Latest news with #DORORestaurantGroup
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CT restaurant group expands into new towns offering same high-quality food with fresh ingredients
The expansion of the DORO Restaurant Group continues in Connecticut, with plenty more to come. The DORO property count, including the marketplaces and restaurants, is expected to increase to an even dozen after a pair of new DORO Marketplace businesses open in Old Saybrook and Plainville. The Old Saybrook opening will bring DORO into Middlesex County for the first time. It will open to the public at 745 Boston Post Road later this month. A new DORO Marketplace is also moving into Plainville at 359 New Britain Ave. with a planned opening in August. That location will be a part of a new plaza already has a Jersey Mike's and Shangri-La Dispensaries. DORO Marketplace offers scratch-made baked bread, cappuccino, prepared sandwiches, salads, desserts, pasta and pesto and has already established locations in West Hartford, Windsor Locks and Wethersfield. The West Hartford-based DORO Restaurant Group, led by West Hartford resident and CEO Dorjan Puka and Chief Operating Officer Scott Miller, have owned restaurants in Hartford County since 2010. Among them are Treva, Artisanal Burger Company, Zohara Mediterranean Kitchen, Avert Brasserie and Casadoro Ristorante & Bar. In addition, DORO does a catering business. The Old Saybrook DORO Marketplace was previously an Italian restaurant, 745 Osteria. The restaurant announced the sale to DORO on social media in April. 'It's a beautiful location,' Miller said. 'It's a quick skip and a jump from the beach areas. We feel that it's an attractive market because there are no bakeries in the immediate area.' Miller said DORO took over a building that was in good shape and the last three months has been about making transforming it into the DORO brand. 'There is already a working kitchen, and a lot of infrastructure was already in place. It was not a complete build up,' Miller said. The upcoming Plainville location marks DORO's fifth marketplace. 'We are very excited to get into Plainville,' Miller said. 'It's a market that is untapped in our minds for coffee, a bakery and the things we do. This location has a nice neighborhood feel to it despite having a lot of businesses around there including a commercial supermarket and lots of retail spots within a mile radius. 'It's in a brand-new shopping center. It's busy area with easy on and off from the highway,' he added. 'Plainville is uniquely positioned and I think we will not only draw from Plainville but also from Southington and Farmington.' Plainville Town Manager Michael Paulhus said DORO Marketplace is another great addition to town. 'I'm looking forward to it,' Paulhus said. 'I haven't experience DORO yet, but my colleagues rave about it. It's a great addition to New Britain Avenue and the development moving in.' Paulhus said the 'quick on and off from the highway' made the area attractive to developers. Paulhus pointed out other businesses moving into the area recently like the Jersey Mike's, Aldi's and Boot Barn. 'We are starting to pop up on the radar for retail, restaurants and businesses. It's great mix for us. We welcome DORO as the latest one that has chosen Plainville to do business.' Miller said the reason for the expansion and success of DORO Marketplace is its products and workforce. 'There's no real competition and I say that humbly. We believe a true artisan-style bakery buys great ingredients. Product that hits our marketplaces is being baked right now into the early evening and in the morning,' Miller said. 'The products are shipped at 4:30 a.m. to the marketplace and are as fresh as fresh can be. 'We believe in quality over nickel-and-diming,' he added. 'When we look at building an item for our restaurant or marketplaces, we buy the best we can possibly buy and work backwards and try to make money after getting the best quality. Other places buy off of price tags. We tell our people to buy the best quality people will find. People will come for that. The margins may not be quite as high as our competitors, but we will continue people coming in day after day. Eventually they will see quality is something we don't mess with and its aways great.' Miller said the DORO ownership still run the locations like mom-and-pop businesses. 'We are involved every day in all company decisions as well as working the floor if that means bartending, making expressos, cooking,' Miller said. 'We hire great people, and they have bought into our core values. We like working with our people, so they understand our point of view about running a business.' What's next for DORO? Miller said there is nothing to speak of yet, but the restaurant group has a goal to have 10 DORO Marketplaces in the state by the end of 2026. He said the company is looking toward moving west on the shoreline and mentioned New Haven, Branford and Guilford as potential places to expand. 'New Haven and Fairfield counties are on our bucket list,' he said. 'We are hoping to get into double digits by then, we want growth,' Miller added. 'Eventually, we would like national growth, but we want to nail it down here first.'
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CT restaurant group expanding portfolio with Mexican cantina featuring food ‘made with love'
The DORO Restaurant Group is expanding its portfolio with another tasty stop for food lovers. No Mames Mexican Cantina will begin serving up authentic Mexican cuisine at 1140 Silas Deane Highway in Wethersfield this spring. 'We have the entire team ready to go to open as fast as we can,' the group's co-owner Dorjan Puka said. 'Our chef cooks with a passion for Mexican food. We took a trip to Mexico and checked out some great places there.' Puka said depending on construction, No Mames Mexican Cantina will be opening in about two months. 'No Mames is built around the idea of being in Mexico City and street fair food,' said Scott Miller, chief operating officer for the DORO Restaurant group. 'It's an eclectic mix of food from that region, but we aren't just penciling in on a certain region of Mexico. We are pulling from several different regions of Mexico. 'We are trying to be as authentic as possible with the cuisine and bar as we see fit,' he added. 'At the same time, we want to make it as approachable as possible for the people of Wethersfield and the surrounding towns. We are going to use words like tacos and tortillas on our menu and put our own spin on it. We are going to paint this picture of being in Mexico City and immersed in the culture.' Miller said the DORO Restaurant Group's owners are former chefs who love food and love to travel. He said they fell in love with Mexican food. 'We aren't Mexican, and we don't pretend to be,' Miller said Some people may ask, 'What are these gringos doing opening up a Mexican restaurant?' But we fell in love with Mexican food, the taste, the vibrancy, the spices. We've spent time there and we are excited to bring that to Wethersfield.' Puka noted that the salsas and corn tortillas will be made in-house, there will be large portions and the food will be prepared in the middle of the dining room in the view of the customers. Ryan Van Grouw will be the executive chef at No Mames Mexican Cantina. The New Jersey native honed his craft for 15 years in multiple restaurants in New York City. 'I'm super excited to bring a new approach, an almost modern Mexican style of food,' Van Grouw said. 'Mexican food to me is simple on the surface but underneath is super complex with the way you prepare the ingredients. Whether you grill or sauté, the flavor profiles come out different. 'To me, in Mexican food and cuisine, there is a lot of love that goes into preparing the food and that is what we are going for. The food is going to be full of flavor, bright colors and crisp vegetables. We are excited about bringing our vision of Mexican cuisine to the area,' he added. 'We are super excited to be a part of this community.' Van Grouw and his wife Bonnie are expecting the birth of their second son right around the time of the restaurant's scheduled opening this spring. The Van Grouws live in Wethersfield, just five minutes from the new restaurant. Van Grouw has been the executive chef at Avert Brasserie, a French-inspired DORO restaurant located at 35 Lasalle Road in West Harford, since May 2022. 'It's been an awesome ride,' Van Grouw said. 'This is a hard-working team and I'm happy to be a part of it. Our food is made with love.' DORO Restaurant Group, based in West Hartford, already has Treva, DORO Marketplace, Artisanal Burger Company, Zohara Mediterranean Kitchen, Avert Brasserie and Casadoro Ristorante & Bar among its offerings. Most recently, Casadoro opened last month at 2929 Berlin Turnpike in Newington, which was previously the site of Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta. 'It's doing great,' Puka said. 'Treva is more the Rome region and Casadoro is more south of that region, authentic Italian. We have a pizza, a big section of pasta as well as fish and meats. We are known for our pasta and have large family dinners. It's like going to grandma's for a big meal for everyone.' DORO Marketplace has locations in West Hartford, Windsor Locks and Wethersfield. The Marketplace is 'Inspired by the cafes and bakeries of Europe.' according to its website. The locations offer scratch-made baked bread, warm cappuccino, prepared sandwiches, salads, desserts, pasta and pesto. Zohara Mediterranean Kitchen, located at 991 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, food is inspired by culinary choices from North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Turkey and Greece. Treva, located at 980 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, features food inspired by the central and northern regions of Italy. Handcrafted dishes are prepared with in-season ingredients. DORO Restaurant Group also has Artisanal Burger Company, a handcrafted burger restaurant located at 1436 Pleasant Valley Road in Manchester. DORO has plans on more properties in the works including a second Zohara as well as new DORO Marketplace locations in Glastonbury and Plainville. Timeframes for those locations aren't known yet. Puka started cooking in his native Albania when he was 14 years old. During that time, he visited Italy, Greece and Germany as well as other European countries. 'I started as a line cook and I never went to school for it, but I developed a passion for it, and I learned from the right people. I learned for myself and that's the mark of all great chefs,' Puka said. He and his wife moved to the U.S. in 1998. Puka worked for multiple restaurants in Connecticut and California with the dream of opening up his first restaurant. 'I put my head down and I worked,' Puka said. 'We opened our first restaurant, Trava, in 2010.' The couple lives in West Hartford and has seen immense growth in restaurants in the city in the last 15 years. 'West Hartford and the surrounding towns and very business-oriented,' Puka said. 'The fact that there are so many great restaurants has made it a destination for so many people. We attract people from all around and the quality of restaurants here makes it special. I feel the restaurants helped turn the town around. Outdoor dining was big for the West Hartford scene. Outdoor patios make us unique, and I have them for all three of my West Hartford restaurants in the summer. 'When you are eating outside you feel like you are on vacation, but you are in West Hartford,' he added. 'You can't find in Manhattan such a small block with such great restaurants.' Puka said DORO's overall secret to its success is that they love what they do. 'We are always thinking about putting out a great product and providing great service,' Puka said. 'We are in the hospitality business, and we aren't just thinking about making money we think about our customers and how we can make our restaurant better for our customers. That's our focus. We want to get better every day.' Another reason for the success of its restaurants is its staff, Miller said. 'We hire well. We hire more hospitality-driven personalities and that just doesn't pertain to our servers and bartenders, it's our management team and chefs as well,' Miller said. 'When people come in they are taken care of. They are a guest and not a customer, and we want to blow away their expectations on every visit. 'We love what we do,' Miller added. 'We are passionate about the restaurant business, and we understand the definition of what a good restaurant is. We've traveled all across the country and all across the world and we want to bring those experiences to Hartford County. Dorjan and I have lived here for 20-plus years, and we know what people want. We aren't trying to bring in a concept the area won't accept. We are immersed here. We understand the demographic because we are the demographic.'
