Opposite the Old Campus, on Chapel Street, in New Haven, Connecticut: from when the glaciers melted, stewarded by the Quinnipiac people; in 1614, charted by a Dutch explorer; in 1638, colonized by Puritans; before, during, and after the American Revolution, home of the Founding Father, Roger Sherman, his wife Rebekah, their fifteen children, and the Sherman family store; in 1860, Gaius F. Warner's Italianate villa, by Henry Austin; in 1880, Carll's Opera House; in 1884, the Republican League; in 1887, the Hyperion; in 1903, the Union League Club, by Richard Williams; in 1926, the Roger Sherman Theater; beginning in 1977, a tradition of French fine dining, which continues today. While the Roger Sherman house is no longer standing, it holds up all right.
"Parts of these chapters were written on the tables of Jean Michel Gamme and Jean-Pierre Vuillermet's Union League Cafe in New Haven. I was equally welcome to write at Caffe Adulis, where the three Eritrean brother-owners — Sahle, Fiere, and Gideon Ghebreyesus — even went so far as to twist dials to cast extra light on my table. Similar courtesies were extended by Jeff Horton at Scoozie's Restaurant and John Clark at Zinc. All of these restaurants are in New Haven."
"The walls in our Clubroom are hand painted with rich murals by acclaimed New York artist, Sally Colbert. Soft lighting, hand made wall sconces and chandeliers, along with a working marble fireplace only further highlight the historic architecture so well preserved today."
"In the exhibit, 'Iphoneography,' local photographer Mike Ross captured an image of the perfectly waving American flag against a blue sky when he ran to Home Depot. One of the pictures in his show is of an interesting parking booth key hanging board that he spotted while doing a job at Union League Cafe. Another is the cool shadow of his grandmother coming back from church in New Haven, along with the shadow of a cat she feeds. There is a picture of an ice cream truck driver on his cellphone that Ross took while walking his dog in East Rock Park. Also featured in the display are a person walking with balloons, an old car covered in overgrown weeds, the shins and feet of a sitting young child wearing Crocs, a person dancing, birds flying over Atlantic City, a shopping cart sign he spotted while at Walmart. 'The iPhone is awesome,' Ross said."
"The Union League Cafe, a French brasserie in New Haven, has recovered from an unusual catastrophe to befall a restaurant and has reopened with a new kitchen and a refurbished dining room. The restaurant was the victim last Nov. 1 of a collapse of the roof of the historic Hyperion Theater, which crashed down on the back of the cafe, situated in the adjacent Roger Sherman building."
"Vuillermet married his wife, Robin, in 1990 with just five people in attendance. He bought an aquamarine ring, her birthstone, and proposed almost casually while Robin was visiting him in France. 'Then I came back here and Robin's mother (the late restauranteur Jo Mackenzie) asked me to stay here and work for here,' Vuillermet recalled. 'We got married quickly because of the visa situation, so I got married for the green card.'"
"French chef Jacques Pépin went to the site of the Winter Olympic games looking for a different kind of gold: champagne, eruvere and raclette."
"Jean Pierre Vuillermet, the 36-year-old owner and head chef, said he has tried to make the restaurant and the new menu of French food different from its predecessor. The new light pink paint and a large but simple chandelier in the middle of the main dining room have brightened the restaurant, which was formerly known for its serious ambiance and expensive prices. A small, lighted box with a menu should be in place outside the restaurant's front door by tonight, he said, and a small neon sigh is already aglow on Chapel Street."
"Mama Jo McKenzie knows pretty much everything that goes on around the Capitol. She's been in politics ever since she was old enough to slip a pamphlet in a mail slot. She has achieved the highest ranks of Connecticut Republicans, being the first woman elected chairman of the state Republican Party. At 70, she shows no sign of slowing down and vows never to retire."
"Trees bloom on the campus of Yale University April 16, 2008 in New Haven, Connecticut. New Haven boasts many educational and cultural offerings that attract visitors to the city."
"Tables, covered with butcher paper in traditional brasserie fashion, are comfortably spaced for privacy, and banquettes invite discreet cuddling. The service is appropriately reserved but not stiff, and the room is lively but contained."
Roger Sherman house 