Date: Fri 20-Sep-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A11

Quick Words:

Mill-Cafe-Fabric-Fire-Hose

Full Text:

(feature on The Mill Cafe, 9/20/96)

Steeped In Tradition, The Mill Cafe Is A Scrumptious Idea

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

"It's funny, most people in this area, if you mention the `Fabric Fire Hose

Building' everybody knows what you are talking about, but say `75 Glen Road'

and they just kind of look at you," says John Claflin, co-owner of The Mill

Cafe, located at 75 Glen Road in Sandy Hook. Or if it is easier to remember,

it's in the old Fabric Fire Hose Building.

It has been a long time since Glen Road played host to such a charming,

enjoyable and consistently fresh eatery. Situated along one of the prettiest

roads in town, The Mill Cafe is the perfect spot to meet friends for lunch,

bring out-of-town visitors for some shopping and sightseeing, or escape to for

a quiet lunch on your own. The Mill Cafe will put 75 Glen Road on the map.

Again.

The majestic Victorian era structure which houses the cafe, built in 1831 in

the Italianate-style, was purchased by Sandra and Kenneth Wright in 1995. The

couple renovated the National Historic Landmark and used much of the

four-story available space for offices. Three months ago, some of that

previously-unused space began operating as two new businesses, each of which

are open to the public and are already drawing traffic into the Sandy Hook

section of Newtown.

Antiques at The Mill is Sandra Wright's latest excursion in the antiques

business. The building's on-site caretaker and co-owner already runs, with her

husband, an antiques business in New Canaan.

The second business that opened, adjacent to one of the newest group antiques

shops in the area, is The Mill Cafe. John Claflin and his wife, Anik

DeGiverny, who also own The European Shoppe in Southbury, opened The Mill Cafe

on June 1.

Overlooking the Pootatuck River, which flows behind the building - still the

largest structure in Newtown - The Mill Cafe is a delicious little hole in the

wall that has already attracted a lot of attention from antiques lovers and

gourmet food connoisseurs alike, even with word-of-mouth being its only summer

advertising campaign.

"The business has grown already, by word of mouth," said Mr Claflin. "We have

good quality product for our customers. We wanted to see how the flow went

through the summer; it's tough to start a business in the middle of the

summer. On the weekends we rely on traffic coming in to the antiques shop."

With the cafe situated where it is, its owners already had a customer base of

the sixty to eighty full-time employees that work in the building. It has

already started to pull in a respectable number of people from Newtown and

beyond, people who are looking for The Cafe itself, not just stumbling into it

when they visit the antiques store.

"This is a wonderful building," Mr Claflin said. "It's nice that we have this

building from 1830 and here you have these 18x14 chestnut beams... It's nice

that they left them exposed, they didn't cover them over with a ceiling." In

addition to leaving the building's original beams open, the building is known

for the 200 windows that cover every wall of its exterior, and The Cafe has a

number of these windows within its confines, looking out towards the forest of

Rocky Glen State Park and the Pootatuck River.

Entrance into the cafe is either through a lobby off the building's main

entrance, or through the antiques shop, which is the route most follow.

Winding through the antiques shop past a 19th Century brass fire fender, just

beyond the Massachusetts serpentine-top card table paired with a Chippendale

Gothic carved-back side chair, lies the entrance to The Mill Cafe, a long,

narrow L-shaped cafe that opens into a wider seating area with white tables

and chairs for seating. Although small in size, there are plans in Mr

Claflin's mind already for expansion.

Ahhh, but enough about the beautiful building (another story altogether)! It

is delicious food hungry people look for, and The Mill Cafe has it. The food

is all fresh and waiting for your order. The cafe serves hot and cold soups,

wonderful sandwiches of all kinds, gourmet coffee and easy desserts daily. The

bread is fresh every morning, delivered from the Brooklyn-based Arthur Avenue

Bakery; croissants, also fresh daily, come from the Desiderio Bakery in

Waterbury; the vegetables, meats and salmon used for the sandwiches are as

fresh.

With no cooking facilities on the premises - like many cafes - The Mill Cafe

relies completely on the freshness and quality of their vendors. Before

opening their doors to the public, this meant the owners put in a lot of

footwork to find the best food for The Mill's customers.

The draw of the cafe is powerful. The sandwich board reads like a

sandwich-lovers dream. There is the Alpine (turkey, melted Swiss, horseradish

sauce and sprouts on a croissant, for $4.75); the Matterhorn (ham, melted

Swiss, sprouts and honey mustard on a croissant, $4.75); or an unnamed popular

sandwich, with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato and onion and the bread of

your choice ($4.75) and for vegetarians, the Athenian (lettuce, tomato, red

and green peppers, sliced black olives, red onion, oregano, oil and vinegar,

$4.75) or the Veggie (lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, onions, mushrooms and

roasted peppers on your choice of bread, $3.50; add hummus for an additional

25 cents).

The breads that are shipped in are hearty, full-bodied breads. Good breads for

sturdy sandwich building, a fact that did not escape Anik's notice when she

went searching for a bread to serve the cafe. Sandwiches can be selected

straight off the sandwich board, or added to and/or altered to suit a

customer's choice.

Condiments run the normal (tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise) to the unusual

(cucumbers, bean sprouts, various mustards), and even the cheeses available

run the gamut, from Swiss, American and provolone, to Brie, Roquefort and

smoked Gruyere.

Coffee lovers are enticed by a wonderful aroma: the familiar scent that

beckons any coffee lover to a fresh-perked pot of coffee. Along the counter

where orders are placed is a presentation of containers filled with Green

Mountain Coffee beans. The cafe offers four coffees daily: a regular coffee, a

flavored coffee, a regular decaf and a flavored decaf.

And like any place wanting to keep up with coffee drinkers and their ilk today

(although Anik and John say they were well ahead of the coffee pack when The

European Shoppe first began offering gourmet coffees years ago, long before

anyone else in the area could define the difference between an espresso or a

cappuccino), The Mill Cafe offers a range of coffee beverages, including the

staples of espresso, cappuccino, cafe latte, cafe au lait and hot chocolate.

Anik has also added a few of her own creations: The Mochacchino is cappuccino

with chocolate syrup; a Mocha Dream is built by mixing one part hot chocolate

with one part coffee and topping it all with whipped cream and chocolate

shavings; and the Espresso Royale is a double espresso with vanilla extract,

topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Summer favorites are available for the hot-weather coffee bean-head, including

iced cappuccino, iced mochaccino, iced coffee and iced tea. The cafe also has

a row of flavored syrups standing proudly on a shelf above a counter.

Anik and John did not forget the sweet tooth when planning the cafe's

offerings, either. For those who don't want a full meal or are looking for

something to top off a meal, or maybe just something to accompany a drink,

there is an assortment of cookies (chocolate chip, oatmeal-raisin, macadamia

nut), huge muffins, almond pound cake, brownies (fudge, peanut butter,

macaroon) and even Swiss milk chocolate bars to nibble on.

Anik DeGiverny was born in France. She was a flight attendant for PanAm for a

few years before she moved to the United States 26 years ago. When she speaks

today, her native accent remains quite pronounced; it is enchanting to listen

to. She does not specify the reason for opening The European Shoppe with her

husband seven years ago, but it is obvious a love for things European, and of

high quality, have become central for the couple to offer their customers.

Their latest venture together, The Mill Cafe offers a charming atmosphere,

friendly service, a quiet escape and standards any business owner would strive

for.

Whether looking for 75 Glen Road or the old Fabric Fire Hose building in Sandy

Hook, a quick cup of coffee or a sit-down lunch, finding your way to The Mill

Cafe is a scrumptious idea.