click to enlarge - Don Eggert/File
- Nachos at El Cortijo
The Farmhouse Group, owner of four restaurants in the Burlington area, is planning to open three new restaurants in 2019, according to owner Jed Davis.
Two of the restaurants, called Bliss Bee, will represent a new concept for the Farmhouse Group. The third restaurant will be another
El Cortijo; the new one, a taqueria and margarita bar similar to its downtown Burlington namesake, will be in Winooski.
The first Bliss Bee is scheduled to open in the spring of 2019 next to the
Starbucks at
Maple Tree Place in Williston, Davis said. Later that year, a second Bliss Bee will open on Shelburne Road in South Burlington at the Larkin Terrace development.
Bliss Bee will offer casual and fast counter-service meals, Davis said. The menu will be built around “three pillars,” he added, featuring burgers, grain bowls and protein-rich salads. A descriptive tag line for Bliss Bee is "real food, real easy," Davis said. Beer, cider and wine will be available in cans.
Burger options will include a turkey burger with cranberry-sage mayo, iceberg lettuce and grilled onion; a beef burger topped with iceberg lettuce, pickles and house dressing, and a veggie burger with mole sauce, iceberg, sesame seeds and sour cream, according to Davis.
For grain bowls, Bliss Bee will serve a vegetarian meal of maple tofu, roasted carrots and parsnips, shredded kale, sunflower seeds, edamame and arame seaweed. Another grain bowl will include roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, pepitas, shredded kale, diced apple and goat cheese.
Bliss Bee will serve lunch and dinner at a price point Davis described as “highly approachable."
- Matthew Thorsen/File
- Jed Davis
El Cortijo, slated to open in late spring or summer of 2019, will occupy a small space next to
Scout & Co. in the Winooski Block building. The menu will follow the original El Cortijo, with the addition of a raw bar. The Winooski location will be managed Phillip Clayton, chef-partner of the Farmhouse Group, and Josh Palmer, chief operations officer.
Davis opened the first Farmhouse Group restaurant, the
Farmhouse Tap and Grill, on Bank Street in Burlington in the spring of 2010. The group also owns El Cortijo and Pascolo Ristorante downtown and a steakhouse, Guild Tavern, on Williston Road in South Burlington.
“We’re in a great spot," Davis said. "And I’m in a great spot personally, where I can think expansively."
Davis and the Farmhouse Group and a group of local investors will own the Bliss Bee restaurants; the new El Cortijo will be owned by the Farmhouse Group, Davis said. The company employs 175 people, 100 of them full time.
Williston Observer originally reported on Farmhouse Group's expansion last week.
Correction, November 29, 2018: This post was updated to clarify the ownership of El Cortijo.