New Menu Drop at Fire by Forge in Hartford: Mission Forward Dining

Amy White December 06, 2024

Photography c/o Lisa Nichols/Bread and Beast

The Frog Hollow neighborhood sits just a few blocks from the Capitol Building in Hartford. During the Industrial Revolution, this area was known for its factories, including the Billings and Spencer Company, innovators at manufacturing tools and sewing machines. The company was housed on Broad, Russ, and Lawrence streets in a massive brick complex which later became known as Billings Forge. It was turned into affordable housing in the 1970s and then acquired by the Melville Charitable Trust in 2005 as part of their investment into the Hartford community. Since then, Billings Forge has been home to several community initiatives leading up to today, where it has become the base for Forge City Works (FCW) and its social enterprise restaurant Fire by Forge (FxF).

Fire by Forge is a Pan-American inspired restaurant that opened in spring of 2023 and has been receiving accolades ever since. Flavors, ingredients, cooking techniques, and even the wines and spirits are drawn from across the Americas, with a strong lean toward what is local, sustainable, and fresh.

Forge City Works serves the community but also provides hands-on job training in customer service, hospitality, and culinary arts for people who have barriers to employment.

Forge City Works’ Executive Director Ben Dubow points out, “What grows together goes together. We love to use locally sourced ingredients as much as possible.” This award-winning location recently dropped its autumn menu, and early reviews are saying it might be the best one yet. It helps that most of the staff, when asked, readily admit their love affair with this time of year. As lead bartender/mixologist Suzie Johnson puts it, “Fall is my favorite season. It’s New England’s favorite season!”

About the seasonal menu, Executive Chef Miguel Alvarez says, “This menu is inspired with Pan-American flair - think fall flavors with a little spice, mixing in culinary styles from Peru, North America, and the deep South.” One popular new appetizer on the menu is the maple butternut squash and cheese pupusas – griddle corn masa cakes layered with spinach, cheese, and butternut squash puree with a hint of maple syrup and a touch of spice. A stand-out entrée that nicely balances sweet and spice is the arroz con pato, or “rice with duck,” which consists of a perfectly seared duck breast served over Peruvian fried rice that has vegetables and duck confit mixed into it, with the whole dish finished with guava gastrique, aji Amarillo (Peruvian yellow chili pepper) sauce, and chive oil.

The Red’s Best Fresh Catch is a seasonally-prepared weekly fish offering; a recent example was filet of sole with a honey-cornbread stuffing containing lobster that was drizzled with beurre blanc. The center-cut bone-in pork chop is grilled with apple mostarda, charred broccolini, and sweet potato hash in a perfect blend of fall flavors. Vegetarians rave over the Baked Stuffed Delicata Squash which is stuffed with Mexican quinoa, butternut squash puree, plant-based herb-garlic cheese, and avocado. Seasonal desserts made by pastry chef Karrigan Pothier cover both sides of the “favorite fall flavor” argument - the pumpkin tres leches cake or the apple crisp which also happens to be both vegan and dairy-free. Her delicious pastries, cookies, bars, and cinnamon buns are displayed in the café area every morning.

Even the cocktail menu is updated seasonally. Johnson, who has been nominated for Best Bartender in the 2024 CT Restaurant Association’s Crazies Awards, says, “I love using all the fall spices to transform classic cocktails into seasonal delights.” A perfect example is the “Smoked Fig Daiquiri,” into which she incorporates three New England spirits – Mad River (VT) Maple Cask Rum, Bully Boy (MA) Amaro Rababaro, and Fruitful (CT) Fig Liquor. These are shaken together with simple syrup and fresh lime juice and poured into a pre-smoked martini glass garnished with a dried fig. Another addition to the fall cocktail menu is the “Apple Harvest Festival,” a clarified cocktails made with buttermilk-infused Waypoint (CT) Apple Vodka, rum, apple, lemon, cinnamon, vanilla, and allspice. Customers also love the FxF Old-Fashioned, made with Up N Down Rock and Bourbon, America’s only rock-and-bourbon which is being produced right here in Connecticut.

Fire by Forge is a social enterprise business owned by Forge City Works. Named one of the Hartford Courant’s Top Work Places of 2024, Forge City Works is a non-profit organization whose goal is summed up in their one sentence motto: “Food on a mission to create opportunity.” Therefore, each check presented at the restaurant includes an 18% “benefits and equity” charge – 13% (“benefits”) of that goes to paying its employees a living wage and giving them access to benefits, which is often not the case in the restaurant industry; the remaining 5% (“equity”) is a revenue share that is split among all the hourly team members working that particular shift, including the kitchen staff. In addition to the restaurant, the organization’s other social enterprise businesses include The Lyceum Conference and Event Center, and a fresh market called The Grocery on Broad.

It is through these businesses that Forge City Works not only serves the community but also provides hands-on job training in customer service, hospitality, and culinary arts for people who have barriers to employment. Participants are paid during their training, which encompasses not only culinary classes and certifications, but also critical life skills, an internship in one of the organization’s businesses or externship with one of their partners, job placement assistance, and even further professional development after graduation from the program. About half of the staff of Fire by Forge are current or former participants in the job training program, creating what Dubow calls a “Laboratory for learning.”

Fire by Forge includes a café; a restaurant serving seasonal breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch menus; a full-service bar; and a catering operation. Online ordering, Monday-Friday Happy Hours, a “Show Night” prix-fixe menu, and Saturday and Sunday brunch are among the restaurant’s many offerings. The kitchen takes food sensitivities and allergies very seriously, and offers a wide array of menu options that are already gluten- and dairy-free, vegetarian, or vegan, or can be adapted to be so. For the most current information including hours and menus, please go to the website firebyforge.com or follow the restaurant on social media @firebyforge.

The restaurant is planning a special ‘Taste of the America’s’ dinner series. The first event will be held on Sunday, December 15, with a California-cuisine themed menu prepared by Guest Chef Tom Kaldy. Check the website for more details and to make a reservation.

Fire By Forge 539 Broad St, Hartford