned six different asparagus dishes that will be featured on the menu this coming spring.
Currently, the kitchen is stocked with over 1,000 pounds of pickles and beets.
The changing seasons also bring obstacles for Lazlo and his kitchen, but he makes it a challenge to create different dishes people will like.
“That’s kind of the fun, challenging aspect of it,” he said. “For me as a chef, it’s about, how do I make those vegetables interesting and how do I get people to eat it?“
The American eatery promotes a sustainable way of satisfying their customers’ appetites while promoting the common good.
“I want people to recognize that eating locally and seasonally is something that is better for everyone. It’s better for us because it’s more nutritious. It’s better for myself as a chef because it tastes better. It’s better for our environment because we’re using what we have and we’re not creating more pollutants.”
