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Date: 5/9/2023
AMHERST — Protocol, a new restaurant-bar in town is now in week seven following a soft opening-launch at the end of March.
The open concept environment at 1 East Pleasant St. is the first in a handful of food and drink enterprises planned for Amherst by first-time owners Victoria Torti and Daniela Aniceto.
Both come from family run restaurant and bar backgrounds and worked together in the industry before stepping into ownership and self-management. They have made friends and connections through their previous work and have brought some of those colleagues on board to Protocol while working toward opening two other ventures in the fall.
Currently open 4 p.m. until midnight on Wednesday through Saturday, Protocol’s plan is to appeal to the early through late evening dinner and bar crowds. They are also open for Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. through 5 p.m., for new and not-so-new brunch fans.
Making note of Amherst’s community make up, the team wants to appeal to not only the college population but those who live and work in town and do not seek a college bar atmosphere.
“We just wanted to have an adult bar with great food, good drink, nice space and I think we’re heading in the direction of achieving what we set out to do,” Torti said.
On the menu, cuisine offerings like escargot and chicken liver mousse pair with bar favorite signature cocktails poured right from the tap. The regularly mixed batches were created with consistency and expedience in mind. Torti pointed out that while those beverages require more work initially, it’s far less on the back end.
“The bartenders literally can just pour the amount of alcohol in just one large number rather than measuring two or three numbers, therefore they can get cocktails on the table more quickly which is what everybody wants,” Torti said.
The galley style kitchen prepares daily for the dinner and bar food patrons who already have found favorites on the menu. Their notable “Smashburger” is quickly becoming a “local legend,” Torti said.
“We’re selling between 50 and 75 a night,” she exclaimed.
The dinner selections, pastries, everything down to the sauces are made right there, they said.
“Everything is made in house, everything but the ketchup, homemade ketchup is not better than Heinz,” they agreed in concert.
Marrying the food and drink selection is something the owners see as a necessary component for success.
“You’re not dividing the masses, you’re not dividing your customers by sending them to different places to get two different products, you’re just giving it all to them in one space,” Aniceto said.
Protocol takes no reservations, in fact if you try to call, you will quickly find there is no phone there.
Next up for Torti and Aniceto are expected fall openings for a whiskey bar on Spring Street and Amherst Oyster Bar on North Pleasant Street.