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    Swyft Restaurant

    3.4 (139 reviews)
    Closed 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM

    Swyft Restaurant Photos

    SWYFT RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Intimate
    Outdoor seating
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Swyft Restaurant

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    Beverage Menu
    Matthew L.

    Swyft is a modern tavern restaurant that opened in Kent, Connecticut in 2017. It was founded by award-winning chef Joel Viehland and owner & philanthropist Anne Bass. The restaurant is located inside the Swyft-Bull House which dates back to 1781. An extensive restoration was undertaken in 2016 in order to preserve the post-and-beam frame, matching original materials, respecting historic methods of construction. The end result is a modern tavern in a rustic setting. Their specialty is Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas, but they also serve shareable small plates, seasonal Italian-inspired entrees, smash burgers, and ice cream desserts. Their food follows the Italian philosophy, meaning that they work with seasonal, organic and the freshest ingredients possible from nearby Rock Cobble Farm. As Chef Viehland stated, "We try to have fewest components as possible and let the food speak for itself." A long-awaited unique upscale sister restaurant, Ore Hill, also opened inside the Swyft-Bull House in April 2023. In the early days of the pandemic, Chef Viehland left Swyft and Bass passed away from cancer. Before she passed, Bass left instructions for Swyft, Rock Cobble Farm, and Ore Hill to carry on. A number of notable executive chefs have passed through in the following years, including Sam Purrier and Ryan Connelly. As of late 2025, celebrity chef Tyler Anderson oversees the culinary direction of the two restaurants and the farm, while the kitchens are run by executive chef Ryan Carbone. My wife and I dined at Swyft this past weekend. To celebrate my wife's birthday, I took her for a drive in Western Connecticut to see the fall foliage and explore some wineries. We decided to end the day with a delicious birthday dinner at Swyft. It was our second visit there, but the first time that we dined inside. Our last visit was during the pandemic, so we just ordered a couple of pizzas for take-out. We absolutely loved the rustic tavern interior! We decided to begin our meal with some tasty seasonal cocktails. My wife had a glass of "Red Sangria" and I had a double of "There's Something About Pie" (bourbon, vanilla vodka, apple, cinnamon, lime, cinnamon sugar rim). For food, we shared the "Salad of Farm Lettuces" (lemon, olive oil, aged vinegar, shaved vegetables), the "Funghi Affumicata" (assorted mushrooms, smoked mozzarella, ricotta, chives) and the "Get Squashed" (koginut squash cream, mozzarella, kale, Swiss chard, spicy maple syrup). We absolutely love Swyft's unique take on wood-fired pizzas; they are so delicious! After the main course, I enjoyed another delicious cocktail: "Password Please" (pizza vodka, vermouth, tomato, basil, IPA foam). For dessert, we shared the delicious "Pumpkin Sundae" (pumpkin ice cream, canned pipits, pumpkin bread crumble, caramel). We had a truly memorable dining experience at Swyft and give them two thumbs way up! The next time we're in Kent, we'd love to try out Ore Hill.

    Funghi Affumicata pizza
    Lynn W.

    We had not been back to Swyft in several years and we were very pleased with our recent Friday night meal. We tried three different pizzas and each one was terrific. Swyft is a great location that is very comfortable and the renovated structure has great history. I particularly like the bar set up with the large chalkboard (which is very easy to read from the tables). Overall the service was good. However, we asked to see the dessert menu but our server disappeared and never came back to take our order. So we gave up on the idea. We were pleased with our meal for the four people in our party.

    Bar service isn't that great
    Fritz T.

    This place has slipped. I've been coming here for almost 10 years. Over the years I've watched the food become less less impressive. The service is still OK. The atmosphere is busy yet subtly comfortable. I just can't get over the food. The main reason we're here. It's just not very good.

    Rohit W.

    5/5 for their pizza collection. Went there with a group of friends. We ordered Al Diavolo, Randy Savage, Funghi Affumicata and another one with duck on it. All of them were absolutely fantastic. Al Diavolo was my favourite!

    a chandelier in a dining room
    Tricia B.

    I honestly didn't know this was here until I attended an event for House of Books. Swyft is tucked behind a fairly impressive hedge! There is parking in back, and close parking in the Barns area in general. Swyft has (weather permitting) outdoor dining within the hedge and on the porch, as well as indoor seating with a bar area. The upstairs seems to be just for events and accessible by stairs. The decor I would describe as modern colonial - very neutral colors, but metal lighting overhead. I was seated outside, and when it gets dark, it can be hard to see. They do have little table lamps to offer, but it's also very buggy. They did have at least two employees taking orders and serving primarily outside, so there was no threat of being forgotten to the crowd inside. The pizza with potatoes was delicious, with a good crust with a perfect crisp. It also had an abundance of toppings. I ordered a burger to go for lunch the next day - the seasoning stayed present, and made it feel freshly made when reheated.

    Shishito peppers
    Gene S.

    Cozy place with great comfort food and ambiance in a town that is unfortunately short of choices like this. Service stretched and a bit rushed but still good

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    8 years ago

    Love this place! Everything is over the top great! The Layers of flavors are incredible. Chef is a true genius.

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    6 years ago

    Have been coming since it opened. One of the absolute best restaurants in the Litchfield area.

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    Page 3 of 4

    Ask the Community - Swyft Restaurant

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    Ore Hill - Carrot cake, pistachio cream, brown butter

    Ore Hill

    4.5(12 reviews)
    0.0 mi

    Ore Hill has a brief, but somewhat tangled, history. Along with Swyft, a more casual sibling…read morerestaurant that shares the same address and ownership, and Rock Cobble Farm, a nearby estate in South Kent that supplies incredible produce, dairy products, and beef to both restaurants, Ore Hill was the brain child of philanthropist Anne Bass. We have loved the wood-fired pizzas, cocktails, and anything vegetal at Swyft since star chef Joel Viehland (previously of Noma, Gramercy Tavern and Community Table) opened it in 2018. Sadly, Chef Viehland left Swyft in 2020 without realizing plans for Ore Hill and not long after, Ms. Bass passed away. She provided for the farm and two restaurants in her estate, however, allowing Ore Hill to finally open in April 2023 with Chef Tyler Anderson as culinary director and Ryan Connelly as executive chef. The New York Times recognized Ore Hill as one of the best restaurants in the US the same year, the only restaurant so recognized in Connecticut. But the story doesn't end there. For reasons not made public, it seems that Chef Connelly left in late 2024 and Chef Ryan Carbone was brought in as a replacement. At our recent meal, Chef Carbone had not been long at the helm. We do not know first hand what the kitchen was like prior to his leadership -- but we can comfortably say that Ore Hill under Chef Carbone is inventive, interesting, and delicious. It makes brilliant use of lesser-known, lesser-appreciated ingredients that can transform a dish -- like nasturtium flowers and gooseberries. This kitchen takes risks, combining ingredients in unusual ways -- and it often pays off big time. Whoever is designing the food here is brilliant and those who are executing the food are doing a fine job of it. Ore Hill is only open for dinner and only offers a five course prix fixe or a chef's tasting menu. There is bread service, something we have learned to never take for granted given that it is no longer a norm in most NYC establishments: Two extremely thick slices of toasted, smoky sourdough with extremely yellow butter sourced from Rock Cobble Farm. (There could be doctoring of other sorts, but I usually associate butter this color with well grazed cows.) We chose a bottle of wine to go with our meal, a light 2020 Rossese di Dolceacqua, "E Prie" di Anfosso Lorenzo from Liguria. I did not love this wine on first sip, immediately after opening and without food, but the wine grew on me, playing surprisingly well with seafood, cheese / dairy, even lightly acidic dishes and red meat. Our courses: Canape: Black Point Oyster, tomato dashi, cucumber, basil First: - Beef tartare, farm beets, anise hyssop: Finely minced beef and beets were visually indistinguishable, served atop an anise hyssop leaf. We were instructed to eat everything together as though it were a hand roll. - Sea scallop crudo, cucumber, shiso, gooseberry: Sea scallops were pleasantly firm, just yielding enough, and interestingly reminiscent of the cucumber in texture. The gooseberry-based sauce was quite tart and little bit tannic, a fascinating stand-in for more familiar lemon. Second: - Tomme bottoni, green garlic, chive, chervil: Pasta "buttons" were filled with mellow, nutty Tomme cheese and topped with tendrils of flavorful micro greens, both from Rock Cobble Farm. Interestingly, this was the dish that paired best with the Rossese wine. - Grilled summer squash, skate wing, wild rose, red currant, mint: The rose had quite a concentrated fragrance, but was incorporated so gently and thoughtfully into the dish -- as pretty petals garnishing the dish, blended into the sauce, and in the poaching liquid for the skate -- that it was not overwhelming. Third: - Beef flat iron, green beans, bb carrot, lemon balm butter: The beef was perfect: perfectly seasoned, perfectly juicy, cooked to medium rare and wonderful with the lemon balm butter. -Steelhead trout, tomato jam, wood sorrel: The surprise star was the peppery pop of nasturtium flowers sprinkled atop. Fish was oversalted, but otherwise expertly handled. Cheese (a kind gift of the chef): a bloom, a gouda, and a tomme, all sourced from Rock Cobble Farm's dairy cows + spelt crackers Dessert: Summer berries, farm yogurt, sunflower granola, chocolate, lemon balm: Such a fun play of textures and flavors. The essence of summer berries captured perfectly. Black walnut miso pot de creme, blueberry, creme fraiche, sesame: Clever use of blueberry, present as a concentrated powder sprinkled atop the pot de creme, and alongside the creme fraiche and sesame tuille. Ore Hill's kitchen does a wonderful job of highlighting the flavors of intensely fresh ingredients and not impeding their clarity. I'm not sure where Chef Carbone's and Chef Anderson's visions overlap, begin, and end. But whatever they're doing to collaborate -- it is delicious without doubt.

    This was such a nice dinner. My wife and I were celebrating our birthday and we couldn't ask for a…read morebetter night. The food was spectacular, the ambience was relaxing, and service was impeccable. The chef came out and walked us through a couple dishes and really made the night for us. What a great guy! I couldn't recommend this place higher.

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    Ore Hill - Candlelit Rose Room

    Candlelit Rose Room

    Ore Hill - Sunchoke Custard

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    Averill Farm

    Averill Farm

    4.4(25 reviews)
    8.3 mi
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    About time for a re-review…read more... Oh Averill Farm... How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. - The farm is family run and truly feels like it. The folks who work there are SO nice and helpful and friendly and kind. There are kiddos and farm pups running around, kind signs offering water for those who need it (in stark contrast to a certain corporate orchard we despise, which does not provide drinking water to patrons and does not allow patrons to bring water in, even for dogs). Averill is the kind of simply humane, thoughtful place that brings joy to my heart. - The farm is beautiful. So beautiful. On a coolish autumn morning, it's uncrowded and you can gaze out into the distance to see tractors mowing in distant fields, outlined against a periwinkle sky, rows and rows of neat trees, all impeccably well kept. Adjacent to the farm market, there's a big, wide field with a generous number of picnic tables placed all around, far enough from one another that you can pretend like you have the field all to yourself. - Farm produce and products are pure goodness. Apples and pears are magnificent, of course: juicy, healthy, not doused with pesticides. Cider donuts are freshly fried, well blotted, and not overly sweet. An apple crumb pie, redolent with butter and still warm at purchase, was world class, not overly sweet. Pear and apple cider are the embodiment of clean, adulterated fruit flavor. It's food I feel good about feeding to my kiddos. - The bathroom is a port-a-potty situation, but the one I used was pretty clean. There are four behind the farm store. - Pricing is fair. - Fellow patrons are civilized and respectful, which makes me so happy. Policies are generous, rules are reasonable -- and as a result, patrons don't feel like they have to claw back something from the business to even out the playing field. At some large, commercial places, you see some patrons pull apple after apple off of trees, take one bite, and then throw them down into the grass to rot (so they feel like their insanely high cost of entry is justified, I speculate). Averill owners and Averill patrons are respectful of one another, making for a truly pleasant visit. If you enjoy a bucolic, relaxing and beautiful apple picking (without the gaudy carnivalesque elements offered by some larger establishments), Averill Farm is an absolute must.

    Good apple orchard with some delicious apple cider donuts and ciders. The view of the lush orchards…read moreand some cool buys at the farm store made this trip memorable.

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    Averill Farm
    Averill Farm
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    Swyft Restaurant - bars - Updated June 2026

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