Cutting Board Cafe Opening for Dinner

When Brian Bender first opened The Cutting Board some 14 months ago, he envisioned cultivating a breakfast, takeout and catering service from the cafe's tucked-away spot on Danbury Road.

But within the last few weeks, the deli case and salad bar have been replaced by a wall-length bench that anchors additional seating, and the grab-and-go case that obscured more potential seats at the counter vanished.

"We weren't having success with the prepared food," Bender said. "We were having success with breakfast and lunch, and at some point you really have to let your customers dictate."

And he did. Starting on Nov. 13, Bender—formerly a private chef who has lived in town with his wife, Rachel, for six years—will begin serving dinner on Friday nights from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.

"People that know us for lunch are going to come for dinner and be like, 'Oh, wow. It's completely different,'" Bender said.

The Cutting Board's lunchtime menu is full of salads, wraps and panini. But Bender described the joint's upcoming dinner options as "the next level beyond American comfort food."

Examples of potential menu items included pan-roasted chicken breast with roasted root vegetables and Asian flank steak with wasabi mashed potatoes and tempura green beans. (All the meats are hormone and antibiotic-free, Bender said.) Drinks will be BYOB as the cafe applies for a beer and wine license. If the dinners become popular, The Cutting Board hopes to offer them Thursday through Saturday each week.

The menu will be posted on the cafe Web site as it becomes available.

As Bender gestured eagerly around his restaurant Monday—where, even though it was after closing, he was preparing a tuna melt for a late-coming customer—he sketched a scene with white tablecloths and, maybe, votive candles atop them. He seemed to be constructing his vision for The Cutting Board's new chapter as he described it.