2008 Woodie Awards
Blue Hen buyout to bring upscale store
Middlebury resident plans redesign with April opening
Rache Durfee
Issue date: 3/16/06 Section: Local News
The Blue Hen Kitchen and Market will be renamed the Middlebury Market and Café when it reopens in April. A sign outside the Blue Hen on College Street reads, "Closed for Renovations. Reopening in April." Sama Hayyat, a Middlebury resident, purchased the Blue Hen from its former owner in early March and hired an architect to redesign the space, which houses a grocery store in the front and a food service and eating area in the back of the store.
That basic interior layout will remain the same, but the overall look will change, according to the new owner. Hayyat wants to make the brick oven behind the food counter a focal point, and plans to use it to bake lasagna and chicken in addition to the pizza that has become a lunch and dinner staple. The entire store will be trimmed in mahogany in order to give a true "country store feeling" to the establishment.
Hayyat, who was born in Middlebury and is a graduate of Middlebury Union High School, left town for college and then worked in restaurants on Block Island off the Rhode Island coast. After returning to Middlebury, Hayyat first began to discuss buying the Blue Hen in December 2005. The sale became official on March 2 of this year. Hayyat himself will do most of the cooking and serving in the back while his wife will work at the counter up front.
"It's a family affair," he said grinning. As a Middlebury native, Hayyat has received widespread support from Middlebury residents and says he feels a "real sense of community" in pursuing this venture.
One of his main goals as owner and manager is to attract more College students to the store. "People tend to think of [College students] as up on the hill, as really separate from the town, but they shouldn't be," Hayyat said.
He hopes to make the Middlebury Market and Café a place where both College students and Middlebury residents can mingle and be "one big community." He said that the business's location - on College Street just past Twilight Hall - makes it ideal for students, as it is the closest establishment to the College campus. He also added that an expanded seating area in back and the addition of cappuccino and espresso drinks to the menu will make the space more conducive to studying as well.
That basic interior layout will remain the same, but the overall look will change, according to the new owner. Hayyat wants to make the brick oven behind the food counter a focal point, and plans to use it to bake lasagna and chicken in addition to the pizza that has become a lunch and dinner staple. The entire store will be trimmed in mahogany in order to give a true "country store feeling" to the establishment.
Hayyat, who was born in Middlebury and is a graduate of Middlebury Union High School, left town for college and then worked in restaurants on Block Island off the Rhode Island coast. After returning to Middlebury, Hayyat first began to discuss buying the Blue Hen in December 2005. The sale became official on March 2 of this year. Hayyat himself will do most of the cooking and serving in the back while his wife will work at the counter up front.
"It's a family affair," he said grinning. As a Middlebury native, Hayyat has received widespread support from Middlebury residents and says he feels a "real sense of community" in pursuing this venture.
One of his main goals as owner and manager is to attract more College students to the store. "People tend to think of [College students] as up on the hill, as really separate from the town, but they shouldn't be," Hayyat said.
He hopes to make the Middlebury Market and Café a place where both College students and Middlebury residents can mingle and be "one big community." He said that the business's location - on College Street just past Twilight Hall - makes it ideal for students, as it is the closest establishment to the College campus. He also added that an expanded seating area in back and the addition of cappuccino and espresso drinks to the menu will make the space more conducive to studying as well.