New Restaurant Coming to Old Train Depot in Collinsville

Meals will be served at the old train depot in Collinsville once again starting Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 11:30 a.m., when the restaurant and pub situated there re-opens under new management and with a slightly different name – Lisa’s Crown & Hammer.

The outdoor signs will stay the same, complete with the crown and hammer logo. The revised name simply reflects the cozy pub’s new ownership. Lisa and John Maurer of Avon, who closed on the business Nov. 3, also own Lisa’s Luna Pizza in Simsbury and chose the name Lisa’s Crown & Hammer to tie their two establishments together.

“We’ve been coming here for 10 years and thought that if it ever came on the market again we’d like to buy it to be more entrepreneurial,” John Maurer said. “Everything came together at the right time.”

In order for the couple to take on a second restaurant business, Maurer had to make a decision – to leave the global sales career he had with Danaher Corporation for 25 years. Although he loved the job, it required a lot of traveling and took time away from their three sons.

After shutting the pub’s doors for 10 days to regroup, the new owners are ready to greet the public. While Lisa Maurer will run the business end of things, as she does at Luna Pizza, her husband will serve as general manager at Crown & Hammer and the dining room manager is Emily Thomas. Executive chef is Michael Alfeld, a 1999 Simsbury High graduate who was trained at New England Culinary Institute and The French Culinary Institute.

“All recipes are my own and have a Roman bistro influence, especially our pasta dishes and the pizzotelle,” Alfeld said. “Everything is simple, fresh and homemade, including our own condiments, sauces and dressings. The only exceptions will be Heinz ketchup and Grey Poupon mustard.”

He added that no frozen products will be used and the goal is to shop local as much as possible for meat, dairy and produce. Country ham and bacon are being supplied by family-owned Nodine’s Smokehouse in Torrington.

The dinner menu at Lisa’s Crown & Hammer includes several sections: appetizers, salads, entrees, sandwiches, a raw bar, steaks, sides, pasta and pizzotelle, which are made with dough from Lisa’s Luna Pizza. The lunch menu is similar but portions are smaller and no steaks or sides are available. A brunch menu will be available on Sunday, and the restaurant will be closed on Monday.

Many menu items are traditional pub style but with an upscale twist, from an appetizer of Oysters Rockefeller and Thai Salad to a Croque Monsieur – sliced ham and grilled rosemary bread with melted Swiss – and healthy entrées such as Salmon Sunshine or BBQ Turkey Meatloaf, made with ground turkey, soy and a Korean barbeque sauce.

All sandwiches and pasta dishes have gluten-free options using Barilla pasta and Udi’s bread, and some menu items can be prepared vegetation.

Alfeld started his culinary career in Nantucket at restaurants including Black Angus Grill, which he owned for more than seven years, and later at eateries in Florida. Since returning to Connecticut, he helped open Matthew’s in Unionville, taught at Sur La Table in Canton, and owned Hessian Lion in Avon along with his sister.

Fundraisers will be held regularly at Crown & Hammer, as is done at Luna Pizza, community outreach being important to the Maurer family. One example is that 10 percent of every large pizza sold during October, which is both national pizza month and breast cancer awareness month, was donated to Komen CT.

Lisa’s Crown & Hammer Restaurant and Pub is located at 3 Depot St., Collinsville. Call 860-693-9199 or visit http://www.crownandhammer.com/index.html.