Andrew Molen
Andrew Molen is pouring his considerable energy and talent into Ludlow, and the dining world is taking notice.
Chef. Restaurateur. General man-about-town, whether it’s Ludlow, Shelter Island, Boston, or Manhattan. Andrew Molen gets around yet manages to oversee a portfolio of restaurants right in the heart of his adopted hometown nestled at the base of Okemo Mountain. The effervescent, megawatt chef has truly spent his lifetime in the hospitality business, raised by his restaurateur mother and cultivated by culinary superstars including Gordon Ramsay, Todd English, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Fortunately for Ludlow, Andrew is pouring his considerable energy and talent into this town, and the dining world is taking notice.
Let’s just start at the beginning. How did you come to do what you’re doing?
Andrew Molen: I don’t really think I had a choice; I kind of feel like the stork dropped me at the right house. Instead of taking me home from New York Hospital where I was born, my mom took me straight across the street to our bar lounge, a restaurant called Swells. It was a young, preppy, rich kid hangout on the Upper East Side. It was like the who’s who of New York’s youth who hung out there. That was 1981. Mom ran it from 1978 to 1989. I learned to pop open a beer bottle at 5 years old. Nowadays, she’d be on the cover of The Post in handcuffs.
And your mom is still one of your best friends and mentor?
AM: Oh, absolutely. When I’m not in the restaurants in Ludlow, she’s watching the helm for me. She greets, seats, washes dishes, helps cook. She’s like me. Or I’m like her. We do everything.
Okay, you’re born into the restaurant world. When did you actually start working there?
AM: I started in her kitchens when I was around 11. Because if I wanted a new hockey stick, or skates, or a snowboard, I had to work for it. So I’d wash dishes to make $3 an hour. A lot of times I had negative checks because back in the day, they—or Mom—could take breakage out of your check. I worked there until I graduated from high school in 1998. And then I started helping manage one of her restaurants around 2003 and progressed through the family business until about 2008.
So your culinary training was on the job.
AM: The best training ever. Wash a dish, keep your mouth shut; wash a vegetable, keep your mouth shut. If you’re lucky, you’ll get on the line one day. Say, “Yes, chef,” and that’s it. But really, I had extensive cross-training throughout the front house and back of house. I started as a dishwasher, then worked my way up to a sous chef. I started as a bus boy and worked my way up to a manager. I started as a barback, then became a bartender. Eventually those skills prepared me to be a general manager or director of operations.
Andrew and his mom, Sandra Arcara, his first mentor in the restaurant world
“I kind of feel like the stork dropped me at the right house. Instead of taking me home from New York Hospital where I was born, my mom took me straight across the street to our bar lounge, a restaurant called Swells.” –Andrew Molen
You’ve worked with some of the greatest names in the hospitality business.
AM: My stepfather was one of the original maître d’s of Le Cirque and helped Sirio Maccioni develop that iconic restaurant. I ran a restaurant for Kerry Heffernan at the Essex House Hotel. I worked with Jean-Claude Baker who founded the famed Chez Josephine in Times Square. He taught me how to take two tables and slide them together—it could be a young couple and an older couple—and by the end of the meal, they would fight over who was paying the check because they’d had such great conversations. The man knew how to work a room. After that came Todd English, Gordon Ramsay, André Balazs, and Jean- Georges Vongerichten.
And these opportunities were both domestic and international?
AM: Yup, I was able to help open restaurants across the country and throughout the world. One year I was on 185 flights, slept 330 days in hotel rooms. It was rough living out of a suitcase, but it really groomed me and developed my worldly view so I could take that experience and put it into the places I worked.
What drew you to Vermont?
AM: A friend introduced me to Troy Caruso, who came to Ludlow about six years ago. He purchased a house and fell in love with the town. Over the past few years, he started picking up some properties, including the Okemo Golf Club, which is now Fox Run Golf Club. He’s developed it into one of the top championship courses in Vermont. Troy invited me up in 2021 to show me several places and share his vision. I could see the charm and potential in this town. Troy had a lot of great ideas and he wanted to hear mine. We agreed—let’s do this. It was really a lot of fun to be able to see the vision Troy set forth and add to it. I moved up here, and together we’ve built the Fox Run Hospitality Group with five restaurants and a modern motel. I also have a couple of other restaurants outside the group. Isola on Shelter Island, and I’m culinary director for Union and Post, a really fun little hotel and restaurant in Windham, New York.
“I worked with Jean-Claude Baker who founded the famed Chez Josephine in Times Square. He taught me how to take two tables and slide them together— it could be a young couple and an older couple—and by the end of the meal, they would fight over who was paying the check because they’d had such great conversations.” –Andrew Molen
You sure get around!
AM: I sometimes feel my life is planes, trains, and automobiles, and once in a while a ferry.
Give us a thumbnail of each place.
AM: Alta Tuscan Grille offers causal upscale Italian cuisine. Calcutta’s at Fox Run Golf Club is a year-round destination with a modern American farm-to-table theme. Sam’s Steakhouse is a steakhouse and seafood place with incredible meats and daily deliveries from the Boston fish market. Mr. Darcy’s Bar & Burger has incredible gourmet burgers. Off the Rails is your everyday hangout place where adults and kids can have fun in the game room and enjoy burgers, bar bites, and Mexican dishes. That’s where we’ve partnered with Dan Tilly’s Mount Holly Beer; we’re his pop-up brew house. We pair his beers to our pizzas. For example, if he has hops from Maine, we’ll make lobster pizza.
What are some other collaborations?
AM: We’re working with a great company called Vermont Wagyu, which is the first full-blooded Wagyu raised here in Vermont. The meat’s just unbelievable. We serve their beef and steaks at Sam’s Steakhouse, and you can get a really delicious Wagyu burger at Mr. Darcy’s that’s not going to break your bank. We also work with a few different meat purveyors in the Northeast that bring great prime meats, which we dry-age. We’re also working with Vermont Fresh Pasta so they can make the pastas we want specifically for Alta. And this winter, we opened a Sushi Snowstorm on the second floor of Calcutta’s.
You certainly have no chance of getting stale or bored!
AM: A wise man once said, “If you wake up in the morning and you’re looking at the roots, it’s a bad day. If you’re looking down at the roots, it’s a good day. Keep going.”
“A wise man once said, “If you wake up in the morning and you’re looking at the roots, it’s a bad day. If you’re looking down at the roots, it’s a good day. Keep going.” –Andrew Molen
And you’re constantly creating.
AM: Listen, it’s like an artist with a canvas; you can keep painting over and over as many times as you want until you find the right portrait. I’m 41 years old. I put a bucket list together at a young age with all that I wanted to achieve by the time I hit 40. I’ve done all but two. I didn’t hang-glide or jump out of an airplane, so those go on the next list. I set a bunch of new goals of where I want to be and what I want to achieve, and I’m happy where I’m at. I’m very content. If tomorrow was the end, I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do.
How would you describe your management style?
AM: I’ve learned from my mentors to dot my i’s, cross my t’s, follow through with what I say, have a good disposition, keep my temperament. Never show weakness, but be flexible enough to allow the rules to be bent but not broken. If someone does something wrong, at this point, I don’t yell; I just look at them like, are you kidding me? We all make mistakes; let’s just not make the same mistake twice.
Although known for luscious meats, Sam‘s Steakhouse and Calcutta‘s also offer beautiful seafood dishes.
“I’ve learned from my mentors to dot my i’s, cross my t’s, follow through with what I say, have a good disposition, keep my temperament. Never show weakness, but be flexible enough to allow the rules to be bent but not broken.” –Andrew Molen
How have you seen the restaurant industry change in the Northeast because of the pandemic?
AM: Restaurants really took a hit, and the ones that survived learned how to redevelop their ways and use the tools to succeed. A lot of high-quality restaurants are popping up in secondary and tertiary markets, away from the big cities and in smaller towns and seasonal locations, where they can build a great community presence, cater to the locals as well as the tourists. I see that with Ludlow, for instance. I always thought it was just me coming from big cities, and I saw Vermont as a winter wonderland. But now I see the exquisite seasonal changes and all the things you can do up here. Now that I’m a part of it, I want everyone to know about this beautiful, magical place.
How has it been finding staff?
AM: Like every place else, we’ve had a difficult time, but we’ve been able to capture a lot of locals and also show the dream to other people who want changes. Last year, I brought a big team up here from the city to open up Alta, and I’m going to say about 30 percent stayed permanently. They saw the same vision that Troy shared with me.
How do you describe the Vermont culinary scene compared to other places around the world where you’ve worked?
AM: I think it’s an undiscovered frontier. People come here and have some great culinary experiences. There are some amazing chefs in Vermont, and the James Beard Foundation has really shown interest in smaller cities and towns throughout the country, with great culinary operations and cuisines, and has helped some of these places become destinations. If you build it, they will come. But how do you keep them coming back is really the question.
A lot of high-quality restaurants are popping up in secondary and tertiary markets, away from the big cities and in smaller towns and seasonal locations, where they can build a great community presence, cater to the locals as well as the tourists.” –Andrew Molen
Crispy chicken parmesan with fresh made bucatini pasta, an Alta Tuscan Grille specialty
Do you spend more of your time front of the house or as chef?
AM: Interaction is very important to me. Some days I have on the white coat, some days I have on a blazer, some days I’m just in a sweater. Or I’ll be behind the bar. I’m all over the place. When a football team is short on players, it’s iron-man football. I say this is iron restaurant, where you do a little of everything, so you’re in touch with everything that’s going on.
Advice to aspiring or rising chefs, or restaurateurs?
AM: Never say something is enough. Keep going, even when you think you’ve gotten to where you’re going or you wanted to be. Just keep pushing yourself. The day you don’t push yourself and get comfortable, it’s all over for you.
Tell me about your charity work.
AM: We do a lot with Reinbow Riding Center, about 20 minutes outside of Ludlow in Belmont. Through horses, they work to bring children together to build their social skills. A lot of the kids have developmental issues. However, they also work with people who have PTSD. The riding center teaches people about taking care of the horses, grooming them, feeding them, petting them, to the point where a person gets comfortable enough to get on the horse. Troy also raises money through his own charity, ACT, which stands for Assisting Children Today. Troy’s just a good man and likes to help the community and beyond. And I’ve been raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association of Boston.
A year or so in, how have you embraced the Vermont lifestyle?
AM: I can go hiking, climbing, river rafting, and ATVing. In the winter, I’m skiing, snowboarding, and hitting cross-country trails. I got it all covered. I’m living life. As long as I’m cooking and paying the bills, I’m good.
“We do a lot with Reinbow Riding Center, about 20 minutes outside of Ludlow in Belmont. Through horses, they work to bring children together to build their social skills.” –Andrew Molen
First Annual Cocktail Party Fundraiser at Calcutta’s (Summer 2022). Left to right: Chef Andrew Molen; Liz Karle, Reinbow Riding Center executive director; Nichole Shea, RN, former student rider and current volunteer; Troy Caruso, owner and CEO of Fox Run Golf Club, Fox Run Hospitality, and co-founder of Assisting Children Today; and Mary Jane Osborne, Reinbow Riding Center founder and program director
5 rapid fire questions for ANDREW MOLEN
Breakfast today?
Coffee.
Favorite childhood meal?
Carr’s crackers with butter.
Cake, pie, or cookies?
Key lime pie all the way.
Guilty pleasure in food or drink?
Taco Bell. Supreme Taco.
Late night or pre-bed snack?
Whatever I can find at 7-Eleven.
