Elm Restaurant Adds Award-Winning Chef

Award-winning chef Luke Venner has spent the summer shaping Elm restaurant’s new menu and building his culinary crew.

“Elm is an established restaurant so I didn’t want to rush in and change everything overnight,” he said in a release. “It has taken time to create the simple menu – we didn’t want to pigeonhole our diners or ourselves so choice and daily specials are key.”

Venner, now the executive Elm chef, has also spent time getting to know local produce providers. During growing season about 70 percent of the produce served at Elm comes from farms in the tri-state area or Massachusetts. About 40 percent of that comes from Connecticut alone.

“I have been working closely with local Simpaug Farm to utilize as much product as possible and preserve the bounty of the summer,” Venner said “That way we can continue to keep Connecticut produce on our menu all winter long.”

The restaurant recently added pastry chef Kara Koehmstedt, who was the opening pastry sous chef at Enrique Olver’as Mexican concept Cosme in New York City. The restaurant won several awards, inclduing a James Beard nomination for best new restaurant.

Elm restaurant is open Monday – Friday for lunch (11:30am – 2:30pm) Tuesday -Thursday for dinner (5:30 – 9:30pm) until 10pm Friday & Saturday. Brunch Saturday & Sunday (11am - 2:30pm)

Photo courtesy Jane Beiles