Chef Ashley Flagg, a Little Donkey alum, blazes her own path in West Hartford, Conn.
Q: You were at
, for five years. Why did you leave?
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Flagg:
I was always headed in this direction. While I will always hold fine dining close to my heart in terms of how to source our food and prepare it, our plates are different. I tell all my cooks that we want to be cooking like our grandmas. We don't want to put little dots on plates, we don't want to be participating in food waste by cutting things into cute little circles. We're use the best product we can and treat our customers like family.
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I love Millwright's, and it was a great experience for the five years I was there and I became a better chef. But I wanted to cook world cuisine in a place that was more looking for a tasting menu vibe with meat and potatoes. To me, New England cuisine isn't just Boston baked beans. It's Spanish food, Italian food, and showcasing the generations of immigrants around here.
A spread of plates at The Laurel, a tapas restaurant in West Hartford, Conn., by chef-owner Ashley Flagg.
lisa nichols
Why West Hartford? What drew you to open your first restaurant here?
I grew up in West Hartford and used to go to the pub that was here as a kid. In high school, we moved to Burlington, Conn. My wife and I lived in Bloomfield and were trying to find a place there, but it didn't work out. But we wanted to be in Bloomfield for the same reason we ultimately wanted to be in West Hartford: it's diverse, and the building had existing features that I wanted, including exposed brick, tin ceilings, somewhat original wood floors, and other features that fit into what we were trying to do with our restaurant.
What's the story behind the name?
I was very close to my grandmother, Juana Maria Guruceta Flagg, who lived until she was 102. My parents divorced, and I spent a lot of time with her. She lived on Laurel Grove Road in Middletown, Conn., and we wanted this restaurant to be an homage to her. So much of the reason why I love to cook is because ofher. She wasn't a very expressive woman, but she expressed her love to all of us through food and shared her culture with us (her grandmother was born in Cuba and spent much of her childhood in Spain). My wife, Rebekah (who is also The Laurel's general manger), designed the restaurant herself, and it speaks to my grandmother's elegance.
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Juana Maria Guruceta Flagg, center, with granddaughter chef Ashley Flagg, right, and her wife Rebekah Flagg, left, on their wedding day.
Kortney Gloska
If someone travels to West Hartford to try your food, what are your must-orders?
We have a great pimento burger on the menu that's a nod to
The burger at The Laurel in West Hartford, Conn., which is owned by chef Ashley Flagg.
lisa nichols
What other farms are you working with the most right now?
We work with many, but have a strong partnership with Young Farms in East Granby, Conn. I've gone with my line cooks and picked corn, pumpkins, and potatoes. It's fun, and they get to have a better connection to the food we use and are more appreciative of the farmers who have been here for generations.
Laurel is still very new. But how do you stay grounded when the restaurant world is full of hype cycles, lists, and the pressure to be 'new'?
We're never going to be focused on awards. We're never gonna be focused on being TikTok famous, and I'll never go on a TV game show. My wife and I are just here to make a living for ourselves, and hope to earn enough pay back into our family system. Our goal will always be providing the best product we can, and making sure our staff is happy while progressing their careers forward.
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You've publicly talked about how when you first started cooking, you thought you had to be 'this bully chef.' How has any of that changed for you?
I've come from a lot of different restaurants, you know, more French style where it can be a really tough work environment, and I had a hard time thriving in those types of situations. And I just got sick of me participating in the negativity. I've spent a lot of time growing as a chef and as a person. Horrible chefs — that's how I was trained. I've been that chef. I reached a certain point [at my last job] where I was constantly replacing my staff. Well why? ... Once I made that mental shift away from being this bully chef, I became a happier person, and my staff was growing.
What was it like to work for chef
?
I just really hit it off with him. He was a super positive chef, and really into educating his staff. We also had a great front of house management team, and it was the first time I worked with such a powerful female management team. It really just made everything come together. I'm dying to go eat at
The shrimp tostada at The Laurel in West Hartford, Conn., is refreshingly spicy Thai shrimp salad topped with charred jalapeño sauce, piled on a crunchy blue corn tortilla.
Michael Chiovitti
You're in charge now — not just of food, but of culture, money, people. Has that shifted your relationship with the kitchen?
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I'm still the day-to-day executive chef, and I'm still in the kitchen cooking with the cooks every day. I take a lot of the managerial and ownership duties into my personal time. That's felt right for me at the moment.
What's your take on the
food scene?
There's areas of Greater Hartford that have become oversaturated with big restaurant groups. Sometimes those groups stray away from participating in our local agriculture. There's a need to support farmers in the state, especially now. If these groups continue to be in the area and present themselves as fine dining, they really should be held accountable. Purchasing from broadline purveyors (like Sysco) instead of participating in our local agriculture, I think it's an abomination
Where do you eat when you're not working?
All the props in the world go to
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
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