With mission and purpose, the Tailor and the Cook looks forward to relocation in Utica

The Tailor and the Cook is a mission-driven restaurant.

Its credo is emblazoned on the wall of 94 Genesee St.: “To produce a provocative and thoughtful cuisine, and a path to the farmers and producers we source from.”

Owner and executive chef Tim Hardiman opened the farm-to-table restaurant in 2012 with the intention of buying local and creating dishes that celebrate fresh, seasonal ingredients. He values the relationships his business fosters – Peter and Suzie Jones of Jones Family Farm, which provides chicken to the Tailor and the Cook, attended Hardiman’s wedding.

“Having a connection with the people who provide the food to us, and knowing them, that's the mission,” Hardiman said. “Farm-to-table isn't really a highfalutin’ concept.”

The Tailor and the Cook will continue to honor its mission when it moves to a new location at 311 Main St. in Utica, in partnership with Mohawk Valley Garden, which purchased the historic building. Renovations are underway to transform the first floor of the former Children’s Museum into a new home for the restaurant, with more space and extended hours.

They hope to complete the project this fall.

“This is an expansion and rehabilitation project that we are all extremely passionate about,” Mohawk Valley Garden CEO Robert Esche said in an emailed statement. “We look forward to that passion being reflected in the design and details at The Tailor and the Cook at 311 Main Street. Our partnership with Tim and his team will allow us to bring a new and exciting look to the restaurant while maintaining the values and standards they have held for the last 12 years.”

Changes with the new space

Although the Tailor and the Cook is currently open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday, when it opens its doors at 311 Main St., the restaurant will offer dinner 7 days a week and brunch on the weekends.

The new space will include both a formal dining room that takes reservations and a larger, first-come first-serve bar area, which will seat 100 people and feature more casual bites like burgers and small plates.

“It’ll still be what everyone has come to know and trust us for: locally sourced, really great service, hospitable atmosphere, just a more casual dining experience,” Hardiman said.

Cooks in the kitchen

Hardiman calls his staff the greatest kitchen team in New York State, and is looking to hire more team members for the new location.

His right-hand men, chef de cuisine Cody Jipson and sous chef Brandon VanSlyke, have worked for the Tailor and the Cook for eight and seven years, respectively. Both men said they wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.

“How many other restaurants in the area are doing as much hands-on work with the farmers and work with raw products?” Jipson said. “Rather than just bringing in product that's already kind of dealt with, we’re dealing with it from the ground up. It's a lot more work, but it’s also a lot more reward.”

For VanSlyke, scratch-made is a cherished principle that he’s practiced from culinary school to cooking meals at home to his tenure with the Tailor and the Cook.

“When you have an understanding of the seasons and the vegetables, it really makes sense,” VanSlyke said. “And it opens up a whole new bracket of what it means to work in a restaurant. I’m proud to be a part of that.”

The two are both nervous and excited to move into 311 Main St. They look forward to getting to work in a brand-new kitchen.

“Expanding can always be challenging or nerve-wracking, but I feel like we’re ready,” VanSlyke said.

Bagg's Square breakthrough

Hardiman is thrilled that the Tailor and the Cook will stay in Bagg’s Square and thus stay true to its roots.

When he originally thought about moving, he was daunted by the prospect of leaving the neighborhood where the restaurant has operated for 12 years.

Esche was a regular customer at the Tailor and the Cook, and Hardiman admires the investments that Mohawk Valley Garden is making downtown. Hardiman knew he needed a partnership in order to achieve his expansion goals, and with Esche’s purchase of 311 Main St., everything fell into place.

“I think that Bagg’s Square is really almost an epicenter for all of the great stuff that's happening in Utica,” Hardiman said. “I just never wanted to leave it and I'm really happy that we don't have to. I'm really happy to become more accessible for happy hour, for Saturday and Sunday brunch, for a quick bite to eat that doesn’t have to be something that breaks the bank. I’m really looking forward to all of it.”

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: The Tailor and the Cook to relocate while honoring farm-to-table roots