New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘It’s all about knowing your job’
New eatery’s focus is on food, outside view and safety, owner says
MILFORD — Michael Baffa, his wife, and another couple sailed to Milford from Westport, stopped in for a bite to eat at a restaurant overlooking the harbor and 20 years later opened Flipside Burgers & Bar at the 1 Schooner Lane location.
“I wasn’t even in the restaurant business yet, and I said, ‘Man, look at this location.’ Now here I am,” said Baffa, who owned Mediterranean Gill in Wilton for 10 years. “Then I started Flipside in Fairfield over 10 years ago because I couldn’t find a hamburger that I liked anywhere.”
The Milford site has seen a few restaurants come and go, and despite its prime spot by the water, none ever took a firm hold.
“It’s all about quality, consistency and knowing your job,” Baffa said. “That is what we do, we make everything ourselves as much as we can. It’s the bun and the beef. We get our meat ground special for us. We grind top rounds; we don’t do a blend. We get the top round in, use a larger grind then most people. It doesn’t get cryovaced (vacuum packed), it doesn’t get frozen.
“We handle it as little as possible, just get it into a patty shape and put it on the grill,” he said. “We trim our chickens, then bread and fry them to order.”
Then there is the location.
“This place was gutted,” said Baffa, and because he owned a construction company he did most of the work.
“We spent a lot of money to get it right. It’s a beautiful view and we wanted to take advantage of it,” he said. “The inside wall opens to the outside deck. We have screens that come down to keep the bugs out and a vinyl wall screen to keep weather out, whatever combination we need for the guests. We try to keep the outside feel the best we can and for as long as we can.”
When people ask him how he got in into the restaurant business, Baffa has a ready answer.
“I tell them that the construction business is the same,” he said. “There you buy the lumber, here I buy all the vegetables. There you cut all the lumber, here I cut all the vegetables. I put the lumber together; or put the vegetables together to make a finished product. I tell them that they both must look good, but one
also must taste good.”
“I’m self-taught. I was in the construction business my whole life,” Baffa said. “I would cook for friends and one of them had a lot of restaurant experience and asked me that if he ever opened a restaurant would I be interested in running the kitchen.”
Five years later, Mediterranean
Grill opened and Baffa did the cooking, then bought the business about five years in.
“I stayed in the kitchen for a year, but then I had to come out front to handle those problems,” he said. “But I didn’t know anything about the front. But I didn’t know anything about the back when I started, so I had to learn quick as I could. I ended up hiring a couple of chefs. I would work with them a little, but soon that was it for my kitchen days.
“Isn’t that usually how it works — the things you love the most you don’t get to do,” he noted.
But Baffa keeps his hands in the creative process.
“Mike has created all these crazy burgers and chicken sandwiches that people love,” said Stephanie McCool, who manages the restaurant.
She said she thinks Milford and its downtown is a perfect spot for an eatery.
“We did a soft opening for friends (and) family, and then opened on July 2. We have had the most amazing customers,” McCool said. “Everyone has been so welcoming, and they are excited as we are. It’s been a nice positive vibe in the restaurant.
“We are following all the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, distancing and masks,” she said. “We had already done it in Fairfield, so we knew what we wanted to do in Milford.”
Flipside is by reservation only, 11:30 a.m. for lunch, with the last reservation at night at 9. Sunday’s closing is at 8.
“We are choosing not to serve inside if we can avoid it,” Baffa said. “We will move people inside from the deck if it rains, but with the pandemic we want to keep things in check where we can. Right now, we are not doing takeout but will start that soon.”
Working through the pandemic at two sites hasn’t been easy.
Baffa said his staff has worked very hard, in both Fairfield and Milford, and with the pandemic and him doing construction in Milford.
“Stephanie, Lindsey Oakes and
Juan Vasquez have done a lot, clocking in 65 to 70 hours per week,” he said. “Lindsey is holding down the fort in Fairfield and helping here with computers. Juan is keeping this one going every day and checking on Fairfield. Stephanie does everything. I appreciate all my staff.”
Flipside is known for creative burgers such as the Mac ‘n’ Cheese Burger (topped with housemade macaroni and cheese, bacon, fresh pico de gallo and housemade cheese sauce) and the Candy Popper Burger (topped with cream cheese, candied bacon, pickled jalapeños, shaved carrots and honey served on a toasted pretzel bun).
Menus at Flipside are straightforward. It’s milk and ice cream for milkshakes, and then they add what the customer wants. Baffa has tested all the burgers, one bite at a time, until he got what he wanted for a certain menu item.
He said: “After all that, sometimes I sit down and just have a plain hamburger and say, ‘man, that is good.’”