The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Socially distanced picnic series to feature restaurants, craft cocktails
Add “outdoor city picnic” to your list of summer fun this season. weHartford, which hosted socially distanced picnic events in Hartford’s Bushnell Park last fall, is bringing the concept to New Haven.
Temple Plaza in the Elm City will be the site of a series of monthly Friday night picnics, starting May 28. “Picnic in the Plaza” will partner with a different New Haven restaurant each month to curate their own take on a picnic basket meal. weHartford is working with the Town Green District and Ordinary to produce the events, with Tim Cabral, one of the co-owners of the Chapel Street cocktail bar, providing two craft cocktails for each picnic basket.
In September and October, weHartford, a media platform focused on supporting positive growth for Hartford, collaborated with the Bushnell Park Foundation to organize six picnic events in Bushnell Park. Co-founder Melissa Melonson had the idea to help drive revenue to Hartford restaurants that were struggling during the pandemic.
Nearly 1,000 people turned out for the gatherings, featuring curated dinner baskets from the partner restaurants and live entertainment. The events raised more than $17,000 for the participating restaurants and $8,000 for the Bushnell Park Foundation, according to a weHartford report.
Cabral asked how the organization could bring the event series to New Haven, said Melonson. They connected with the Town Green District to set up a “happy hour” series that’s an extension of the Hartford picnics, she said.
“We’re still keeping it socially distanced, keeping it safe, but [it’s] just a really fun way for everyone to kind of gather and bring the community there together as well,” she said.
The series begins May 28 with picnic baskets from Te Amo Tequila Bar on Temple Street, featuring a choice of tacos (chicken or vegetarian acorn squash) with churros for dessert. Guests receive two cocktails, or non-alcoholic mocktails, with the basket, depending on preference. Picnic baskets will be available for pickup between 5 and 5:30 p.m. at Temple Plaza, and Ordinary will host a cocktail demonstration at 6 p.m. at each event.
Baskets are $45 per person, with each meal individually packaged. Other participating restaurants include Elm City Social on June 25, Prime 16 on July 30, Olives and Oil on Aug. 27 and Zinc on Sept. 24. Live musical guests include Ricardo Reyes, Sonia Morant, Tim Palmieri and the Hawkins Jazz Collective.
Guests are asked to bring their own chairs, blankets and pillows for picnic seating, and groups will still be appropriately spaced out, Melonson said. Diners will also be required to wear masks when they’re not sitting and eating. In case of inclement weather, events will be moved to the following evening, Saturday.
The picnic events will also return to Bushnell Park, Melonson said, with the first event happening June 10 at 5:30 p.m. with food by Red Rock Tavern and music by Sonia Morant. weHartford is again partnering with Bushnell Park Foundation and Hartford Chamber of Commerce, and Thomas Hooker Brewery will be on site with a mobile bar.