The term “well-traveled” as it pertains to the restaurant industry is fitting for Steve Barone. Before opening the fast casual Heffer in Stratford in 2025, he’d been around the block and back again. Name a restaurant and he’ll probably come back with, “Yeah, I worked there for a bit.” Prior to launching his concept of burgers, fried chicken, hot dogs, and homemade sides, sauces, and desserts at Heffer, you might’ve spotted Barone as the operating partner of Fairfield’s Il Pellicano, general manager at Saltaire Oyster Bar in Port Chester, and everywhere in north or south of both of those, as he’s designed beverage programs in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. Safe to say that he’s made you a drink somewhere or you’ve had a cocktail that he created.