BERLIN — Berlin’s growing culinary culture has jumped forward again with the opening of one long anticipated restaurant and the announcement of a second planned for this spring.
Owners for both establishments were at the Historic District Commission (HDC) this week requesting signage approval with one of the requests approved and the other tabled due to lack of a quorum.
Eatery options in Berlin had been restrictive with only three restaurants located downtown for many years. But the addition of a deli and two other restaurants over the past two years made dining options much more flexible. Now, with The Burley Inn Tavern open and The Blacksmith on its way, Berlin will have even more options to grab a bite downtown, something HDC member Mary Moore was excited to see.
“I don’t think we can have enough restaurants in Berlin with people here,” she said. “We’re a destination for different pocketbooks and a palate for everyone.”
Justine Zegna’s new eatery, The Blacksmith, has a soft opening date of March or April and will be located at 104 Pitts Street. Though The Blacksmith is the final name, it isn’t the first Zegna considered. But looking into the building’s past revealed that The Blacksmith is about as fitting a name as possible.
“After we did some research, we realized that it had been not a carriage house but actually a blacksmith shop,” she told the HDC.
That motif is going to play heavily into the food and atmosphere with a lot of dishes based on “historical Eastern Shore recipes.”
“It’s going with the same theme of hand-forged food and spirits,” said Zegna. “Everything we do will be done by hand.”
This isn’t Zegna’s first foray into dining, as she operates The Planet X Café in Rehoboth Beach, Del. In coming to Berlin with a different project, Zegna envisions a restaurant that offers fine dining as well as take-out and somewhere to scarf down a quick lunch.
“I think to be a neighborhood restaurant, a community restaurant, you have to be a lot of things to a lot of people and that’s one way to address that,” she said, stressing her commitment to buy local ingredients and work with local crafters like Burley Oak Brewery.
Zegna’s request for signage was approved enthusiastically by the commission.
Next up and only a stone’s throw away was The Burley Inn Tavern, located at 16 Pitts Street. The tavern recently opened after a lengthy construction phase. HDC Chair Carol Rose told tavern owner Cody Bates that the delay has only increased the town’s anticipation for the pub.
“We’re really glad to see that you’re open,” said Rose.
Though he opened for business in the dead of winter, Bates told the commission that he is happy so far from the business he’s seeing and expects it to increase once word gets out that the tavern’s doors are finally open. Unfortunately for Bates, he won’t have a sign up to generate that buzz for at least another week.
Already operating at the three-member bare minimum, the HDC lost its quorum during Bates’ hearing after member Rick Stack excused himself due to a conflict of interest.
“Rick has to recuse himself because he did your architectural work, and we can’t vote on your sign with two of us and we love your sign,” Rose told Bates.
Bates asked if it would be possible for the two remaining members to go ahead and vote and see how it went but any vote made without a quorum wouldn’t be official. The case was then tabled, but the HDC was able to schedule a special work session for just his request that will take place Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 5:30 p.m.