Colt Taylor Opens The Essex Brasserie in Branford

Andrew Dominick November 08, 2024

*Homemade soups are a must at The Essex Brasserie. Three of those are lobster bisque and clam chowder, neither of which skimps on the seafood, and this cheesy, rich broth French onion.*

From a cantina to a brasserie. From Mexican to French-ish. But for Colt Taylor, the idea of his space on Branford’s N Main Street is for it to stay as a neighborhood spot.

With that said, Taylor’s Los Charros Cantina is out as of August 31 and he immediately got to work on bringing a version of his acclaimed Old Saybrook restaurant, The Essex, a bit further south.

*Much like the paintings that donned the walls of Los Charros Cantina, The Essex Brasserie’s artwork is all created by Taylor’s mother, artist* *Melissa Barbiere, and others are by Taylor’s mother-in-law. And yes, they are for sale!*

At The Essex Brasserie, Taylor’s idea is a super casual, come as you are spot, that’s not only allowed him and his staff to streamline their thought process every day by not doing two very different menus and styles of food, it’s also to give his customers something they’ve been asking for.

“We were always battling something at The Essex because we always want to push forward,” Taylor explains. “People are always asking where the lobster and beet fusilli are, asking where the wellington is. Well, we don’t do that here. We change. That’s the whole point (of The Essex). Think of it as The Essex meets Balthazar or The Essex meets Pastis.”

*Hand cut steak tartare - dijon, shallots, capers, egg yolk, pistou, toast*

*One of the homemade breads is the restaurant’s signature bread service featuring this milk bread parker house roll with fresh whipped butter and black salt.*

In Branford at The Essex Brasserie, there’s no tasting menu. It’s all a la carte as opposed to over in Old Saybrook where you can order a bunch of singular dishes or take part in either a five or seven course chef’s tasting.

But every dish at the Branford brasserie, like the wellington, like the lobster and beet fusilli, and others like fluke meunière with peanut chili crisp, deboned tableside, have all been on the menu at Taylor’s flagship at some point in time on one of over 100 (and counting) tasting menus.

*French cocktail classics like this Boulevardier (whiskey, Campari, and byrrh, an aromatised wine apéritif), plus a sidecar and a vodka and gin martini are offered.*

Whether what’s offered at The Essex Brasserie will change from those “greatest hits” is still to be determined.

“It’s a starting point,” Taylor says. “If it changes, we’ll see.”

Apart from streamlining just the cuisine from two styles in two restaurants to one similar style between two restaurants, Taylor also cut down on the number of tables to make it more appropriate for The Essex Brasserie’s style of food, compared to Los Charros’ more boisterous crowd and far more casual food. But don’t worry, the former’s bar area is still in place, so you should be fine snagging a seat and a classic cocktail, or a glass of wine from a selection that Taylor describes as, “To the point, with the whole list right there on the menu, and not some ridiculous bottle list.”

Even though it’s of English origin, The Essex’s wellington proved too popular to not make the menu at the sequel. “We keep it simple,” Taylor says. “We’re not doing a brioche wrap and crêpes duxelles and foie gras. Instead, we dialed it back to highlight the Seacoast mushrooms, the filet, and the laminated dough.”

The lobster & beet fusilli was another dish that Taylor’s loyal customers had to have available regularly. Taylor uses beet scraps that are reduced way down. He says about 30 gallons of juice get reduced to about a quart. “It’s like maple syrup. Dirt candy. It’s sweet. The lobster is cooked in garlic butter and the fusilli is house made.”

*Fluke meunière (presented here still with the bones-in) with peanut chili crisp and lemon*

About that style of food. Taylor calls it French and modern American, which is dead on because of the twists and creativity he puts on those classics. French onion soup? Sure thing. But that broth? “It’s 72-hour tonkatsu (ramen) broth,” he shares.

The steak frites? It’s got a toffee demi-glace and the fries, like everything else, are hand-cut and made in-house.

“We always did toffee at The Essex,” Taylor says. “I like to balance the sweet and savory. I like aggressive flavors like that, like Thai and Peruvian flavors, to hit you with all that; sweet, spicy, acid.”

Early on, the only changes come in the form of daily specials that each have a dedicated day of the week. On Tuesdays it’s scallops grenobloise (seared scallops with lemon-caper sauce), fried chicken on Wednesdays, pork hachis parmentier on Thursdays, Fridays are for beef bourguignon, and the Provençal fish soup known as bouillabaisse is Saturday’s plat du jour.

Also happening out of the Branford kitchen, Taylor and his team are able to bake homemade bread like their signature milk bread-parker house rolls and slow boil the stocks for both restaurants.

There’s another big idea that Taylor dropped to us concerning both locations of The Essex during our interview, but we’ll keep locked in the vault until he’s ready or if it even happens at all.

120 N Main Street, Branford
860.237.4266, theessexbrasserie.com