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.
"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.'"
"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."
"A little Jean-Michel, Jacques, Robin, Jean-Pierre. The meal, it is delicious. But at this point, it doesn’t matter. Robin, another out-of-place American woman who fell headfirst into a French enclave, said it herself: 'You’re only as successful as the people working around you.'"
Roger Sherman house 