Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/7/2023
HATFIELD – The bar at the center of the Heritage Tavern has a different look. Under the counter, the front gains an elegance from long bands of pale wood against a black background.
The wood is hard core Hatfield heritage.
“I wanted to do pallets on the face of the bar,” said Teri Anderson, co-owner with Mark Pinkham of the new tavern style restaurant on Elm Street. She spoke to the previous owners, who ran the Grill and Chill at the same location, who also own the old Hatfield Tobacco Factory. “We, by hand, covered the bar here at the tavern with pallets that were from the original Hatfield Tobacco Factory…We’ve got real history here.”
Hopeful to connect with a local eatery tradition, Anderson also wanted to bring back D.J. Trivia. It seemed a good business move. People kept dropping in unannounced, while the new owners were rehabbing the premises, to ask them to bring back the game, and the Hatfield sandwich too. In response, Anderson appeared before the Selectboard on Feb. 27 to request an entertainment license to play trivia games and host live music.
The Hatfielder will be on the menu, along with the Annihilator, a huge sandwich for those with a challenging appetite. Anderson built the menu around comfort food, creamy sauces and familiar dishes, shephards pie, rich soups, shrimp scampi in a light oil, chicken parmigiana. A tavern style macaroni and cheese is a heavier dish. Behind the bar, a line up of well-known beers and ales compliments a full range of tasty looking mixed drinks.
“It’s my passion, to feed people,” Anderson said. “I have a background in [information technology] and that was not soothing my goal. I want to feed people. That’s what brought me here.”
Anderson ran a pub in Enfield, CT until 2019. She began looking around during the coronavirus pandemic for a place to start a tavern, didn’t know a soul in Hatfield, but found the town had strong appeal. The partners were thrilled because local folks are so friendly. Many neighbors stopped in to meet the newcomers and welcome them, and the tavern, to the neighborhood.
The building at 127 Elm St. was another draw. Anderson learned a café opened there in 1935, giving her a chance to continue local traditions. The structure, which may date back to the late 1800s, originally housed a dance club, couples whirling through polkas where the bar now stands. A band of musicians jammed in an alcove.
“To be honest,” Anderson said, “that’s why I named it the Heritage Tavern, because I really wanted to pay homage to the people that started it.”
The Heritage Tavern opened Jan. 30. The entertainment license will allow the partners to host live music inside and out. A back patio is in the planning stages. The Selectboard, considering the tavern stands in a residential neighborhood, limited the merriment to no later than 11 p.m.
New offerings are also part of the plan. The tavern will field a drink of the month, a feature that will continue after the opening specials, and serve a Sunday brunch. Mimosas and a Bloody Mary bar full of premium cocktails will be mixed by bartender Britney Porcino.
Anderson, bustling about on a recent afternoon, couldn’t say enough about Hatfield and its appeal.
“It really has that hometown feel,” Anderson said. “That was one of the deciding factors. It’s the biggest small town I’ve come across. It’s definitely a small town but it has such a big hometown feel. Very quaint and inviting.”
The Heritage Tavern is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m. Sunday hours are noon to 9 p.m.