Last night Sujal and I went for a wintry wonderland walk through West Hartford. Aside from it being good exercise and a time to break in my new boots that I got as a gift yesterday, we explored unknown territories, at least unknown to us. We found the Mexican restaurant several people have raved about, but what was even cooler, we found a great surprise on Park Rd. For those of you who don’t know about this joint or the revitalized Park Rd. area:
The revitalized Park Road business district runs east from the corner of Quaker Lane and Park Road to the Hartford line at Prospect Street. While linear in nature, Park Road invites browsers on foot, thanks to the addition of wide brick sidewalks and vintage street lights. Those planning on walking might be wise to start at Bazilians for a comfortable pair of shoes and a dry joke from owner Marc Bazilian. Marc moved the store, which his father Joseph started more than 70 years ago, to its Park Road location in 1970, in a building it once shared with a duckpin bowling alley.
And as I mentioned, the highlight was when we read through a snow-blown view ahead: AC Peterson Exams. When we got closer, we discovered it was actually AC Peterson FARMS, a DINER!
The renaissance of Park Road is best symbolized by the return of A.C Peterson’s, a longtime favorite for lovers of ice - and hand-whipped - cream, which was reopened by Catherine Denton in the spring of 2002; the expansion of Hall’s, a busy neighborhood specialty grocery market owned by Betsey and Ron Booth that now includes Hall’s 2-Go; the spring 2001 opening of the Park Road Playhouse, which performs in a renovated facility that once garaged A.C. Peterson Farms’ milk trucks; and the restoration of the Quaker Diner by Harry Bassilaikas, whose grandfather opened this West Hartford classic in 1931.
I am sort of a diner connisseur. This place was pretty cool. My favorite diners are the ones in Deco decor, which this was. Sujal had a Black Bean Burger and I had, well… let’s just say I had the carnivore’s delight. I also had hot chocolate, too warm up from the snowy coldness, aand a slice of warm pumpkin pie. I can’t wait to go back for the apple pie.
Then of course we had to go back into the windy coldness, but we snuggled up with Cliche and Nemo (it was also sort of a Disney sponsored day) when we got home, and all was well. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
While CT still does not seem like the MOST inviting place to live, it seems to be getting a bit better potential.
December 7th, 2003 at 4:01 pm
Always wondered what AC Peterson Farms was–I often saw cars parked outside there past 1am when I was cruising home from the Crown Theaters this summer.
Also, if you haven’t checked it out, I heartily recommend the Quaker Diner on Park just East of Quaker… it’s an awesome breakfast joint.
December 7th, 2003 at 11:27 pm
The diner was pretty good. Heidi and I also had a chance to hit a few places on the restaurant list. Look for a separate post later.