Managing partner breathes new life into Taphouse 23
BRIDGEPORT » Tapping into a more robust sense of hospitality and a bolder but still down to earth culinary vision, the 4-year-old Taphouse 23 is quickly becoming the Fourth Street icon it was destined to be since it opened.
Fittingly, new managing partner Rich Furino came on board to usher in the new era as 2018 got its start, oiling the works with a new chef-driven menu featuring wood-fired pizza as the centerpiece, and most, of all, a welcoming vibe that guests catch onto immediately when they come through the door.
“There’s a difference between service and hospitality. Service is going through the motions; hospitality is like welcoming someone into your home,” said Furino, who many may remember from his days running Furino Catering out of the Swedeland Fire Company, and then Sullivan’s Steakhouse in King of Prussia.
“Everyone jokes that I’m the Prodigal Son coming back to my roots,” added Furino, who left a job as the East Coast manager for Del Frisco Restaurant Group as he finally relented to the entreaties of Taphouse 23 owner Gary Johnson to come reinvigorate his ambitious tap house enterprise, located not far from his Depot Street business, Tube Methods, Inc.
“I started as a waiter and became the regional vice president and I didn’t want to leave the company. There were only a few steps for me to go to be at the top of a huge $300 million company,” said the Hoboken native who learned the ropes in the business at a young age by being around his father’s restaurant and hot dog stand, Cal’s Hot Dogs, now a Hoboken institution.
“I was on the road 200 days a year,” recalled Furino, who had been delayed at the airport and exhausted from traveling when Johnson implored his buddy by phone once again.
But this time he caught him at the right moment. “He’s a businessman who happens to
love owning a restaurant but knows nothing about it. There were so many changes in leadership here, and Gary knew my reputation in the business. He said ‘when are you are just going to sit down and listen to what I have to offer?’ Well, we talked. I loved the potential of this place, and he offered me a partnership, making me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I lived in Bridgeport and King of Prussia for 20 years; now here I am back home, added Furino, who sports an earnest commitment to his new venture via a left forearm tattoo.
Other than sprucing up the grand patio — which seats up to 150 and regularly hosts DJ Bob B. spinning
oldies on Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and acoustic music Friday and Saturday evenings — Furino didn’t change a thing about the pub’s darkly rustic Ye Olde Ale House motif and its elegantly modernized sensibility.
“I loved the look of the place. I just wanted the food to match that look,” he said of the restaurant named after the major route that winds past it.
To that end, Furino and chef Chris Calvanese came up with an expanded menu that satisfies the appetites of purists with Taphouse Mainstays such as Woodfired Baby Back ribs, Peppercorn-crusted New York Strip Steak and a Bridgeport Sampler of pierogies, kielbasa, sauerkraut, buttered onions and rye bread, while capturing the imaginations of adventurous diners with Char Grilled Caesar
Salad, Arancini (pankocoated mozzarella-stuff risotto) and the hugely popular The Fat Slab.
The latter takes shape as a rum-bourbon-citrus glaze atop a hearty slab of panseared bacon, as part of a combined lunch and dinner menu.
“I believe that if you go to a tap house you should be able to get a sandwich or whatever you want anytime,” Calvanese said
A variety of pizzas fired up in the 1,000-degree patio oven aim to please both classic and edgier cravings — Pizza Carbonara, anyone? _ with pies that are delicately charred around the edges and boasting a subtle smokiness throughout.
“I love the idea of woodfired pizza in a tap house,” Furino said. “We wanted to offer the wings, burgers, and ribs, and then a
few twists and turns. A lot of foodies come in and are blown away by the different options now.”
With daughter Lizzie handling social media and longtime Taphouse 23 employee Carol Van Zandt at his side, Furino fine-tuned the crew with a focus on the hospitality he knew was essential to the tavern-eatery’s success.
“I don’t really care if someone has experience or not. I can take anyone with the right attitude and energy, someone who looks you in the eye when they’re talking to you, and train them. I need someone with that welcoming attitude more than someone who has 30 years experience at a high end place who doesn’t have that desire to give the guests an over the top experience,” noted the man who has been known to hire friendly folks whose only retail
experience was earned at Home Depot.
The crowd is routinely diverse, befitting a venerable corner spot that was once home to the Friendship Grill and Anthony’s Tavern & Restaurant, Furino noted.
“At the end of the day you’ll see some guys in suits coming in for a drink after work, and other guys in work boots, with some office workers from CSK coming in for Happy Hour from 4 to 6 p.m. every day, before they get on Route 76. We close at midnight, but if someone walks in here at five minutes to 12 we’re going to treat them the same exact way as if they came in at 6 o’clock at night,” he added, referring to a recent bad experience at another restaurant when he and friends pulled in near closing time.
With the growing buzz about the menu and the new brand of hospitality, in addition to rotating beer offerings that include craft beers on tap, plus bottles and cans, and about 100 parking spots in two lots across the street, Taphouse 23 can hold its own against any of King of Prussia’s and Philadelphia’s most celebrated establishments, Furino allowed.
“So many things are in our favor that I think will set us apart. We’re not fine dining. We don’t have to be the best award-winning restaurant. I just want us to be the most liked restaurant,” Furino said.
Taphouse 23, 266 E. Fourth St., Bridgeport is open Sunday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to midnight; Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11 to 2 a.m.
For more information, call 610-277-2323 or visit www.taphouse23.com.