In 1948 Mildred Boyd of New Canaan, Connecticut, decided that she was the right person to take up where Marjorie and Kenneth Mellin, the founders of Mar-Ken’s, a classy restaurant and confectionary in the city, had left off. A year earlier the Mellins, having grown weary of the nonstop grind after 18 years in business, had decided to sell Mar-Ken’s to John Vincent Gonzalez, a veteran restaurateur who’d been working most recently as the resident manager of the Pickwick Arms Hotel in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut.
For whatever reason things with Gonzalez didn’t work out, and in 1948 Boyd took over the space at 46 Elm Street, directly across from the New Canaan Playhouse, that had long been occupied by Mar-Ken’s. She named her new restaurant The Buttery and adopted the motto “For Food of Quality.”
But Boyd didn’t stay there long. The following year she moved her restaurant just a few doors down the street to 54 Elm, which for many years had been home to the Albert Franco grocery. In 1948 Temp-Tee Bakers had taken over the space, followed in just a few months by the local outpost of the Brother and Sister Shop of Norwalk, a children’s clothing store. It didn’t do much better.
Boyd created a genteel, garden-like atmosphere for the Buttery at 54 Elm Street, advertising the fare as “Delicious New England Style Food.” The Mother’s Day menu in 1953, for example, listed complete dinners, priced from $1.95 to $2.45, featuring these entrées: “Choice Prime Ribs of Beef,” “Broiled Calves Liver and Bacon,” “Broiled Swordfish Maître d’ Hôtel,” “Roast Stuffed Young Tom Turkey,” “Baked Virginia Ham,” and “Casserole of Fresh Lobster and Scallops á la Newburg.”
All this, too, in a restaurant with a lunch counter and a soda fountain (with Schrafft’s ice cream) open from 8:30 in the morning until 9:30 in the evening. Customers could also drop in for hot meals to take home, as well as for freshly made pies and cakes.
In 1956 the local newspaper announced that the Buttery had been sold to the House of Hasselbach, the legendary confectionary founded in New Haven in 1882, which soon opened a restaurant and candy store in the same space. But it closed its doors the following year, and the entire contents of the restaurant—including the soda fountain that it had inherited from the Buttery—were sold at auction.
Minced Chicken and Tongue Sandwiches
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...The Buttery restaurant in New Canaan, Connecticut, which opened in 1948 and closed in 1956, featured what its newspaper ads called “Delicious New England Style Food.” Customers could choose either table or counter service—or even pick up a meal or a freshly baked pie or cake to take home with them. Owner Mildred Boyd was especially fond of these savory sandwiches, a mainstay on the restaurant's menu.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup finely chopped fresh mushrooms
- 1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
- 1 cup finely chopped smoked beef tongue
- 3 tablespoons minced onion
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped pimento
- 5 ounces mayonnaise (about 10 tablespoons), plus more for spreading
- 22 bread slices
- 2 large handfuls watercress sprigs
Instructions
In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until softened and lightly browned. Allow to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, mix the sautéed mushrooms with the chicken, smoked tongue, onion, and pimento. Fold in the mayonnaise until evenly combined.
Spread a No. 24 scoop (approximately 3 tablespoons) of the mixture onto a slice of bread. Top with a few sprigs of watercress, then cover with another slice of bread spread lightly with mayonnaise.
Cut each sandwich into quarters. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.
No Comments