At new Manchester restaurant The Main Course, hometown pride is on the menu
Manchester natives Miguel Proano and Carlina Fontaine love their hometown and that love shows in their new restaurant, The Main Course. The burger-sandwich spot at 867 Main St. has its grand opening on Friday.
“A lot of people who grew up in Manchester stay in Manchester or keep Manchester true in their hearts. People who move far away come back on road race day,” Proano said. “We want people to come in here to know they are in Manchester.”
The restaurant’s name comes from the annual Thanksgiving Day road race. “The race begins and ends right there,” Proano said, pointing out the window. The eatery’s logo is a silhouette of a portion of Main Street.
The most evocative item in the decor are two original doors from Marlow’s, the department store that was in that spot from 1924 to 2002. The shop’s signature red-and-white awning is recreated over the door.
The pair’s hometown love shows in the food and drink menus, too. The Manchester Road Race ($13) is a turkey-avocado sandwich on a focaccia roll. Other road race-themed foods are Mile 4 Burger ($14), a half-pound cheeseburger, and Heartbreak Hill Burger ($19), a double patty with bacon, cheese and cheese sauce.
The MACC Attack Burger ($18) is a burger topped with mac and cheese, bacon and onions. It honors the Manchester Area Conference of Churches, a local social-services agency. All of the proceeds from sale of that burger go to MACC.
The Case Mountain Chocolate Cake ($8) is a mountainous, five-layer cake.
The cocktail menu is also a celebration of the Silk City: Marlow’s Manhattan, Cheney Mule, Landmark Lemonade, Peach Fest Martini, Cruisin’ on Main, Road Race Sangria and a Silk City Margarita. The beer menu will have Manchester-based microbrews Labyrinth and Urban Lodge, as well as other Connecticut brews.
“We want to be a mashup of everything that is Manchester,” Proano said.
Other dishes pay homage to regulars and employees of Proano and Fontaine’s other restaurants, Pastrami on Wry in Manchester and Blue Plate Kitchen in West Hartford. The business partners also own Blue Plate Cafe in Bloomfield.
Graham’s Cordon Bleu Wrap ($14), with chicken, ham and Swiss, honors Pastrami on Wry head chef Graham Dalrymple. Ty’s Caribbean Chicken ($18), an entree of jerk chicken, honors Ty Woodward, head chef of Blue Plate Kitchen. The chef at The Main Course is Marco Ibanez.
Another chef, Hugo Ibanez, is immortalized with Hugo’s Fiery Burger ($17), topped with pepperjack, pico de gallo, deep fried hot cherry peppers, chipotle aioli and a roasted whole jalapeno impaled on the top bun with a knife.
Auntie Sarah’s ($15), a portobello burger, is named after a vegetarian regular.
The most poignant tribute is Geno’s Caesar ($9). It is named after Geno Moffitt, who was a regular at Pastrami on Wry.
“He would go there with his wife. That was their spot. Then she passed away,” Fontaine said. “He would still come every day, sometimes two or three times a day. He would chat, tell us stories, teach us games. Then he passed away.”
For $6 extra, that salad can be made the way Geno liked it, with chicken and red onions on top.
Proano and Fontaine’s love for the town deepened during the pandemic. They took over Pastrami on Wry in 2019 and kept that hangout going with great support from the community, even people who were still uneasy venturing out.
“People would call us up at Pastrami and say ‘we can’t go out but we’re thinking of you.’ That kept us going, businesswise and emotionally,” Proano said. “That kind of moral support was worth its weight in gold. The people here had our back.”
Now Proano wants to give back. In addition to the proceeds from the MACC Attack Burger, a portion of proceeds from opening weekend’s sales will be donated to MACC.
“The restaurant here before us, Bistro on Main, was associated with MACC. We aren’t, but we want to keep that community spirit going,” Proano said.
They are keeping Bistro on Main’s slogan, “Eat good, do good.” They also want to help raise money for other community organizations.
Also on the menu are appetizers street corn dip ($9), crispy Brussels sprouts and an onion-ring tower ($10), a giant pretzel ($11), brisket potato wedges or wings ($12), and a slider flight ($15).
Other sandwiches are grilled chicken on a pretzel ($14), breaded chicken on a waffle ($15) and Italian pot roast ($15). Salads include market ($9), cheeseburger or barbecue chicken ($16) and steak wedge ($19).
Other burgers, which range from $15 to $18, are salmon; turkey; pretzel bun; blackened Cajun patty with blue cheese; a Cuban with ham, pork and salami, and a “Cali Burger” with Havarti, bacon, pineapple relish and crushed potato chips.
Other entrees are brisket mac and cheese ($16), bruschetta chicken ($17), chicken and waffles ($18), Argentinian steak ($22) and salmon ($22).
The Main Course is open Sunday to Thursday 3 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 3 to 10 p.m. tmcmanchester.com.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
