On Chapel Street, in New Haven, Connecticut, opposite the Old Campus: from the time of glaciation, cultivated by the Quinnipiac; in 1614, charted by a Dutch explorer; in 1638, colonized by the Puritans; throughout the American Revolution, home of the signer, Roger Sherman, his second wife Rebecca Prescott-Sherman, their fifteen children, and the family store; in 1860, industrialist Gaius Fenn Warner's Italianate villa, by Henry Austin; in 1880, Marshal Peter R. Carll's Opera House; in 1884, the Republican League; in 1887, the Hyperion; in 1903, the Union League addition, by Richard Williams; in 1926, the Roger Sherman Theater; beginning in 1976, a tradition of French fine dining, that continues today. While the Roger Sherman house is no longer standing, it holds up all right.
"When you dine at Robert Henry's, wear your best clothes; the restaurant's elegance deserves to be honored. Skip lunch; the food is of a quality that demands the keenest of appetites. And bring your checkbook; excellence at this level doesn't come cheap."
"Jo McKenzie, a former chair of the state GOP and longtime friend of the senator, played a practical joke on Senator Dodd, when he showed up the night of October 13, for the gala opening of her family's New Haven restaurant, Robert Henry's. McKenzie, who has previously managed the Inn at Mill River in Stamford, and the Copper Beech Inn in Ivoryton, presented Dodd with -- that's right -- a gift-wrapped box of doughnuts."
"As for the future of fine dining, the veteran McKenzie takes the long view. 'It's just like somebody that always has a blue blazer in their wardrobe,' she says. 'They always have it and it's always going to be there. Fine dining will always be there.' She also summons up something James Beard once told her. 'He said, 'You can't hide a good restaurant, no matter what the economy, no matter what the weather,' and I've never forgotten it.'"
"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.'"
"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."
"A painting of a pheasant hangs above the coat closet. The molded ceiling, large glass windows and red-veined marble exemplify traditional refinement. Even the structure of the Union League Cafe reinforces the aura of tradition that defines the New Haven landmark. Carved above the fireplace is an inscription reading, 'This club house stands on the… Continue reading ‘Tradition’ lives on at Union League, by Rachel Engler