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

Andrew Dominick April 29, 2022

The burger at Swyft these days is slightly different. Same beef, only now it’s smash burger style. It’s essentially their version of a Big Mac (with tomme cheese made from the milk of the same Randall cattle they raise for beef on their own farm).

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.

The back entrance where Ore Hill may be opening soon…

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.”

“Ms. Bass ensured Swyft would continue on,” she explains. “We have a CFO and a small board of directors that we answer to. We’re a small business that’s operated like a corporation. The difference is, the chef has flexibility with the budget, and it’s not often that you get to create what you want, but we’re given lots of creative freedom to express ourselves here.”

Swyft’s cocktails should not be missed. And their beer selection focuses on hyper local, including many from Kent Falls Brewing Co.

From left to right: Swyft Manhattan (burnt orange + vanilla bean infused rye, Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino, espresso bitters), Vesper Martini (Bar Hill Gin, lavender vodka, Dolin Blanc Vermouth, hopped lemon bitters), Fox Hunt (bourbon, Calvados, apricot, lemon, honey, Angostura bitters, black pepper, absinthe rinsed glass).

At the helm these days is Samuel Purrier, who came to Swyft after stops at ON20 in Hartford and The North House in Avon. While this was initially thought of as a temporary gig, Purrier has settled into the executive chef role nicely. So much so that this Farmington resident is seeking digs in Kent.

What Purrier and a mostly familiar Swyft staff are doing is a mix of what they’ve been known for since day one—casual, approachable fare like their ultra-light Neapolitan-inspired pizza and their signature wood-fired chicken—but they’ve since added some fine dining flair. Some recent notables, namely the citrus braised sweet potatoes and a dish of midnight roma tomatoes, look like they’re straight out of a Michelin star kitchen.

The smalls are great to whet your appetite, and come on, veggies will make you feel like you’re not cheating on your diet. But whatever you decide, don’t skip the Brussels, minus the sprouts. Swyft’s rendition of the vegetable that made the biggest comeback of all time isn’t one that’s fried to death or covered maple syrup or honey. These are just the leaves, flashed in a scorching hot Pavesi wood-fired oven, then presented with dollops of umami punch from the black truffle puree, creamy celery root puree, walnut oil, parmesan, and shavings of salt cured egg yolk. It sounds like a lot. It’s not. You can taste each component and the still tender greens still shine bright.

Swyft has also rolled out entrées like a dry aged Rohan duck—a Mallard-Pekin cross breed that’s humanely raised in the Catskills—that sells out so fast each week, it may as well be a special. The Rohan is cooked to a proper rosy red mid rare, and it’s thin layer of chicharrón like skin gets a lacquer of sweet pomegranate glaze. The natural jus, poured tableside into a shallow pool on your plate is the perfect hit of richness that brings this spectacular dish together. If you hear the words, “we only have five left” uttered in the dining room, you best get that order in pronto.

Pillowy ricotta gnocchi with locally foraged mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, and salty bits of prosciutto are fine as a main, although, it works well as a family style option of sorts, as does the fire roasted caraflex cabbage with hollandaise, bearnaise gastrique, caper leaves, winter radish, and sneaky heat from chili crunch. This vegetarian dish is no afterthought.

A lunch menu highlight is this Korean fried chicken sandwich. It’s a meaty thigh with a crunchy coating and plenty of heat from the gochujang and kimchi. Like they do everything else, the brioche bun is made in-house, and the hand cut fries that used to be fried in beef tallow are now fried in a blend of vegetable oils.

If you’re stuck wondering about what happened to the pizza, the fries, and the burger, I’ll get to that in a second. Just know that some of those beautiful plates and fine dining that’s mixed in on Swyft’s menu are an experiment that locals, and their loyal following have been eagerly anticipating since 2017.

Your Ore Hill teaser will arrive at the end. Be patient.

What Swyft hasn’t abandoned, and never will, is their dedication to everything fresh and seasonal. Rock Cobble Farm is their sister venture that’s a mere 10 minutes away from the restaurant. The 1,000 acre property was originally to become Bass’ estate. Instead, it’s where hundreds of fruits and vegetables are grown, and it’s home to some Randall cattle, a breed once on the brink of extinction, now brought back from a few dozen or so breeding females to over 350.

It’s also about as fresh as it gets if we’re talking true farm-to-table.

“Not Easy Being Green” is a seasonal pie that uses broccolini puree and confit garlic giving it a pesto-like vibe. We’re not mad about piles of crispy prosciutto either.

“We’ve been working with the farm for so many years now, that they’ve gotten used to us and our tastes; we all know each other so well,” Mitchell says. “We’ve been able to work hand-in-hand so create small plates that are the epitome of farm-to-table. We drive there, pick it up, and it’s served that night.”

And those Randall cattle is where Swyft gets their milk, cream, and beef that you’ll find in a rotating market steak dish and in their upscale Big Mac without the lettuce smash burger.

But what’s arguably the star of Swyft’s show is the Neapolitan-ish pizza. They still use a 30-year-old sourdough starter. The dough is still fermented for a minimum of two days. And it’s still so ultra-light that I could personally take down two pies by myself.

“We make the dough Tuesday and Wednesday to start using it on Thursday through Sunday,” Mitchell says. “It’s a natural sourdough. Some people who can’t process gluten have been able to handle it. Whenever we’ve done pita or naan, it’s all from the same sourdough starter.”

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And don’t worry, the chicken isn’t going anywhere either.

But what is coming, hopefully in the very near future, is Ore Hill. One of Bass’ wishes when Swyft opened was that the back part of their historic Revolutionary War era digs—that’s now being used for private parties—would feature a tasting menu a few nights per week.

So, why the hold up?

Here’s one of those wild experiments. Endive ice cream, Bangs Island Mussels dust, and hoshigaki—the intensive process of peeling, hanging, occasionally massaging, and sun aging a persimmon.

“COVID happened, then Ms. Bass passing away shortly after put a halt on it,” Mitchell says. “Our initial goal was a fine dining tasting on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s still our goal, but we’re not sure if it’ll be a tasting or just a la carte high end cuisine, maybe a special event tasting once in a while. We’ve been testing certain dinner dishes at Swyft as an experiment and seeing how they perform based on what our diners say.”

Mitchell also referenced staffing issues as a reason for the holdup, but that Chef Purrier and the team will continue their creativity and see it as their personal mission to bring Anne Bass’ Ore Hill to life.

3 Maple Street; Kent
860.592.0404; orehillandswyft.com