Stone Row Kitchen + Bar: Don't Miss This CRAzies Awards Winner

The menu at Stone Row is an eclectic mix of upgraded bar food and approachable, unstuffy New American cuisine. They don’t shy away from local ingredients, but they always make sure they listen to their loyal fanbase’s needs.

Anyone in this state that follows the Connecticut Restaurant Association’s CRAzies Awards might have noticed a perennial nominee out of Windham County, specifically in the borough of Willimantic, not far from the campus of Eastern State Connecticut University, by the name of Stone Row Kitchen + Bar.

In 2023, however, Stone Row went from a five-time CRAzies nominee to winner, as they took home the trophy for Best Restaurant Windham County.

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I recently found myself out that way visiting Tree House Brewing Company’s Farm & Fermentory in Woodstock, so it made all the sense in the world to make the 40 or so minute drive over to Stone Row to grab dinner and get at least some of their story.

I crashed at the bar for an early Sunday supper and shortly thereafter met Stone Row’s director of hospitality and mixologist, Grace Spruance, who was happy to dish on what they’re all about, especially to those (like me) who aren’t that familiar about the food scene in this part of Connecticut.

SRKB takes their cocktail game seriously, too, and you’ll find lots of house made bitters and infused liqueurs to go with their collection of small batch spirits from independent distilleries.

Old Fashioned - Redwood Bourbon, bitters, demerara sugar cube

“In 2010, Andy Gütt opened a coffee shop in the front room here called Cafémantic in the front room here,” she explains. “We didn’t really have anything like it in Willimantic with craft coffees, baked goods, and sandwiches, so it was immediately popular. He started opening it for lunch service where you could grab a table and sit down, then he started serving tapas, eventually got a beer and wine license, and it grew.”

Gütt, a graduate of Eastern, saw a need in the community for a cool spot that served great food, so Cafémantic just kept on evolving. Coffee and lunch ended up expanding to dinner and brunch Tuesday through Sunday by the time the pandemic hit in early 2020. Now that he owned the building, Gütt closed it down for renovations, put in a patio, a brand-new back bar, and redid the menu.

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Locally made sourdough from Sweet Sage with a touch of olive oil soaked into your personal hunk of bread, plus a touch of salt makes this pretty addicting.

Get it with homemade ricotta (pictured here), whipped honey butter, or roasted garlic butter.

The new concept, Stone Row Kitchen + Bar, after over 10 years as Cafémantic, officially debuted in June of 2020.

“People still talk about Cafémantic, the culture that it set, the menu, and the food,” Spruance says. “Andy still wanted this place to have the café vibes, but this is the highest evolution of what he wanted the restaurant to be.”

Manhattan - Redwood Rye, Antica Vermouth, Tuscan Dry Vermouth, Luxardo cherry. It’s Spruance’s take on The Perfect Manhattan.

We’re pretty sure everyone at the bar ordered these duck fat confit chicken wings.

And what “that” is, simply put, is approachable New American, creative small plates, and some pub grub sprinkled in, only elevated.

The smash burgers, served on butter toasted brioche, are a favorite. Each is comprised of two dry aged grass-fed patties from Kindred Crossing Farm in North Franklin that are pressed onto the griddle and hard seared for a crust. Both the Slaw Burger (radicchio slaw, tarragon ranch, feta cheese) and the Bacon Cheeseburger (applewood smoked bacon, Cabot Cheddar, umami mayo) come with a handful of halved, grilled crispy fingerling potatoes.

Beets + Burrata

Locally made tagliatelle, caramelized mushrooms, truffle cream sauce

All of the sandwiches, the grilled cheese with cheddar and bacon jam, sausage + peppers (with locally made sausage), and the burgers are additions within the past few years, according to Spruance.

“We’ve grown and changed by adding those,” she says. “We value our local farmers and we do lots of seasonal and local produce, but we listen to the community and it’s about what they want. We just elevate it.”

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Executing it all in the kitchen is Tyler May, a Johnson & Wales alum who later spent some time under Wylie Dufresne at wd~50.

At Stone Row, May is making almost everything, and what he and his team aren’t making from scratch, they’re sourcing it from local artisans like Sweet Sage, an independent baker that they discovered at the Willimantic Food Cooperative, who supplies the restaurant’s addictive sourdough.

May’s small plates, two of which we heard many bar patrons order along with us, like fall-off-the-bone duck fat confit wings (burnt honey, ginger, orange, scallion, sesame, togarashi) hit just about every flavor note imaginable; sweet, spicy, salty, fatty, sour.

Throw the beets + burrata in the conversation, too, as a must order, because let’s face it, burrata isn’t going out of style ever, and this is a nice one. Earthy beets, creamy fresh cheese, a pungent basil vinaigrette that you’ll smell several feet away before it’s in front of you, and May has some wd~50 molecular gastronomy fun here with powered olive oil as a component to this dish.

Spruance said the restaurant operates with an “all hands on deck approach.” Even though she’s the director of hospitality and Stone Row’s mixologist, that it’s not uncommon for her to pick up shifts waiting tables. Even Chef May has a hand in part of the bar, namely its beer selection.

Bond: “I think I’ll call it a Vesper.”

Lynd: "Because of the bitter aftertaste?"

Bond: "No, because once you've tasted it, that's all you want to drink."

To compliment May’s menu, Spruance’s list of classic cocktails with her own twist are right there for you. Take a glance on the shelves and you might not see a lot of liquor brands that you recognize and this is on purpose.

“I’m dedicated to finding small distilleries,” she says. “They don’t always have to be local, just small. We obviously have to have some from bigger places, but I wanted it to be different. People want Tito’s, but we use Blue Ice, an organic potato vodka from Idaho. I use Redwood Rye (in Manhattans) and Redwood Bourbon (in the old fashioned), and we like that they plant a tree for every bottle purchased. And we have Dead Rabbit Whiskey and we’re one of the few that carry it this deep into Connecticut.”

Yes, of course they make the desserts, including the vanilla shortbread cookie garnish.

And when Spruance has trouble finding certain liqueurs, she’s always willing to do it herself, infusion style. The coffee liqueur and the chartreuse are both made in-house, as are some of the bar’s bitters.

“The chartreuse is a long process,” she says. “There are hundreds of herbs and botanicals in the one you can buy. Mine has over 50 and I think it’s pretty close. It can be hard to get, so I did my best to recreate it. I love it in a Last Word. We try to have lots of seasonal cocktails. In the spring, some are tea inspired and the local produce here inspired the Carpe Diem with carrots. We care about the quality we’re giving to our customers and the dedicated bar regulars know they trust me with their Manhattans and old fashioneds.”

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Coming soon for Gütt and the team at Stone Row, think around four years from right now, is a fine dining restaurant in Brooklyn, Connecticut at Little Dipper Farm, the former home of the farm-to-table restaurant, the Golden Lamb Buttery.

“Andy was invited by Venus and Lori Corriveau, owners of Little Dipper Farm, to consult, then they hired him to run the food and beverage program for a huge glamping project that should be able to accommodate about 100 people,” Spruance says. “We’re going to be doing a private dinner series of ticketed events down there to start.”

948 Main Street, Willimantic
860.423.4243, stonerowkb.com