Hatchet
Gabriel Firman didn’t set out to own a restaurant. Although some of his first jobs were in the industry, by his mid-20s, he had moved away from the field and into construction. Firman grew up in Chicago then spent 10 years living in Portland, Oregon, prior to making the move to Richmond, Vermont, in 2002 with his wife and three daughters. As he settled into life in Richmond, he found himself longing for a place to go out to eat that was “more current.” When Firman caught wind that the local diner, the Bridge Street Café, was for sale, it planted a seed. He wondered if the local community would embrace a new concept for the café and thought he could “breathe new life into it.” After two years of planning, Hatchet opened in July of 2015.
One look at Hatchet’s menu makes it obvious that supporting local farms is a priority. “We are really fortunate,” Firman says. “When we have family visiting from Boston, we can say, ‘Twenty-five minutes from here, that’s where your beef was raised.’” Hatchet cherishes their partnerships with local purveyors, including employee Hilary Gifford, who started her own farm three years ago in Ferrisburgh and grows whatever the restaurant may need at the moment. Jericho Settlers Farm, Conant’s Sweet Corn, 1000 Stone Farm mushrooms, Vermont Heritage Farm pork and a handful of other people provide the springboard for Hatchet’s creations. “We’re a very insular economy,” Firman explains. “We’re not a tourist destination, so that just solidifies the importance of supporting our farms. We have always asked ourselves, ‘What can we do to work with our local people as much as we can, as often as we can?’”
Hatchet’s menu changes frequently and showcases both fixed and seasonal offerings. A blackboard menu of eight to 10 specials is revealed on Tuesdays and runs through the week. According to Firman, the menu is born of three years of experimenting. “It took those years to really home in on an identity and asking, ‘How do people want us to be?’” Although Firman knew that Hatchet wouldn’t be a fine dining establishment, he realized the community had high expectations. One of his challenges involved dressing down the menu while maintaining the level of quality patrons expected. Keeping price points in check has also been key. Hatchet opened with a burger on the menu that remains their top seller. It’s a $13 Boyden Farm burger, and Firman says that price is as low as they can go while still meeting their margins.
“The food still costs the same (from the farmer or producer), but we can’t charge fine dining prices. ... It has been a process. The restaurant gets judged for those prices, but really, we’re the messenger. We don’t negotiate on prices with the farmers,” Firman says.
Hatchet boasts an impressive 24 tap lines, 18 of which are beers just as fresh and local as the food with which they are paired. Staple offerings like fried chicken with buttermilk pickles, nachos with 1000 Stone Farm mushroom chorizo, and a tempeh BLT for the veggie lovers make a cold beer the perfect accompaniment. Hatchet doesn’t keep beer back-stock, preferring to order what’s available each week. This method ensures that beers are poured fresh during their limited shelf life. Patrons can enjoy selections from Hill Farmstead, Citizen Cider, Lawson’s, Drop-In, Zero Gravity and Shacksbury Cider, among others. For wine drinkers, two reds and two whites are also offered on tap.
One of the primary challenges restaurateurs routinely face is staffing: recruiting the right mix of individuals and finding a formula that works. As of last summer, Firman reports, his staff is complete and the dust has settled. When people visit Hatchet now, he is confident they will receive a consistent experience. Firman feels the restaurant operates better as a whole and has strived to create a “hive mind.”
“The patrons have been amazing,” Firman says. “We wouldn’t be here without their continual support, riding out the ups and downs. But we had to go through it; there’s no other way to figure out who you are.”
This solidification of staff has allowed Firman to envision exciting changes, one of which involves their creemee window. Currently, Hatchet is only able to run two creemee fl avors at a time, switching between vanilla, chocolate and maple. The creemee base is from St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, which Firman likes since it has less sugar than many others and no flavorings. However, he would like to begin infusing the creemee base with flavors made from natural ingredients like local blueberries. Hatchet has also been making a key lime pie in-house that could provide flavor inspiration as well. Having recently tried a cereal milk creemee in NYC, Firman knows there’s no limit to unique formulations, and Hatchet could be the place to test Vermonters’ appetite for more creative creemee options.
Looking ahead, Hatchet plans to continue to fine-tune their process and explore “the wide expanse that is food.” Ultimately, “We’re the ones putting food on people’s plates…food from farmers and producers that put so much time and care into it,” Firman reflects. “We put lots of gravitas into that responsibility...the tradition of care that starts with them and ends with us.”
Hatchet | @hatchetvermont
Jericho Settlers Farm | @jerichosettlersfarm
Conant’s Sweet Corn
1000 Stone Farm | @1000stonefarm
Vermont Heritage Farm
Hill Farmstead | @hillfarmstead
Citizen Cider | @citizencider
Lawson’s | @lawsonsfinest
Drop-In | @dropinbeer
Zero Gravity | @zerogravitybeer
Shacksbury Cider | @shacksbury
St. Albans Cooperative Creamery
