Tag: deadhorse hill

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February’s Food News Wrap Up

Decorative elements of simjang on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

New culinary spaces are experiencing activation throughout the region by major players from Worcester’s burgeoning food scene. Let’s start with simjang, the latest brainchild of deadhorse hill’s accomplished team. A friends and family opening on Monday revealed the 1928 Buick dealership under fresh minesweeper lights in true art deco fashion. The menu included Korean inspired easy-to-order, quickly prepared dishes as well as large format items for sharing. A chain link fence lay in wait of the March 1st opening. We’re getting our love locks ready and you should to; simjang promises a torrid Worcester romance at 72 Shrewsbury Street.

Executive Chef Jared Forman standing behind the raw bar display at simjang on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA (Erb Photo for Mass Foodies)
Executive Chef Jared Forman standing behind the raw bar display at simjang on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA (Erb Photo for Mass Foodies)

Armsby Abbey countered simjang’s locks with keys of their own. A Facebook post from the owners picturing a set of keys indicated that licenses had been approved and a lease signed on Main Street in Hudson—called Cónico. The announcement of Armsby’s second restaurant came on the heels of their 8th consecutive ‘Great American Beer Bars’ honor as the Best Beer Bar in Massachusetts by CraftBeer.com. Downtown Hudson has experienced tremendous economic growth in the last few years with the arrival of tastemakers like Rail Trail Flatbread Co., New City Microcreamery, Less Than Greater Than, Medusa Brewing Company, and Amy Lynn Chase’s retail destination, The Haberdash.

Armsby Abbey might have its sights set on Hudson, but their flagship establishment will continue to shine as Main Street in Worcester makes its transformation into a densely populated neighborhood. A walkable, vibrant vision is afoot downtown on account of new development and Mark Gallant of The Dogfather knows it. Gallant is establishing “Food Truck Row,” a destination which will host a minimum of five vendors during lunch every Monday through Saturday, with the capacity for up to ten trucks. General attendance and parking will be free beginning on March 5th in the municipal parking lot at 40 Highland Street, directly behind the Worcester Memorial Auditorium. Beyond simply satisfying our appetites, food trucks have major spatial benefits which impact our ability to activate blank territories throughout the city. Gallant is organizing the first official Food Truck Throw Down, scheduled for May 5th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Green Hill Park. Mass Foodies’ own Giselle Rivera-Flores will serve as a judge. Check out her #SundayFunday series for a taste of her sensibilities. This month, she highlighted local favorites: The Hangover Pub, El Patron, and Carl’s Oxford Diner.

Local natural food stores and ethnic markets have persevered in the wake of last month’s Whole Foods. Living Earth has evolved with an increase in prepared foods as well as added cafe seating. Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace is busier than ever, despite the saddening blow of Ed Hyder’s recent passing on February 5th. Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace continues to be a true family business, invigorated by the dedication of the Hyder children. Ed Hyder will be remembered in our neighborhoods, kitchens, and hearts.

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Family Secrets: Preparing for Saturday Night Service at deadhorse hill

The dead horse hill staff sits down together every day at 4 o'clock to share a family meal.

It’s 3:36 and deadhorse hill’s Executive Chef Jared Forman is crouching down at the end of the bar, eyeing the alignment of each water glass for precision. “Can someone please straighten these out?” he asks, striding to the front of the dining room and pausing before a towering flower vase near the windows. “The water needs to be changed when you have a moment,” he tells the two hosts who are hard at work, reviewing the evening’s reservations on a tablet. He tugs at a napkin until it is square with the edge of the table before completing another lap of the floor to make sure everything is just right for service.

Loyda Guzman and Ronnie Jenkinz prepare the deadhorse hill dining room for Saturday night service.

Co-owner Sean Woods is doing his best to get menus printed on time. “We change the menus often. Like, every day,” Forman tells me. But, today, the restaurant’s printer is on the fritz and Woods is pressed for time. In 86 minutes, every seat in the house will be full, but he seems entirely unfazed. Years of bartending have granted him composure. Woods offers me a cup of coffee before darting off to a local office building where he has called in a favor to get the menus printed in time for family meal. I am here to observe how Worcester’s prize restaurateurs prepare for a busy night and it has turned out to be nothing short of a spectacle.

Woods and Forman have both worked in plenty of restaurants where the front of house staff would be expected to arrive at 4:45 for a 5 o’clock shift, leaving no opportunity to “get on the same page” with one another. The duo knew from the start that they wanted deadhorse hill to be more team oriented than any of the other spots where they had worked. As a result, the staff sits down together every day at 4 o’clock to share a meal and find out what’s in store. “We get the time to just breathe together. Everybody needs to have that moment of zen where we’re all doing exactly the same thing at the same time. Only then we can move into service,” Woods explains.

Forman sees the value of family meal as two-fold. First, it’s about creating unity. “We want to make sure that everyone has a chance to sit down and eat together so that they feel like part of a family. Food is obviously why we’re in this business. It brings us all together,” he says. Tonight, everyone helps themselves to heaping plates of biscuits and gravy. They sip soda water from plastic quart containers and pullout bound notebooks filled with detailed scribbles.

Second, Forman and Woods use this time to educate their team. “My job is to give the staff the most knowledge possible about what each product is, where it’s coming from, all of the ingredients, and how we prepare it. They need a quick and succinct way to explain it to the guests, which is what we call our dropline,” Forman says. He knows that It is impossible for customers to look at most of his dishes and simply identify what is in front of them. Droplines account for the short, spirited descriptions communicated by the staff throughout one’s meal. Everything that hits the table offers a surprise and Forman never wants dining to feel robotic for his guests.

Robots aside, technology has taken on a crucial role for improving guest services. The front of house staff uses Reserve, a table management and restaurant reservations platform, to predict how quickly tables will turn and to record customer preferences. “Everybody knows when Bert and Anna come in, they love to sit at 63,” Forman reminds his team during staff meal, encouraging them to diligently review guests’ histories within the system.

“Is it their first time? Their birthday or anniversary? Do they have allergies, likes, or dislikes?” Woods adds.

By 4:47, customers are already streaming through the door, infiltrating the bar in anticipation of their 5 p.m. tables. Manager, Julia Auger strategically doles out positions. The staff tuck their notebooks away and disperse. I take advantage of the brief interlude to ask Forman and Woods what sort of information they have stored in the Reserve system about me, but they make a joke of it, hesitating to reveal everything behind the curtain.

When I sit down for dinner at 5:17, the chef sends out fat Cape Neddick oysters with a pickled ginger and pink peppercorn mignonette, followed by a velvety blue crab bisque with lemongrass aromatics and French style butter toasted sourdough croutons. I still haven’t a clue what Reserve’s discerning algorithm has to say about me, but if this spread is any indication, it seems to be on the right track. I watch bar customers lift water glasses to their lips and place them down haphazardly, oblivious to the meticulous curation that has occurred in deadhorse hill’s dining room all afternoon. It is, in fact, a marvel how Forman and Woods have managed to make sophisticated dining feel so effortless. The invisible and tireless attention to detail in the front of the house will no longer be lost on me.