Your guide to the heart of Litchfield County:
Discover local stories, hidden gems, and must-know events.

This is the first of an essay series that will be published every Monday for as long as social distancing is necessary. All pieces written by Litchfield County residents. If you are interested in submitting an essay for consideration please email us at info@litchfieldmagazine.com

A Case for Glutens
By Anne McAndrew of Kent, CT.

On Saturday, my oldest son calls me. He and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19.

On Saturday, my middle son texts me. “Good times, haha, I am now unemployed.”

On Saturday, 793 people in Italy died from COVID-19. My youngest son lives in Italy.

Three for three.  My heart is so heavy I can barely breathe.

The kitchen: my safe haven. I’ll make calzone. It’s always been a favorite. If I make calzone, they will be safe. Nonsensical maternal clucking. “A calzone does not save people from COVID-19,” says my brain.  “Make calzone,” says my heart.

“Pantry cooking, we use what we have!” the YouTube influencer happily exclaims. I am angry at her for being so perky. I stand at my counter, scowling. To rebuke her perkiness, I leave the sugar out of my dough as she puts two teaspoons into hers.

“Time to get your hands dirty!” she gushes. I look down at my hands. Hands that have changed diapers, dried tears, and dragged drunken teenagers out of a party. “Its showtime again, hands,” I say.

The dough is shaggy, needs more flour. The world is reeling, needs more love.

The dough is still rough-looking, sticky. No one is staying at home. DAMMIT! STAY HOME!

The dough isn’t coming together. I am falling apart.

Time to knead. Kneading always makes me nervous, I don’t know why. It’s not complicated, but it is critical to the development of the dough. Kneading allows gluten strands to stretch and grow stronger, Press. Turn. Repeat. Press. Turn. Repeat.  Fall down. Get up. Repeat.  Fall down. Get up. Repeat.  We get stronger, our experiences stretch our imagination and develop our maturity.

Shaggy to smooth.  Boys to men.

Feel the dough; it feels good. Listen to the dough; it’s talking to me. Bread texture; develop it, nurture it. Hug those boys, feel their clumsy affection, hear their muffled voices say I love you.

Smooth, satin, elastic; I have myself a dough baby.

I cover it and put it in the oven to rise. “See you soon,” I whisper. But dough can’t hear me.

I pull the blankets over each of them. G’night guys, see you in the morning, I whisper. But they can’t hear me, they’re already asleep.

Despite the cold March weather, I sit on the back porch while I wait for my dough baby.  I hear the crack of the bat. Loud voices too.  Ahhh, baseball in the front yard. The maple tree is first base, the dip in the lawn is second and the apple tree is third. They run, they yell, they tromp through the kitchen with their muddy sneakers and ball gloves; clean kitchen floors are overrated. It’s Sunday and that means spaghetti & meatballs. Everyone is happy. They are still loud-talking about the game as they wash their hands for dinner.

An hour passed. Or was it a year. Or was it a decade. Slowly I get up from my chair to check on my dough baby.

Removing the dish towel, I see the success of my hard work. My dough baby has grown up. It’s now ready to become a calzone. Rolling pin ready, the dough gets punched down, and I carefully roll it into a circle. I have meatballs leftover from Sunday dinner (when the boys lived here there was no such thing as a leftover meatball).  Cheese and meatballs fill the center. Love and discipline make the man.

Calzone into the oven. I listen to some Dylan. 

The phone rings. “Hi Mom, I’m feeling better.” 

Then a text, “Mom, please send your recipe for cornbread.” 

Whatsapp sounds “Mom, I’m about to go to bed, how was your day?”

Three for three.  My heart is so joyful I can barely breathe.

While we agree with the local NY Times best-selling author Gabby Bernstein’s Corona virus pandemic advice “Do Nothing”, we’ve been compelled to come up with a list of 30 things to do when COVID-19  and self-isolation are driving you and yours bonkers. Continue reading “COVID-19: 30 Things to do in Litchfield County”

In the worst of times, the best in people rises to the challenge of helping others. As business owners, Diana and Robert McIntosh of Morris understand all too well how important it is to “keep things going” during these tough COVID-19 times. Diana said, “It was getting harder, so I was looking for something else. Then I heard Nicole Straight on local radio, talking about Food for the Front Lines, a mission that allows the Connecticut community to raise money for local restaurants to deliver meals to first responders, and was convinced this was the direction to take.”

Begun by Nicole Straight, former Fairfield County Site Director for Food Rescue US, “Food For The Front Lines” in Fairfield County is closing in on their GoFundMe goal of $25,000 to feed Connecticut’s EMS workers, first responders, ER & ICU staff, and those on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. These are the people, some volunteers, who are working at personal risk to keep their community well and safe. The other benefit of the program is to offer support for local Connecticut restaurants that are struggling.

Robert McIntosh fronted the first set of meals that were given to Litchfield Volunteer Ambulance. Diana McIntosh said, “I am a stay-at-home mom of three girls so I had more time to pursue this. My motivation was that my husband and I make sure our kids know that through a lot of hard work, we are very fortunate in our lives and that we are always thankful and we always give back.”
The whole family is helping since the daughters are home from school.  They help their mother track places and people that would benefit from food being delivered (medical workers, first responders, etc.) then find a nearby restaurant willing to deliver the food.

“My brother Paul Decarolis was an EMT and a firefighter for Watertown Fire Department for many years. He passed away three years ago, but he would have been the first one out there to help with the COVID-19 crisis. I am doing this with him in my heart. I miss him every day but this helps me keep his memory alive. I was so happy to bring food to the Watertown Fire Department recently, and I am sure he would be proud. We also delivered lunch to Litchfield Wood nurses in Torrington with food supplied by Berkshire Café in Torrington. Every day we are expanding our reach.”

To support this Connecticut effort to help and support those on the front lines of the COVID-19 virus, find Diana A. McIntosh on Facebook, or email her at diana@frontlineelectric.com. You can also donate to the Go Fund Me page.

Written by Jo Ann Jaacks.

.

My wife loves to cook almost as much as she loves to shop for ingredients. Drawing up lists and planning recipes is one of her great pleasures. She also loves to discover special stores where she can find the freshest tomatoes, the best bread, the tastiest meats, the ripest cheese—all those little extras that make a meal memorable. It is one of the things that we love the most about living in Litchfield County. It is one of the reasons why The Smithy Market in New Preston is one of her favorite places.

Like so many people who call the northwest corner of Connecticut home, my wife is particularly crazy about its farmers’ markets. The problem with farmers’ markets, though, is that they usually only pop up one day a week from late spring through the early fall. That’s the beauty of The Smithy. It is a one-stop farm market that is open all year-round, seven days of the week.

“Just look at this gorgeous lettuce,” my wife said to me the other day when we were shopping at The Smithy. She held up a rich, round, green leafy head of heirloom lettuce. Undeniably, it was far more appetizing-looking than the plastic-wrapped assortment of questionable Romaine leaves arranged artfully so that the brown bits are disguised by the packaging one is likely to find in the local grocery store. Mind you, this was in early January. This was not tasteless lettuce trucked in God knows when from some vast California field. This was grown locally at Earth’s Palate Farm in Warren. We ate it that night.

“Our mission is to create a dynamic community hub, promoting and celebrating the best of everything local. This includes offering visitors the freshest, most delicious local foods year-round,” says Carol Steer, the store manager at The Smithy. Pointing to a stylized wooden map above the counter, depicting the catchment area for the market, she says: “We’re committed to offering products sourced within a 70-mile radius of New Preston.” Steer, originally from London, has been at the shop for eight years, and was drawn to The Smithy because of its desire to engage and strengthen the local community by supporting its farms, food producers, artists, artisans, musicians, and writers.

“The Smithy resembles the neighborhood corner shop where everyone is welcome and people feel appreciated and at home, and also it enriches our lives with cultural events and opportunities to share ideas and connect,” she says. 

Located in an authentic recreation of New Preston’s mid-19th century blacksmith shop, in the heart of New Preston, The Smithy offers its visitors a rich range of options, including staples such as bread, eggs, and dairy products. Its produce providers include many of the area’s most highly-respected farms: Wild Carrot in Bantam, growing certified organic vegetables and fruits such as Swiss chard, collard greens, bok choy, kale, and golden raspberries; Ox Hollow in Roxbury, supplying beef, pork, lamb and vegetables; Anderson Acres in Kent, providing fresh flowers and, during the holiday season, hand-made Christmas wreaths; Arethusa Gardens in Bantam, supplying an array of heirloom vegetables, year-round; Sloane Farm in Washington, a one-woman farm where Debra Sloane grows strawberries, peas, beans and herbs; and Sunny Meadow Farm in Bridgewater, known for its outstanding chicken, and seasonal greens, fruits, vegetables, and squashes whose owners, Steve and Rose Shabet, purchased The Smithy in October 2018. 

“My wife and I bought our property in Bridgewater in 2012 for a summer house to get out and stretch our legs,” says Steve, who worked on Wall Street for years. ”The following year a neighboring farm went into probate and a developer was going to bulldoze it. So instead we bought it, adding its land to ours. That got us into farming. We grew fruit, raised poultry. That led to opening a farm stand. We were lucky when we purchased our property that there was a local farmer, Jon Lindblom, who had been working our land and running a CSA for about 12 yrs. He agreed to step-up and take over the management of the farm. He raises the best chickens in the county and makes delicious honey and maple syrup as well.” 

The Shabets also converted one of the barns on their property into a party barn, where they host events for local charities and non-profits. “One year I ended up sitting next to a guy who owned The Smithy and we got to talking,” says Steve. “They were looking to sell and we were looking for a place to sell our stuff. I love The Smithy because it has become such an important hub for the local community and allows me to sell my product in another ZIP code that’s not Bridgewater or Danbury.” 

In addition to the Shabet’s produce, The Smithy also offers a range of artisan foods from local providers. These include delicious fresh pizzas and focaccia from Carol Bonci in Sharon; fresh pies and quiches from High 5 Pies in Kent, and fresh soups from Farm Country Soup in the Berkshires. Among other of The Smithy’s exclusive food-to-go providers are Arcadia’s Kitchen in New Preston, offering a variety of gourmet prepared delicacies such as white bean chili, tapenade, marinated olives, hummus, and chocolate red wine cake (and try the Galician stew!); and Community Table restaurant in Washington, where owner Joann Makovitsky and chef Paul Pearson supply such favorites as salad dressing, seeded crackers, kombucha squash hummus, and its signature smoked trout and red beet & feta dips.

The second story of the building features the Loft Gallery where curated local artists’ works are displayed on a monthly rotation. All are welcome to gallery openings to view paintings, photography and other media, to meet the artists, and enjoy locally produced wines, foods from The Smithy, and live jazz music. They will also be offering more prepared foods. “There’s a nook in the back corner of the loft where I can put a coffee machine and sandwiches. It’s perfect for people who are looking to grab something quick before heading to the lake.”

Most of these items will be prepared at The Mindful Kitchen, adjacent to the store, which the Shabets also acquired. In addition to sandwiches, it will offer its baked goods (brownies, gingerbread, snickerdoodle cookies, date truffles, etc.) as well as French chef Kevin McPherson’s delicious croissants. “In our continuing quest to provide our community exactly what they are looking for, other offerings are in the works… stay tuned!” says Steve. 

Is it any wonder my wife loves to shop at The Smithy?

 The Smithy Market, 10 Main St, New Preston, CT

Written by Charles Dubow (Sponsored)

Amid sandpaper and saws on a high hill in South Kent, Elizabeth Place is carving out a second career. A few years ago she endeavored into woodworking while keeping her day job as a proposal writer for large federal contracts.

“What I do for a living with proposal writing is so dry and so technical…I always am doing something on the side that’s creative.”

For a while, Place says, sewing and cooking did the trick. Then her mother passed away eight years ago. As they closed the estate on what was her childhood home in Westport, a new hobby took root.

“When we were leaving, we knew what was going to happen to the property, and I knew that a certain tree was going to be taken down…and it affected me so.”

Here, Place trails off, caught off guard by tears the old story is bringing to the surface. She quickly recovers, and nostalgically explains that in first grade, she’d been given an elm sapling to bring home. Over 50 years, she’d watched it grow from a foot tall to well over 70 feet. It was giant, she says. And gorgeous.

“I can’t believe I didn’t harvest the wood. I just…I should’ve figured that out.”

What Place didn’t know then is how many trees she would someday save. She soon learned about the Japanese philosophy of giving a tree a second life. She started poking around in sawmills and studying books on woodworking. She made a couple of shelves for her husband’s den, and then a farm table. Place also found a mentor—a master cabinet maker in Gaylordsville named Don Lawson. A few years into the journey, she decided this needed to be her retirement business, and called it Berkshire Place Tables.

“The woodworking just did it for me. I LOVE it.”

If you’re picturing Place in dirty khakis and a baseball cap, you’re way off. She sands with her signature red nails and says the friendly guys at the local steel and sawmills have quite a laugh at her expense when she strides in wearing her mink jacket.

“You know, I definitely do not fit the mold.”

Despite appearances or assumptions, Place does the work all by hand—sanding, finishing, and collaborating with local blacksmiths to forge the iron legs for each of her creations. She also has a core sense of design, embracing another Japanese philosophy known as ‘kintsugi’, which translates to ‘celebration of imperfection.’

“I try to highlight the grain and all the imperfections from weather and disease and try to reveal the nature of the wood and how it’s grown.”

Place works in walnut, hemlock, maple, cherry, and beech, striving to preserve the bark whenever possible, which results in much-coveted live edges. Over time, she’s developed a few signature pieces: writing desks, dining room tables that double as library tables, and portable farm tables. She thinks those last ones will find their way into several Litchfield County homes.  

“You can store all the pieces and bring them outside for an outdoor event…You can put them up anyplace.”

Place sells these practical works of art at a gallery on her South Kent property, or customers can peruse cuts of wood she has in storage, and commission a piece.  

“I’m really looking to gain a following of designers in Fairfield and Litchfield County that know what I do, and they’ll come to me for those particular pieces they’re looking for.

Most of my pieces and I think eventually all of my pieces, will have brass nameplates for monograms and dates…I really see these as kind of heirloom pieces.”

Berkshire Place’s one-of-a-kind tables range from $900 – $14,000, and for generations promise to give a tree a second life.  Berkshire Place Tables.

Sponsored story by Brandee Gilmore.

On a perch upriver, and uphill, from the center of Kent, High Watch Recovery Center is aptly named. The substance abuse addiction treatment facility has legendary roots as the country’s oldest program founded on the 12-step principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, and it continues to branch out. A 42,000 sq foot expansion is underway and slated to be done in the spring of 2021.

“This will allow us to treat more individuals at a time in the state of Connecticut when so many individuals need the treatment that we provide.  And we’ve been doing this for 80 years,” says Jason Perillo, Vice President of Communications.

We caught up with Perillo in the modern, welcoming High Watch main entrance, and followed him to the CEO’s office to see the architect’s drawings for the project. Perillo explained there is currently space for administration and clinicians to do the serious work they do, but the 25 million dollar expansion will allow for entirely new areas of treatment to open up.

“This is really about filling a void and providing to prospective guests the attention they need,” he said.

For starters, High Watch will be able to offer medical detoxification treatment for up to 12 patients at a time. Currently, they have to recommend clients head to Canaan, or as far as Griffin Hospital in Derby to detox before High Watch can step in to help. This extension of the campus footprint will require additional staffing—physicians, nurses and social workers—adding about 20 new jobs to the community.

The second addition is a 216-seat lecture hall charged with a two-pronged mission: to house training sessions and continuing education for substance abuse clinicians from around the state, and equally important, a new home for High Watch’s 75+ residents to attend family-education workshops.

“You can’t truly treat addiction without also addressing the family. This space will allow us to do that better,” says Perillo.

The third piece of the project is already under construction—an expansion of ‘the Barn’, the campus dining facility.  Every Saturday evening, High Watch opens its typically-gated grounds to alums and all individuals in recovery in the region for dinner and an AA meeting. The Barn can accommodate about 100 guests, but they have to turn many away. The addition will add 50% more space, eliminating the seating problem, says Perillo, and help the non-profit organization realize one of its goals.

“One of the things that we try to focus on is the community of individuals in recovery. Just because you are not a guest of ours here at any given date doesn’t mean you’re not a part of the High Watch family.”

That ‘family’ has existed for decades in these hills, according to the High Watch website. In 1939, the founding members of AA landed on the doorstep of what was then Joy Farm, a healing community founded by Ethelred Frances Folsom (better known as ‘Sister Francis’). She saw what the fledgling AA was trying to do; they felt the power of spiritual and natural wonder in the surrounding hills. Both parties realized the potential for restoration here and joined forces to bring more addicts in.  All these years later, the basic mission stands: ‘to see the disease of addiction go into remission for each individual who passes through our door.’ Now, they’ll just have a few more doors.

“It’s a big deal for us in that it’s a huge financial commitment,” says Perillo, “but it’s a big deal for our guests because what we do for them, given space we have right now, is already tremendous, …and this will allow us to treat more individuals.” highwatchrecovery.org

Sponsored Post
Written by Brandee Gilmore

When you dial up Patti Garland, she’s sitting in a sunny workspace inside her home on the New Milford-New Preston line. In this intimate digital space between you and her, she says everything can change.

“What I really want to do is empower my clients to take care of themselves.”

To that end, the 66-year-old launched Healthy Methods Wellness two years ago. She’s spent 30 years in the health, fitness, and wellness industries, including a 15-year stint running an award-winning Curves franchise in New Milford. Before that, she’d run a busy massage therapy business and worked in administrative posts at nursing homes Garland worked and worked and worked, until age 60 dawned … and her body rebelled.

“I was feeling immensely burned out. And I was having pretty bad anxiety and panic attacks.”

Doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. Actually the opposite, Garland says—they would tell her she was extremely healthy. But the panic attacks didn’t relent—so Patti had to.

“I thought, I need to make a big life change here … because I am not going to live my life having panic attacks.” She continued, “I walked away from my business. I closed it. I took a little bit of time where I worked just with my husband for a couple of years … and I’m gonna say, I really healed.”

Once she was patched up, Patti told her husband of 20 years what she had to do next.

“I miss miss miss helping women. I am going to relaunch and start over.”

This time around, Garland has been wiser.

“I wanted to help other women learn how they can lose weight, manage their menopause symptoms … and not do what I did.”

Garland says menopause can affect energy levels, diminish mental clarity, and trigger anxiety, in addition to the better-known grievances like hot flashes and weight gain. But she says these symptoms can be wrangled, even controlled. She customizes a plan for each of her Healthy Methods Wellness clients, and it never involves medication or dieting.  

“This is food, mindset, and exercise,” she says.

Garland is certified as a health coach and fitness trainer and looks the part with her neat, short blonde hair, ready smile, and energetic nature. The only thing missing is a whistle.

“I believe in coaching because most of the coaches I’ve ever worked with have walked through the fire and come out on the other side.”

She says she brings her clients to the other side by meeting weekly, for as long as it takes to move through three distinct phases. The first stage involves mastering eating, getting control over the mindset and starting exercise—healing the metabolism, Garland says. In stage two, ‘things start to happen,’ according to Garland—clothes start to fit better, the old thought patterns are less prevalent, and her clients work to find the foods triggering their menopause symptoms. Finally, Garland says, stage three fortifies all of these changes into a new lifestyle.

“Nothing makes me happier than when I check in with my client and say ok, so the last time I talked to you, you said this and this and this … so are you still experiencing this? And they say, ‘Oh my gosh, I totally forgot that was going on!’”

Garland sees these victories as signs her clients won’t one day find themselves sidelined like she once was.

“Had I just earlier on, learned some of the techniques that I teach my clients … I don’t think I would’ve had to take quite so much time to heal before I started back.”

Sponsored story was written by Brandee Gilmore.
Lead photo by Lora Karam.

When Wanessa Anderson took over the fitness center on Main Street in Kent back in December 2015, she had a completely new vision for it.

“It was hard because I didn’t even know if people would understand what I was talking about, if people would like what I was offering. It was a shot in the dark, but I’m like, I have to just try it!”

Walking through her tidy, sunlight-filled, pastel studio spaces on the second floor of 25 North Main Street, the tall Brazilian no longer exudes an iota of doubt. What Wanessa (“spells with a ‘W’, but you can say Vanessa”) had envisioned was a place of wellness and healing for the body, mind and soul—quite a shift, she says, from the more body-bashing workouts previously done there. 

“Realizing what the population here needed, I knew there was something missing.”

Now offering a full menu of low-impact workouts, and an expansion to include reiki, massage therapy, acupuncture, and halotherapy, it seems Anderson’s hunch was right. The Zumba and PiYo instructor decided early on W.Rhythm Fitness & Wellness would make Pilates and barre central to her offerings.  

Anderson, who landed in Kent by way of marriage and family, was first introduced to Pilates at 15, by one of her dance instructors in Brazil. In 2015, her father’s doctor prescribed Pilates for healing from a bone marrow transplant—at the same time Anderson was acquiring the gym. That was the moment she decided to commit to the two-year certification process.

“When I started to see all these things happening in my own family, for my own father, I was like it’s just stupid that I don’t complete the certification… I know the method, I know how much it will be beneficial.”

Like her father, most of W.Rhythm’s members and patrons are well over 40. She wanted to offer private or group workouts that would make them stronger in every way.

“There’s a mind-body connection in all the classes I teach … not everybody likes it. Some people like to be beat up. That’s not what I do.”

But that doesn’t mean she goes easy on her clients either.

“I’m strict. I’m not the yelling drill sergeant type of instructor. But I make sure that when they are here, they are here to take care of themselves. When the class starts we are present, and we are focused. My students feed off of me, and they know I mean business.”

Her fierceness in stature and strength, are quickly countered by her enthusiastic eyes, easy-going demeanor, and a set of dimples. It’s easy to see how she stirs inspiration and camaraderie in her clients… and was named Litchfield Magazine’s Best Barre Studio in 2019.

“My clients are of a similar age group, they are going through the same things in life, and they share experiences so it’s really a place to look forward to.”

The fitness center straddles two spaces in the same building—the Pilates personal training studio faces Main St.; the studio at the end of the hall houses group sessions for barre, yoga, mat pilates, and Zumba. Clients have the option of membership or purchasing punch cards. Anderson says the mix of stamina, endurance, muscle mass, cardiovascular, and strength training she offers every week is actually a program—the Tuesday through Sunday classes all complement each other…and it works.

“One lady came to me today, she’s in her late 60s. She just had a routine procedure done. And she said, ‘The nurse came to me and said not only do you look good, you have the vitals of a 25-year-old!’  And I hear this all the time. All the time. They go to the doctor, and the doctor asks, ‘What are you doing?!’” Winner of Litchfield Magazine’s 2019 Reader’s Choice Award. {SPONSORED POST}

Written by by Brandee Gilmore.

Rhythm Fitness & Wellness
25 N Main St, Kent
203-788-7818

Caroline Bossetti grew up in La Rochelle on the west coast of France, southwest of Paris, north of Bordeaux. Her father was “a big loud Italian” from near Milan, and her mother, the sophisticated one, was French. At night after dinner the men went to the café. The women finished the dishes and then joined them. 

“Someone takes up the accordion, you move the tables and everyone dances,” Bossetti says, evoking the scene, her eyes softly glowing with the remembrance of special things past. “I think what helps is the music, the space … you can forget. People feel transported.”

This fabled European lifestyle is as necessary to Bossetti as water—as wine, music, jazz, art, dancing, good conversation, and family. She has spent years fine-tuning a formula for offering an experience rarely found in the States.

First she created W Soirées, pop-up salon events, including a magical evening years ago at the Washington Club with great food, wine and music by The Lucky Five. That evolved into offering a Parisian-style salon experience in the upstairs room at John’s Café in Woodbury, where Bossetti lives.

On Friday evenings there was wine, music, and flowing conversation. “You could be left alone or you could meet someone you’ve never met before,” Bossetti says. “You could learn about a book, or music.”

It was wonderful, but also temporary, lasting three months. A few years ago, Bossetti launched Old Platform 6 in a 2,800-square-foot, 19th century pin manufacturing space in the Oakville section of Watertown.

Part of the Old Pin Shop complex flanking Route 73 as it descends from Oakville into Waterbury, OP6 is hidden behind the nondescript industrial buildings with the red pedestrian walkways floating above the road. It’s a magnificent place with an atmospheric refinished wood factory floor, 18 large windows, and a 14-foot-high ceiling, furnished with antiques, large tables, wonderful design flourishes, and artwork. 

Bossetti struggled with the name—salon, atelier, workshop—but settled on Old Platform 6 in honor of the platform where freight trains arrived and departed. “Nobody gets it,” Bossetti says of the name, “but I never really care.”

OP6 is open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, serving cappuccino, chocolate croissants, and a light lunch. There’s no menu, just a delicious ensemble, including soups and perhaps quiches. There’s free wifi, and an open invitation to linger. They host an open music lounge monthly on a Friday. 

The space is also available on a fee basis for private parties, wedding and baby showers, book clubs, and almost any purpose.

Technically, OP6 is a private club. An annual membership costs $240, for which members and a guest are granted free admission in some cases, discounts on tickets and private party fees, and more.

Whatever your status, visiting OP6 feels like being a member of a clandestine culture club where you’re a little French, more sophisticated, a bit bohemian, and less troubled by the state of affairs in the world.

“If it all goes away for a few hours, that’s my goal,” says Bossetti. “You will leave this place with a little bit more.”

Originally written for Litchfield Magazine by Douglas Clement.

Old Platform 6
20 Main Street, Oakville
203-217-1299

Bantam, which is perfectly located in the middle of the Northwest Corner, has slowly been transformed into a hub for style, art, and culture. We used to drive to this charming village for the Bantam cinema, then for ice cream at Arethusa Farm Creamery, and for groceries at the Bantam Food Market, and now we have another reason to make the 15-minute jaunt. The art and antiques store called The Housatonic Trading Company has recently re-opened in it’s former home. Robert Graham and Robert Deyber are the owners of The Housatonic Trading Company.

The new shop is tastefully decorated and the space is large enough to house a diverse stock of furniture, antiques and collectibles and still make it a pleasant shopping experience.

The merchandise offered at The Housatonic Trading Company is a mix of antiques, vintage pieces, repurposed pieces made from reclaimed materials, furniture and new pieces as well. From kitchenware to occasional tables and chairs, to decorative accessories, there is a wide selection of gifts to choose from.

The Housatonic Trading Company
920 Bantam Road
Bantam
860.361.6299
www.housatonictrading.com