The Laurel, owned and operated by chef Ashley Flagg and her wife, Rebekah Flagg, has a soft opening scheduled for Jan. 23, 2025.

By Ronni Newton

The Laurel now occupies a prime corner of Elmwood – the intersection of New Britain Avenue and New Park Avenue – and offers the West Hartford community a menu that’s officially described as “globally-inspired, locally-sourced, shareable plates” but honestly doesn’t fit neatly into any category.

While The Laurel brings brand new concept to the former Corner Pug space – a restaurant that for nearly 25 years was known for comfort food and a homey pub-like atmosphere – the menu features dishes to appeal to the adventurous and non-adventurous diner alike, and the new booths and flowered wallpapers retain the welcoming feel. And because family-style dining and sharing is encouraged, guests may just discover new favorite foods.

Ashley Flagg had spent more than a decade working with some of the area’s top restaurateurs, Billy Grant and most-recently Tyler Anderson. Until late last fall, when she took over the lease for the New Britain Avenue space, she was the executive chef at Anderson’s flagship restaurant, Millwright’s in Simsbury.

She and her wife, Rebekah Flagg – co-owner and general manager of The Laurel and also a veteran of Millwright’s where she was dining room captain – have thrown themselves into their passion project, paying attention to every detail, large and small.

The menu is divided into four sections: chilled, vegetable, seafood, and meat. The “chilled” items are small enough to serve as an appetizer for one or two people – and are available as a platter with a bit of each – while the portions for everything else are quite ample.

Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, or a dedicated meat and potatoes eater, there are multiple choices, and modifications can easily be made. The waitstaff has been well-trained to ask about and accommodate allergies, Ashely Flagg said.

“I really love doing plant-based food. My wife and I really got into it a few years ago,” she said, and incorporating Jamaican and Indian dishes means vegan is already a traditional part of the culture. She’s said her cooking doesn’t fit into any “set cuisine,” and the menu also includes Thai, Spanish, and other elements as well.

“We use local ingredients whenever possible, inspired by global flavors,” Ashley Flagg said. In addition to being co-owner, she serves as executive chef, assisted by executive sous chef Jetzel Cruz.

The Tofu Kaju Masala (fried cashews, crispy tofu, rice cakes, kaju masala) bursts with flavor, and is the type of dish that could win over any omnivore.

The Karaage Chicken was inspired by a dish she had at a restaurant in Boston, Ashley Flagg said. It’s naturally gluten-free because it’s dredged in potato starch, and is served with a black bean aioli, green onion salad, and toasted sesame rice cakes.

You can also find a burger on the menu (8 oz. beef patty served with pimento cheese, dill pickle remoulade, and crispy cheddar cheese on a brioche bun) as well as French fries (hand cut, and offered with malt vinegar aoili or vegan chimichurri “aoili”).

Prices for most dishes range from $10.25 to $18.25 – with the outlier a definitely shareable 12 oz. New York Strip (piperade, ancho chili jus, pink peppercorn gastrique) for $45.25.

She said that one-and-a-half to two items per person “should be enough to get you out of here stuffed,” but there is a great dessert menu that should not be ignored.

“It’s always a good idea to have room for dessert,” Ashley Flagg said. Award-winning pastry Kristin Eddy, of Millwright’s, provided input to an offering of sweets that’s “simple and comforting” and includes “Unbirthday Cake” (angle food, rainbow sprinkles, cream cheese icing, and toasted meringue) and a vegan whipped cheesecake with sugar cookie crumble, citrus, coconut, and cashews. “We also have classic creme brûlée. Everyone asks for it, and it makes people happy,” Ashley Flagg said.

The coffee is served in individual French presses – and if you take cream, that’s served in a miniature milk bottle.

Michela Zurstadt is the beverage manager, and has curated an innovative and creatively-named cocktail (and mocktail) menu to complement the food. Draft beers are from local breweries, augmented by some canned favorites, and Rebekah Flagg was instrumental in curating the wines, focused on minority- and female-owned or operated vineyards from throughout the world.

The purveyors of the meat and fish, and the farms, have all been carefully selected. All of the chicken is from Connecticut-based Bella Bella Gourmet, and is completely hormone-free. Baked goods are from West Hartford/Avon-based Small State Provisions.

The restaurant’s name is a nod to Ashley Flagg’s grandmother, who inspired her love of Spanish cuisine and with whom she lived for a time on Laurel Grove Road in Middletown. She also spent part of her childhood living on South Quaker Lane in West Hartford – right around the corner from the space now occupied by The Laurel. She said she always admired what Ted Vetter brought to the neighborhood with The Corner Pug, where she often went growing up and learned to love Cuban sandwiches.

They originally hoped to just “put lipstick one the pug,” reupholstering the existing booths and repainting, but the space needed a bit more upgrading. West Hartford’s economic development specialist, Lauren Siegel, was wowed by the updates and and highlighted The Laurel during the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Update presentation she and Economic Development Coordinator Kristen Gorski gave last week as “One Big Transformation.”

“This is our one and only restaurant, so we wanted it to be right,” Ashley Flagg said.

“It’s a cool building. I loved the archways, the exposed brick,” said Rebekah Flagg. “We wanted to keep that and balance it with a little more delicate and feminine touches.”

There are brand new booths, and with the removal of the lower level wainscoting the brick walls along the outer wall and separating the two areas of the dining room are fully exposed. Using the name as inspiration, artist Jamie Jones, who also designed The Laurel’s logo, created a mural of Mountain Laurels along one long wall, and elsewhere the floral wallpaper chosen by Rebekah Flagg evokes the aura of being in grandma’s dining room, but without feeling dated.

As a nod to the former restaurant, there’s a gold-framed painting of a pug over one of the booths.

Even the restroom received a complete makeover that continues the Laurel theme.

In the kitchen, Ashley Flagg said they ended up replacing everything other than the sinks and hoods. The sub-flooring was replaced with a new vinyl heat-sealed floor that’s easy to clean. Marc Paradis, owner of Sunnstone Construction Services, which handled the renovation, said this was one of the best jobs he worked on.

The Laurel has about 30 employees between the back and front of the house. They will be open for dinner Thursday through Monday – and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays to give everyone two consecutive days off in support of positive mental health for those who work in the stressful hospitality industry. The kitchen is open until 10 p.m., and they hope to attract a lot of industry folks either on Mondays – when many restaurants are closed – or after their shifts.

A patio will be added by the time the weather is outdoor-dining ready. The separate room on the western side of the restaurant still has the original carpeting and decor and will be renovated next, and will be able to be used as private dining/event space.

For more information about The Laurel, follow them on Instagram (@thelaurelct) or visit the website where reservations can be made online.

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