Filtering by Tag: Customers,Swyft Kent

Connecticut Restaurant Confidential: Strange Stories, Odd Orders, + Twisted Tales in the Industry Vol. 2: Pizzerias

Features Interview Restaurant Homepage Pizza Restaurants Chefs Customers

Andrew Dominick January 02, 2024

It was about time this ridiculous, limited (but slowly working on more) series returned to bring you more of the weird, bizarre, and funny tales in the restaurant industry.

And while edition number one was a hodgepodge of stories from chefs that you know in the general area, this version has a focus…

PIZZERIAS!

This one’s got a few longer stories that I promise are worth reading, a Wu Tang sighting, one video of a chef busting his ass, and plenty of weird customer orders.

And if you’re wondering what volume three might look like, we’re hitting up bartenders because we know there’s plenty of tea there.

But for now…PIZZAAAAAAA!

Connecticut Restaurant Confidential: Strange Stories, Odd Orders, + Twisted Tales in the Industry Vol. 1

Features Interview Restaurant Chefs Restaurants Customers Homepage

Andrew Dominick October 04, 2022

How many times have you heard bizarre restaurant requests? How about ridiculous customer orders? What about those tales that are strictly between BOH and FOH staff?

I’m sure you’ve even overheard whispers as a customer or you have firsthand experience in the hospitality industry and you know about all the “crazy” that goes on, but either way, there are some doozies out there!

“Lemme get a bacon cheeseburger, minus the beef and the cheese, with lettuce, tomato, and mayo?”

Uhhh…what?! That’s a fuckin BLT.

Swyft Revisited: Tavern Fare, Fine Dining, and What's Up with Ore Hill

Features Interview Restaurant Swyft Kent Swyft Kent Pizza burgers Homepage Fine Dining Ore Hill

Andrew Dominick April 29, 2022

So much has changed since we last covered Swyft’s modern tavern concept located on Kent’s main drag.

Like most restaurants, Swyft had to deal with pandemic restrictions. But unlike most restaurants, they had to get up off the mat three more times. Lauded chef and partner Joel Viehland parted ways with Swyft around the time COVID shutdowns hit Connecticut.

Mere weeks after Viehland’s exit, Swyft’s owner, philanthropist Anne Bass, sadly passed away on April 1, 2020, after a battle with ovarian cancer.

And if that wasn’t enough, dynamo pastry chef Anthony D’Amelio went off to pursue other goals sometime last year.

We know, that’s a lot to take in.

According to Allison Mitchell—who’s essentially Swyft’s Swiss Army Knife as she handles social media, does photography, coordinates events, waits tables, bartends, and somehow fits in marketing duties—Swyft went through a “huge overhaul.”