Over the weekend, the owners of the Common Man Restaurant in Warren announced that the upscale restaurant will shut its doors at the beginning of April. In an email to customers, owners Adam Longworth and Lorien Wroten wrote, “It is with both heavy hearts and excitement we are writing to you to announce that we will not be reopening the Common Man for the summer and fall seasons.” Wroten says both the restaurant and the building are currently for sale.
Transplants from the New York culinary scene, Longworth and Wroten purchased the restaurant in 2011. (It has existed as the Common Man in a historic barn since 1972.) While the Common Man offered the couple a great opportunity to come to Vermont, Wroten says now, the restaurant exemplifies large-scale, traditional fine dining — something with which the pair was familiar, but not what they had dreamed of doing in Vermont. “The scope of how creative we can be [here] is finite because of the size of the space and the volume of the people, particularly in winter,” Wroten says. Now, however, “We’re in a position where we can look back to our original dream.”
The closing will give the two time to consider their options for moving forward. If the business doesn’t sell, they may reopen for one last winter season, Wroten says. Otherwise, they may decide to work with the space they have or seek something new. The Common Man will continue its normal hours through March 26, then close after an Easter dinner and a send-off dinner on Saturday, April 2.
The original print version of this article was headlined “End of the Common Era?”
This article appears in Mar 9-15, 2016.
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My family and I have had amazing, wonderful meals at the Common Man. Lorien and Adam are both terrific and our experiences could not have been more perfect. Best of luck to both of you.
I much preferred the pre-Adam Longworth and Lorien Wroten version of the Common Man. The menu had more selections, more cutting edge culinary experimentation and a devoted staff. Over the past 5 years the menu selections had been scaled back, the staff we grew to love released and the food pedestrian, over priced and mundane. Still, sorry to see the restaurant closing.
I’m sorry to see this great restaurant go…. I also wish Adam and Lorien ( good people) lots of luck on their new adventure. I hope everything works out for them. It is nearly impossible to keep a restaurant open in the Mad River Valley.
You need to be able to attract “locals” if you want more that ski season business….changes in menu and price would be critical.
Brenda Batchelder Goupee & Brian Thibodeau, I so wish you had given Adam and I the chance/opportunity to get to know you personally as we have so many of our guests. We always appreciate constructive feedback from our guests and truly take their comments to heart. I am happy to say we have a great local following and we feel our prices are in line for the product/service we deliver. We are not closing because of financial distress, simply to follow our hearts and original dream. Thank you so much to all of the locals, semi-locals and tourists that have supported us and helped us grow over the last five years! All the best, Lorien & Adam
What a loss for our little valley, the Common Man it’s owners and staff are among the finest collection of hospitality professionals I have ever seen. The food is truly on another level, and I fear and can only assume the quality of the product being produced is over the heads of some “would be” restaurant critics. Some folks just don’t get it, probably never will.
Cheers Adam and Lorien!
Our semi-local family is sad to see the news of The Common Man closing. We’ve enjoyed celebrating many important events such as our wedding rehearsal dinner and multiple Christmas Eve dinners as well as simple evenings with amazing food, and warm service at The Common Man. We have high hopes that you’ll find new owners to carry the tradition and provide the quality and vibe we have come to love. Best wishes to you both in pursuit of your dreams, life is too short! Your mark has been made here and we look forward to your new delicious endeavors!
Best of luck to Lorien and Adam. Youve enriched so many of our weekends and holidays and made for some of the best evenings weve had. Thank you for all youve done. Mike Ross and Karolina Chorvath