plan b at one way fare

UPDATE (click link to the right for pictures) - july 13 2007 : opening july 13 2007

i never stop talking about the half door. i even have a permanent link in my sidebar. i love that joint. there is only one day a year i wouldn't even consider going in. that's st patrick's day. WAY too crowded for me. as of yesterday, i just added another day (i've been through the day multiple times, it just slips my mind). it's the uconn law school end of the year (the last tests) day. i believe it's always on a friday but i could be wrong there. they crowd the half door. most are inconsiderate, RUDE, obnoxious, ill mannered asses. i look at them and shake my head. if this is who we have becomming our lawyers and politicians we're in a more sorry state than ever i imagined. i'd tell some stories but i don't want to involve any innocents. so now, it's TWO days of the year to stay away.



al and shawn own the half door. they also own tisane a block and half down farmington avenue. the food is good but it's just too TRENDY for me in there. the latest venture is plan b on park road in west hartford. they (al and shaw did LOTS of the work themselves mind you along with k c the chef) worked very hard to get that in the shape they wanted it. if you had ever been to the old cypress arms you'd never recognize it now. i like the food and i'm friends with some of the staff. i just don't like to hang there either BECAUSE IT'S TRENDY.



now shawn and al have bought the old one way fare in simsbury (i knew the previous owner paula THAT'S PAULA the courant article called her paul. i worked with her for many years). they're again doing a lot of the work themselves. i've not stopped down yet but i plan on doing so before they open. i want to see what they've done. they take pride in their establishments.



i remember how i felt when i first walked in the half door. i felt at home. the MOST impressive part? i remembered HOW CLEAN the bathroom was. it's a small bar, it's an OLD bar but it was CLEAN. that means the world to me. shawn can't ever just sit. he's washing windows or straightening something or my favorite, he mops a portion of the floor. i've rarely ever seen him NOT do it if he's in the half door. the day of their christmas party (way AFTER christmas mind you) we all met there on a sunday afternoon to drive over to dinner at peppercorn's grill downtown (once again thanks shawn and jen and al). we were ALL dressed up. what does shawn do while we're waiting to leave? gets out a mop and starts doing the floor!

anyway, here's some words from the courant

New Owners Offer Blended Plan B

By LORETTA WALDMAN, Courant Staff Writer

SIMSBURY -- Creating a new restaurant in what used to be One-Way Fare is a lot like turning a church into a house. Anyone attempting either project knows they are treading on sacred ground. And so it is with that sense of reverence that Shawn Skehan and Al Gamble are approaching the transformation of a beloved eatery that, after 32 years, had become an institution in town. The two restaurateurs - owners of Hartford's Half Door and Tisane and Plan B in West Hartford - say their latest venture will be modeled after Plan B but will feature elements of the old One-Way Fare that folks know and love. Even the name of the new restaurant - Plan B at One-Way Fare - melds the two. "We're walking a fine line between the modern and old," Skehan explained. "We want to see if we can blend the two and have some fun with it." The new restaurant is slated to open in early June. Skehan and Gamble have been hard at work re-creating the interior of the old Pennsylvania Rail Road depot, which was first turned into a restaurant in 1976.....................